Bedouin Silver

Enamelling is a technique with its own difficulties. Enamel is made from the same powder from which glass is made, and is composed of sand, minium, potassium and soda. It is melted and fused with the metal. The metal’s melting point needs to be just above the melting point of glass and it must be be completely void of dirt and grease, otherwise the enamel will not attach.

Detail of enameling on a Kabyle bracelet. Algeria, in cloisonné enamel

Enamelling is seen predominantly in the Maghreb, where yellow and green Murano glass pearls were ground down to obtain the distinctive yellow and green enamel of Morocco. In addition to yellow and green, other colours were obtained by adding metal oxide to the glass. Copper oxide was used to create blue enamel, as favoured by the Bani Yanni of Kabylia in Algeria. Nowadays, Chinese glass beads are used as the basic material for enamel.

Detail of enameling on a Tiznit fibula, Morocco, in filigree enamel

In the Maghreb, filigree enamel is more common than email cloisonné. Filigree enamel is made by soldering a filigree wire onto the surface to create a pattern. The spaces left empty are filled with enamel, and the filigree wire is left protruding slightly above the enamelled surface. Cloisonné is a technique in which the surface is divided into sections by straight metal strips. Each section is filled with enamel to the top of each dividing strip.