Censer. Limoges, France, 19th century.
Gilded copper and champlevé enamel.
It presents faults in the polychromy and enamel.
Measurements: 14,5 x 12 cm.
Censer made in the 19th century, although it continues the style of the Limoges workshops. The Limoges workshop appeared in the last quarter of the 12th century and continued its activity until the 14th century. It flourished again in the 15th century with the new technique of painted enamel. It became the most important enamel workshop, ahead of the Rhineland and Meuse, which disappeared in the 12th century and were dedicated to the production of individual plates on commission, which were then mounted on an object or joined together to form altar frontals. In Limoges, on the other hand, the production of objects, no longer just plaques, decorated with enamels for religious, but also secular use, began to take off. They were cheaper, copper-based pieces, and very attractive because of the enamelled decoration, which made them a huge and immediate success throughout Europe. Limoges is also mentioned in documents, indicating that it was an important centre known throughout Western Europe. One of the distinguishing characteristics of Limoges is its very shallow background dragging, which does not go beyond two or three millimetres. To depict detail, such fine partitioning is used that it can only be distinguished from the excavated one by close observation through a magnifying glass. In Limoges, the enamels are applied according to the client's taste, filling only the background, only the figures, or both. As for the colour range, he used that of the Meuse workshops, which was very varied, but added new colours such as olive green, a light greyish blue or white for the flesh tones. In the long history of these workshops, one of their main successes was precisely the fact that they did not only produce plaques, but also complete pieces.