Porcelain Plique-à-Jour™

Plique-à-Jour™ (“Letting in the day”) in the decorative arts is the traditional technique of applying and firing translucent glass powder in a tiny open (linguine-like) metal framework producing something akin to stained glass. In Plique-à-Jour, thin metal strips are braised to each other with no background, whereas with Cloisonné Enamel the metal strips are braised to a solid, opaque metal background surface.

The reason it is possible to do both techniques above is that the COE (Coefficient Of Expansion) of the glass and the metal are similar. COE is the amount of expansion a non-friable material will expand when heated. The reason heat-fusing glass and porcelain together has never been done before is that their COEs are extremely different (porcelain’s COE is 6 ~ glass is as high as 112). I have invested a great deal of time in Research and Development now making it possible to conjoin these beautiful materials into a stunning new Art form.

What is particularly magical about my Porcelain Plique-à-Jour is that I process the glass frit in a way that the facets of the crushed glass remain after firing. This has a especially wondrous effect in that they all sparkle like fine jewels which can only be appreciated in person. Imagine all the possibilities that can be designed and created for lamp shades, sconces, nightlights, architectural applications and more!

I have coined the term “PORCELAIN PLIQUE-À-JOUR”™ for this beautiful new and entirely unprecedented art form I’ve invented.

George F. Engel