Art Nouveau Plique-à-Jour & Silver Long Guard Chain

A good plique-à-jour silver chain that was made circa 1900-1910. It has six evenly spaced Plique-à-jour panels. Plique-à-jour literally means in French “letting in daylight”. It is a vitreous enamelling technique where the enamel is applied in cells, similar to cloisonné, but with no backing in the final product, so light can shine through the transparent or translucent enamel. It is in effect a miniature version of stained-glass and is considered very challenging technically. The technique is similar to that of cloisonné, but using a temporary backing that after firing is dissolved by acid or rubbed away. In the Art Nouveau period this technique was very popular and pieces in good condition such as this chain are hard to find.