Enamel on copper plaque is it Arts and Crafts movement?

So i got this cool scene of a enamel on copper plaque it's only singed "K" it measures 12" × 4". Has anyone ever seen other works from this person? Do you know who it is? And would it be safe to say it's from the arts and crafts movement era or what would your opinion be on the style?

 

I would say this is a 50s - 60s modernist piece. A lot of such things came out of Italy but there were plenty done in the US as well.

 

Thanks Brad! I value your input as I always have.. good to see you on this board!

 

I can't tell from the photos if it really is glass enamel, because it kinda looks like a chemical patina process. I have never seen where someone has just tossed the enamel on like that and then fired it, especially before 1970.

The line quality and style don't seem to hold up to mid century or Italian to me. It reeks of student work done between 1985 and 2000. There was a craze later in that time for copper patina and inventive patina processes, I would date it in the mid 1990s.

There is sometimes a reason why an artist doesn't fully sign or date a piece.

It's possible that this is an intaglio plate that the artist decided to enhance with patina after they had printed as much as they were going to print, because they couldn't see disposing of or grinding down the plate, or flipping it to make a new etching afterward -the edges have been beveled, suggesting it was a printing plate.



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oops

 

There is no way that this was ever a printing plate nor is it patinated. It is typical of fired enamel on copper tiles produced as art. Whether or not it is MCM or later is up to conjecture, though this is the time period when most of these were produced.

 

There is yes way that this was a printing plate turned into wall art. I have never seen an enameled decorative plate with beveled edges (a tedious and unnecessary extra process for copper enameling) and I have never seen an intaglio without it. That's the smoking gun.

As far as enamel on copper, I would like to disagree. It is very atypical of the type of effect caused by enamel on copper -in fact, I am sure that close scrutiny will show it is not melted glass, but a chemical induced patina. The pictures do not provide enough info to confirm it, but if you held it in your hands, I'm sure you would have to agree.

 

What does the back look like? If this is enamel, would the back not have to be counter-enameled?

 

You may never have seen an enameled plate with beveled edges (is that what one would call that?), but there are many out there . . .
Here is but one; http://www.objectsusa.com/?jw_portfolio=phyllis-wallen-enamel-plaque

Please note the edges on it . . .

 

Please note that the edges are cut flush, like the edges of a cardboard box, and not beveled like the opening for a mat. Beveled edges are made by filing, a time consuming process that can actually warp light weight copper, or the weight typically used for jewelry and copper art. The edge of the piece you show actually has a gap, if you will, a dark line around the edge. This is made by coating the very edge with wax. The reason is to try to keep the enameling from running off the edges, off the plate and possibly into the kiln. There are special waxes and compounds made for just that.

A beveled edge would prove to be counter productive to making copper enamel work, because it would facilitate the enamel to run off the piece and drip/burn on the floor of the kiln. Only a novice or a fool would do that.

 

Actually the edges of the OP's item look like a sheet of 18 gauge copper, hand cut. It's not at all common to use a "wax" to keep enamel on an item since enamel is fired at 1400 -1500 degrees, and any wax would burn off long before the glass set. Glass enamels do not "run" as as such - they do not "fill in" as they melt. Glass does "pull back" from the edges of the copper, causing the black edge. It's not uncommon for a finished item, like a signed plaque, to be filed along the edge if it's not going to be set into a bevel. You use a stone to do it. It cuts down on the risk of glass chips and splinters as well as looking nicer than a plain fired edge. That's not, however, what I see on this item - just a fired edge that has been around long enough to get some "micro-chips" in it.

I would guess the item in question was fired several times - first for the background, then a clear coat, then the stems and bugs were drawn in, then the green sifted on for the leaves. This is very much what enamel looks like when sifted loosely and perhaps over-fired a bit. Look at the white in the item Messilane posted. I think the patina in the center of the item is probably from copper directly under a clear coat of enamel - depending on the clear enamel used you can get some very nice effects this way. But it could be from a very artistic sifting of different colors, too.

Here's an example from the cover of Fred Ball's book -


- Cheers

 

Took some close ups of the edge if it helps

 

Thanks Jake - from those pics it looks a bit thicker than 18 - one thing to consider - it could be that everybody is right and that what you have is an intaglio plate someone enameled over.

 

I still think it is an old intaglio plate. The close up makes it look more like copper enameling, I think a close examination would reveal what it is. If so there seems to be a lot of black enamel in the etched parts that came through to the levels above.

I did copper enameling in HS, I know temps high enough to melt glass will also melt wax. But that was so long ago I forget what the medium was called that we used to protect the edges, I called it wax but it was some kind of composite, and it burned off but still protected the edges somehow. One kid neglected to use it and he got chewed out because his piece stuck to the kiln, that's all I remember. And the glass enamel does migrate on the copper, as evidenced by the close-ups if this is in fact copper enameling.


I think my mom still has the necklace I made, unless she sold it in a garage sale.

 

No, the back wouldn't have to be counter-enameled, but the black lines would have some sort of counter enameling. When I look at that last close up, I see that the black, which seems to be set in the etched grooves, it has migrated to the surface thru the green color (counter enameling).

I am not sure if the effect seen in the CU could be made using patina and some sort of cured resin, varnish or polyurethane. If the surface scratches easily, then it is a poly or resin coating and not glass enamel.

I'd be interested to see a CU of the center section of the leaf on the far right where the colorant looks thin and blobby, if it is enamel, that area looks botched. But another thing that made me think it's patina is the colors, which all fall into the possibility of certain chemical reactions.