03/06/2026
‘What's it?’ Wednesday
We sell a lot of brooches at the Kaboodles Emporium.
“Ooh, it's an Art Nouveau plickarjewer!”
It's a what?! What is it?
It was Plique-à-jour!
Plique-a-jour is a decorative technique applied to antiques and especially jewellery.
From the French it translates roughly as “(pleat or braid) letting in daylight”.
It’s a form of enamelling -
transparent coloured enamel applied within a metal framework without a backing. Light passes through the enamel, giving a luminous – not unlike a mini stained glass window - jewel-like effect.
To create the effect a craftsperson will create tiny metal cells and fill them with transparent enamel, with a temporary backing to support it. This is then fired repeatedly in a kiln. They'll then remove the temporary backing. The result is extremely delicate and beautiful. It’s not hard to imagine how difficult this is to produce.
Although the technique had been around for some time, it found fame and popularity during the Art Nouveau period (circa 1890–1910) when designers like René Lalique used it to create their nature-inspired designs, so popular in Art Nouveau. Especially popular subjects and inspirations were dragonflies, butterflies and flowers.
The pique-a-jour style is still reproduced today because of its beauty.
Antique examples are obviously highly desirable.
