ABSTRACT
Shaped emblems of pure gold or silver foil which are fused to a pre-fired grounding and coated with clear or translucent enamels. Paillons are made as small pre-shaped motifs, with a slight relief. When of silver, these shapes are sometimes referred to as 'clinquants'. The term also applies to large pieces of foil cut to shape for Limoges School painting(see also FOILS). Paillons arranged in symmetrical patterns over an enamelled surface, and coated with clear enamel, can simulate engraved or chased ornaments under the glaze. For a 19th-century fashion, paillon dots were covered with brilliant ruby red, emerald green and other jewel colours, and fused to simulate tiny cabochon stones (see Beaded Enamels). In the late 18th century, Swiss and French workshops employed small die-stamped paillons in the form of classical urns, floral bouquets and fountains in a style initiated by the the Parisian maker Blerzy. By the late 19th century paillons were widely employed and included those stamped out from burnished platinum, as well as green and yellow gold in a diversity of shapes. These emblems included stars, crescents, coronets, swags, flower heads, butterflies and birds. Such decorations were applied to objects of vertu such as Watches, Snuff boxes and ornamented Opera glasses. The display articles and clock cases made by Fabergtswere often ornamented with paillons in delicate tracery patterns.
