Norwegian gilded plique-a-jour silver sugar tongs, 12.5cm

• Plique-A-Jour - Plique a jour, which translates from the French as ?glimpse of daylight? is a method of enamelling in which the backing is removed or cut away so the light shines through, with a similar effect to a stained glass window. The enamel is held in place by border.
  
  Although the technique of plique-a-jour has been known and in use since the 6th century, it became popular again in the late 19th century, in Russia and Scandinavia. Plique-a-jour was popular in the Art Nouveau period, especially for jewellery.
  
  Because of the length of time required to produce an item, and the high failure rate, production was limited, and the technique is little used today.
• Gilding - Gilding is a method of ornamentation whereby a thin sheet of gold metal is applied to items made of wood, leather, ceramics, glass and silver for decorative purposes.
  
  For furniture including mirrors, the sheet of gold is usually applied over a coating of gesso. Gesso is a mixture of plaster of Paris and gypsum mixed with water and then applied to the carved wooden frames of mirrors and picture frames as a base for applying the gold leaf. After numerous coats of gesso have been applied, allowed to dry and then sanded a coat of "bole", a usually red coloured mixture of clay and glue is brushed on and allowed to dry, after which the gold leaf is applied. Over time parts of the gilding will rub off so the base colour can be seen. In water gilding, this was generally a blue colour, while in oil gilding, the under layer was often yellow. In Victorian times, gilders frequently used red as a pigment beneath the gold leaf.
  
  Metal was often gilded by a process known as fire gilding. Gold mixed with mercury was applied and heated, causing the mercury to evaporate, the long-term effect of which was to kill or disable the craftsman or woman from mercury poisoning. The pursuit of beauty has claimed many victims, not the least of which were the artists who made those pieces so highly sought after today.

This item has been included into following indexes:

• Andersen, David (Norway) - silver wares 21
• plique a jour - jewellery and objects 90
• silver, country of manufacture - Norwegian 106
• sugar tongs and nips - silver items 369