Enamelled Brass Floral Wall Plate

A round brass plate covered edge to edge in bright enamel: a ring of green blossoms framed in deep navy and red, a star of orange flowers in green panels at the centre, and tiny red and green buds scattered across a creamy yellow ground. Fine raised brass lines outline every petal and leaf, so the pattern glints when the light catches it. The back is solid brass with a warm, aged patina and a small hanging loop, so it's ready to go straight up on a wall. It also looks great propped on a shelf or used as a tray for small things.

The look comes from cloisonné, one of the oldest decorative metal techniques. Craftsmen fix thin metal strips or wires to the surface to make tiny walled cells (cloisons, French for "compartments"), fill each one with coloured enamel paste, then fire the piece in a kiln. The metal lines stay visible in the finished work. Byzantine artisans were masters of it a thousand years ago, and it later flourished in Ming dynasty China.