Antique jewelry glossary

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Limoges enamel

A type of enamel work on copper in the style of champlevé enamel, found on much ware made at Limoges, France, in the late 12th and the 13th centuries, but frequently used on jewelry. The metal in the cells was first covered with a dark enamel, and then the design was built up with translucent enamels (usually lapis-lazuli blue or sea-green) with the dark showing through as the background, and the unenamelled metal areas generally being gilded.

Painted enamel that was executed at Limoges and elsewhere during the 15th century and that has continued to be produced there today. Leading exponents of such work were Nardon Pénicaud and Léonard Limousin.

From: An Illustrated Dictionary of Jewelry, autor: Harold Newman, publishers: Thames and Hudson

Limoges porcelain

In 1768, kaolin, a rock rich in fine, white clay which is used for making porcelain, was discovered at Saint-Yrieix-la-Perche, near Limoges.

Under the impetus of the progressive economist Anne Robert Jacques Turgot, Baron de Laune, who had been appointed intendant of this impoverished and isolated region, a new ceramics industry was developed, and Limoges porcelain became famous during the 19th century. However, Limoges porcelain is a generic term for porcelain produced in Limoges rather than at a specific factory.

More than 50% of all porcelain made in France comes from Limoges