An Introduction to Halcyon Days Enamels
The appeal of Halcyon Days Enamels lies in their superb quality and in the association with the 18th century - an age of great style and elegance. Their imaginative designs are frequently inspired by artefacts in famous museums - we worked closely with the Victoria & Albert museum and the British Museum in London, the Smithsonian institute in Washington, the Art Institute of Chicago among other renowned international artistic organisations.
Halcyon Days Enamels are available from the finest shops world-wide including Harrods in London, Tiffany, Neiman Marcus and Gumps in the US, Isetan and Tobu in Tokyo, Poggi in Florence and Behagel in Frankfurt; in addition, Halcyon Days' own shops in London's Brook Street and Royal Exchange have become meccas for discerning collectors.
The collection now extends to boxes, eggs, musical boxes, clocks, pendant watches, paperweights, cufflinks, key rings and decorative plaques.
Since the revival in 1970, over 6000 individual designs have been created and with each year the variety and complexity of the designs continues to increase. As every design demands meticulous hand painting the factory employs over 50 talented artists, some of whom have been with the company since the early days in the 1970s.
It is the sympathetic co-operation between designer and manufacturer that has resulted in the exceptionally high quality that is immediately identifiable in Halcyon Days Enamels.
FAMOUS COLLECTORS
Ed Asner
David Bowie
Michael Caine
Hilary Clinton
Whoopi Goldberg
Tom Hanks
Goldie Hawn
Elton John
Lou Lou
Demi Moore
Maria schreiver
Jane Seymour
Margaret Thatcher
Jacqueline Smith
Morgan Fairchild
Lisa Hartmann
Carrie Fisher
Delta Berk
Glenn Close
18th-century origin
A fascinating history surrounds the craft of making "Trinkets and Curiosities Enamelled on Copper". Originating on the Continent in emulation of works of art br leading goldsmiths and miniaturist painters of the day, its debut in England dates from the 1740s.
At First the boxes and bibelots that captivated Georgian society were painted entirely by hand, a process that severely restricted production. But in the early 1750s, with the invention of transfer-printing, the enamelling industry was virtually reborn.
Enamels were still made by craftsmen but their decoration could be more swiftly achieved by engravers and skilled colourists than by the artist painstakingly painting his own original work on to an object.
As a rich source of design enamellers could now turn to admired paintings, faithfully copying of freely adapting works by such 18th-century masters as Watteau, Lancret, Boucher and Claude Lorraine. So superbly enhanced in decorative quality were the snuff-boxes, scent bottles, etuis and bonbonnieres thus made that they were acknowledged as works of art in their own right.
Two enamelling centres are famed for exceptional skill in their use of the new technique: Bilston in the Midlands and Battersea by the Thames in London. It was at York House, Battersea that the transfer-printing process was developed and refined. Battersea enamels, of classical design and usually printed in monochrome, were unsurpassed in quality. But 1756, after only three year's existence, the York House factory was forced to close because of financial troubles. To this day, however, there are collectors who refer to all English enamels as 'Battersea' even though the vast majority of them were produced elsewhere. In Bilston, for example, the new industry thrived: French enamellers had settled in South Staffordshire by 1745 and it soon became a celebrated enamelling centre.
This was an age of fastidious and festive living. When no small domestic need was thought trivial, no personal foible frivolous, every object played a significant role in the gentle drama of domestic life. For something to serve was not enough: it was also necessary for it to please. Bilston enamels politely served but above all pleased and in so doing enriched the Georgian scene.
19th-century decline
In the early 1800s the Bilston enamelling industry was still vigorous. But artistic standards had fallen as manufacturers rushed to capitalize on the ever-increasing demand for inexpensive trifles which could be exchanged as keepsakes. Nevertheless, even these enamels with their nave charm are today almost as eagerly sought by collectors as the most perfect examples made when craft was at its height.
By the 1820s, however, this endearing craft was to fall under the shadow of economic difficulties brought about as a result of the Napoleonic Wars. Also, enamels gradually ceased to be fashionable: the demand for snuff-boxes had dwindled as the vogue for snuffing diminished and delicate, small enamel objects could not compete with the profusion of more ostentatious ceramics, glass and metal goods flooding the market. Finally, with the escalation of the Industrial Revolution, labour was enticed away from small specialist workshops to the Midland's new large factories. Robbed of its craftsmen, English enamelling faltered, and by 1840 production throughout the industry had virtually ceased.
20th-century revival
The life of the original industry spanned less than 100 years and today antique enamels are extremely rare. It was this fact that inspired a revival of the craft in 1970, brought about by the unique co-operation of two companies: Susan Benjamin's famous Mayfair antique shop, Halcyon Days, specializing in 18th-century English enamels, and 'Bilston & Battersea Enamels', originally manufacturers of enamels for domestic usage. The former would design, promote and market the enamel boxes and other decorative objects and the latter, using traditional English enamelling skills, would manufacture them in their Bilston factory.
The enamels produced by this joint venture, inspired by the Georgian objects d'art, are of infinite variety and include bonbonnieres, desk accessories, clocks watches and exquisite musical boxes. All are true in quality and character to those made over two centuries ago and are distinguished by a mellow creamy glaze which, combined with the uniquely elegant and exclusive designs that are the company's hallmark, ensures that these are unmistakably HALCYON DAYS ENAMELS.
How enamels are made
1 Vitreous glass granules (enamel frit) are ground with water and colouring oxides to form a slurry.
2 Copper components are shaped, annealed and then etched to provide a firm hold for the enamel.
3 Several layers of enamel slurry are applied to the copper by spraying and dipping, each layer being separately fired.
4 A ceramic transfer of the design outline and for some designs, background colours, is applied by hand.
5 The box is fired once more before the meticulous hand painting begins and fired again on completion. Several applications of hand decoration may be required before a picture is fully coloured, each being individually fired between 750 and 850. Great care must be taken each time to protect colours already used from damage due to over firing. For gold decoration transfers made from special pastes and 24ct gold dust are applied and fired.
6 As enamels become slightly distorted during firing the edges are levelled by being ground very carefully to ensure a perfect fit when assembled with their gilded mounts.
HALCYON DAYS
Halcyon Days was founded in 1950 and is among the rare international shops to specialise in both antique and contemporary collectors' items.
The company is honoured to have been granted royal warrants by Their Majesties The Queen and The Queen Mother, and Their Royal Highnesses Prince Philip and The Prince of Wales as the first ever and only 'Suppliers of Objets d'Art' and is one of only six companies to hold all four royal warrants.
Halcyon Days' antiques, enamels, porcelain and scented candles are incomparable collectors' items, gifts par excellence. They are direct descendants of the rare and beautiful enamels of 18th-century England. They are made by craftspeople in Bilston, the traditional English centre of enamelling on copper. Prized by collectors all over the world, both as tokens of taste and sentiment and as small works of art, they are the antiques of tomorrow.