While ceramics can certainly stand on their own (and have for well over a thousand years), cloisonne can add something something unique and special. Here are eight fun facts about this ancient decorative technique.

It's totally metal

Cloisonne is an enameling technique that uses metal strips to create delicate designs. The strips are soldered onto an object and hold in place colorful materials such as gemstones, glass, or, more often nowadays, enamel. The object is then fired in a kiln, smoothed, and polished.

It comes from ancient Greece

Despite its French name and prominence in Chinese decorative arts, the earliest evidence of cloisonne comes from ancient Greece. In 1952 a British archaeological expedition unearthed six gold and cloisonne rings in a Mycenaean tomb in Kouklia, Cyprus. Dating back to the 13th century BCE — that's over three thousand years! — they now reside in the Nicosia Museum.

It comes from the French word for 'partition'

Because of the process of first adding metal wires to an object to create "compartments" into which color materials are placed, the technique was dubbed cloisonne, coming from the French cloison, "a partition." The word cloisonne didn't appear in the English language until about 1863.

It's been in China since at least the 13th century

While cloisonne art dates back to the Yuan Dynasty (1271–1368), it was developed and popularized during the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644). During the Qing Dynasty (1644–1912), the production of cloisonne continued to grow with the emergence a variety of regional styles and techniques.

In China it's known as Jingtai Lan

The technique is believed to have come to China from the Middle East, where blue was a prominent color in the decorative arts. Hence cloisonne's name in China: Jingtai Lan or Jingtai Blue, named for this favorite hue and the Ming Dynasty emperor Jingtai (1449–1457).

It was also called 'Muslim ware'

Perhaps because of its origins from the Middle East, cloisonne was also called dashi yao or Muslim ware. The scholar Cao Zhao uses this term in his The Essential Criteria of Antiquities (first published in 1388), considered a seminal collector's manual as well as the "earliest surviving, unambiguous mention of cloisonné enamels in China."

It was deemed too fussy by an antiquities expert

In The Essential Criteria of Antiquities, Cao claimed cloisonne was "suitable only for lady’s chambers." While it might have been too showy for the home of an austere smarty-pants like Cao, it often furnished temples and palaces, and by the reign of the Ming Dynasty emperor Xuande (two reigns before the Jiantai Emperor), cloisonne was highly sought after in the imperial court.

You can get some cloisonne for yourself

Take a little cloisonne home with you! Like these mini vases, an elegant addition to your desk or display case. Or this cloisonne persimmon bowl. It's useful, pretty, and lucky: the fruit symbolizes good fortune in Chinese culture.

Or these cloisonne therapy balls, great for relaxing and massaging tired hands and wrists. Or these round and oval porcelain bead necklaces with cloisonne design, the perfect dramatic touch to a new outfit.