basse-taille

[ bahs-tah-yuh ]

adjective

1. of or relating to an enameling technique in which transparent enamels are fused over a background carved in low relief, or to a piece, as of jewelry, so enameled.

Word History and Origins

Origin of basse-taille¹

1895–1900; < French, equivalent to basse low ( base ² ) + taille cutting ( tail ² )

Example Sentences

The following are the different modes of enamelling: champlev�, cloisonn�, basse-taille, plique-�-jour, painted enamel, encrusted, and miniature-painted.

From Project Gutenberg

The basse-taille process is also a combination of metal work in the form of engraving, carving and enamelling.

From Project Gutenberg

For if enamels do not run together whilst in a melted state, as is seen in the case of painted and basse-taille enamels, there should be no necessity for it in this process.

From Project Gutenberg

But no new method or distinct advance is to be noticed, during these successive revivals at Byzantium, Cologne or Limoges, and it is to early 14th-century Italy that we owe one of the most beautiful developments, that of the process subsequently called basse-taille, which signifies a low-cut relief upon which transparent enamel is fused.

From Project Gutenberg

Lucien Falize was an employer of artists and craftsmen, and to him we are indebted for the production of specimens of basse-taille enamel upon silver and gold, as well as for a book reviewing the revival of the art in France, bearing particularly on the work of Claudius Popelin.

From Project Gutenberg