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[[File:British Museum -Dunstable Swan Jewel -side cropped close.jpg|thumb|The [[Dunstable Swan Jewel]], a [[livery]] badge in [[ronde bosse]] enamel, about 1400. British Museum]]
* The three main historical techniques for enamelling metal are:
** [[Cloisonné]], French for "cell", where thin wires are applied to form raised barriers, which contain different areas of (subsequently applied) enamel. Widely practiced in Europe, the Middle East and East Asia.<ref>Campbell, 6, 10-17</ref>
** [[Champlevé]], French for "raised field", where the surface is carved out to form pits in which enamel is fired, leaving the original metal exposed; the Romanesque [[Stavelot Triptych]] is an example.<ref>Campbell, 7, 17-32</ref>
** Painted enamel, a design in enamel is painted onto a smooth metal surface. [[Limoges enamel]] is the best known type of painted enamel, using this from the 16th century onwards.<ref>Campbell, 7</ref> Most traditional painting on glass, and some on ceramics, uses what is technically enamel, but is often described by terms such as "painted in enamels", reserving "painted enamel" and "enamel" as a term for the whole object for works with a metal base.<ref>[https://www.britishmuseum.org/research/search_the_collection_database/term_details.aspx?scopeType=Terms&scopeId=17395 British Museum] collection database, "Scope note" for the term "enamelled"; other sources use different categories.</ref>
Variants, and less common techniques are:
** [[Basse-taille]], from the French word meaning "low-cut". The surface of the metal is decorated with a low relief design which can be seen through translucent and transparent enamels. The 14th century [[Royal Gold Cup]] is an outstanding example.<ref>Campbell, 7, 33-41</ref>
** [[Plique-à-jour]], French for "open to daylight" where the enamel is applied in cells, similar to cloisonné, but with no backing, so light can shine through the transparent or translucent enamel. It has a stained-glass like appearance; the [[Mérode Cup]] is the surviving medieval example.<ref>Campbell, 38-42</ref>
* [[Ronde bosse]], French for "in the round", also known as "encrusted enamel". A 3D type of enamelling where a sculptural form or wire framework is completely or partly enamelled, as in the 15th century [[Holy Thorn Reliquary]].<ref>Campbell, 7, 42</ref>
*** [[Grisaille]], version of painted enamel, French term meaning "in grey", where a dark, often blue or black background is applied, then a palescent (translucent) enamel is painted on top, building up designs in a monochrome gradient, paler as the thickness of the layer of light colour increases.<ref>Lucie-Smith, 83</ref>
* [[En résille]] (Émail en résille sur verre, French for 'enamel in a network on glass,') where enamelled metal is suspended in glass. The technique was briefly popular in seventeenth-century France and was re-discovered by [[Margret Craver]] in 1953. Craver spent 13 years re-creating the technique.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.americanart.si.edu/luce/object.cfm?key=338&artistmedia=0&subkey=330|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090713051944/http://www.americanart.si.edu/luce/object.cfm?key=338&artistmedia=0&subkey=330|url-status=dead|archive-date=13 July 2009|title=Craft: Jewelry: Brooch|work=Luce Foundation Center for American Art|publisher=Smithsonian American Art Museum|access-date=29 March 2013}}</ref>
*Other types:
** [[Enamelled glass]], in which a glass surface is enamelled, and fired to fuse the glasses.
* [[Stencil]]ing, where a stencil is placed over the work and the powdered enamel is sifted over the top. The stencil is removed before firing, the enamel staying in a pattern, slightly raised.
* [[Sgraffito]], where an unfired layer of enamel is applied over a previously fired layer of enamel of a contrasting colour, and then partly removed with a tool to create the design.
* '''Counter-enamelling''', not strictly a technique, but a necessary step in many techniques, especially painted enamel on thin plaques; introduced in 15th-century Europe. Enamel is applied to the back of a piece as well – sandwiching the metal – to equalize the rates of expansion under heat, and so create less tension on the glass so it does not crack.<ref>Lucie-Smith, 83</ref>
* [[Safed chalwan]], where jewels are set in white enamel
* See also [[Ando Cloisonné Company#Types|Japanese shipōyaki techniques]].
== Industrial enamel application ==
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