Funnel-Shaped Mount in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, April 2010

Mount, 100–300
Roman; Probably made in Gaul
Copper alloy with champlevé enamel
Diam. 5 in. (12.7 cm)
Fletcher Fund, 1947 (47.100.6)

The technique of champlevé enamel was perfected by Celtic artists far from the great cities of the Roman empire, and the Romans lauded the durable and colorful objects made by the "barbarians" living in the outer provinces. To make this kind of embellishment, cavities for a design were either cast into the object from the beginning or scooped out of the metal ground. The cavities were then filled with powdered glass that was fused by heat. This object, likely used to decorate a chariot, blends the colors afforded champlevé enamel with the elegant foliate designs more often found painted on pottery from Roman Gaul.

Text from: www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/47.100.6