A technique of decorative enameling in which different colors of a pattern are separated by thin strips of metal. It consists of soldering to a metal surface, thin metal strips bent to the outline of a design and filling the resulting spaces, called "cloisons" (French for "partitions or cells") with vitreous enamel paste. The object is fired ground smooth and polished. Sometimes metal wire is used in place of gold brass silver or copper strips. It was used in Anglo-Saxon England and by Germanic metalsmiths to decorate polychrome jewelry and metalwork. The technique is somewhat similar to champlevé but it allows more intricacy of design. Among the earliest examples of cloisonné are six Mycenaean rings of the 13th century BC. The great Western period of cloisonné enameling was from the 10th-12th century especially in the Byzantine Empire. In China cloisonné was widely made during the Ming (1368-1644) and Ch'ing (1644-1911/12) dynasties. In Japan it was especially popular during the Tokugawa or Edo (1603-1868) and Meiji (1868-1912) periods.