champlevé

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. Having the ground originally cast with depressions, or engraved or cut out, or lowered: said of a kind of enameling upon metal, of which the hollows are filled with the enamel pastes, which are afterward fired. Champlevé enamel can be recognized by the unbroken surface of the metal divisions or parting-strips, and generally by their varying widths; whereas a surface of cloisonné enamel shows parting-strips of uniform width, and with solutions of continuity. Champlevé enamel is in common use in Europe and America for jewelry but is extremely rare in the decorative work of China and Japan.
2. n. The art or method of producing such work in enamel: as, a plaque in champlevé.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. adj. (Art) Having the ground engraved or cut out in the parts to be enameled; inlaid in depressions made in the ground; -- said of a kind of enamel work in which depressions made in the surface are filled with enamel pastes, which are afterward fired; also, designating the process of making such enamel work.

WordNet 3.0

1. adj. (for metals) having areas separated by metal and filled with colored enamel and fired