Dainty and decorative 18th-century English enamels have been prized by their owners since they were first made in London in 1750 at the York Factory in the Battersea neighborhood. Small and precious, they were given as tokens of friendship or love and were ultimately passed from generation to generation.

Enamels are small and graceful, elegantly colored and embellished, and considerably less expensive than gold bibelots of similar size. First made on the Continent, particularly France, they attracted the notice of Georgian Englishmen who began collecting them. English craftsmen took notice and began producing English enamels.

Made in the 18th-century from ground or powdered glass annealed to convex copper and then fired, enameled boxes were designed to hold snuff or patches or other small objects. Early on they were decorated with hand-painted images. It was the enamelers at the York House factory in London who introduced the technique of transfer printing, which reduced the cost and length of production. This measure broadened the methods of decorating the boxes. Images and sayings adorned the boxes. Despite the existence of a factory, English enamels were essentially a cottage industry.

The boxes tend to have a single ground color, generally a pastel or deep blue, with gold decoration and an image or inscription. Popular images were classical or social figures (images of the celebrated Gunning sisters were frequently displayed, especially that of Maria who poisoned herself by her overuse of arsenic to clear her complexion) and political figures and events, fruits and vegetables from peaches to pickles, dogs, cats, birds and fish. Nary a one is not beautifully colored.

York House factory examples are scarce and highly desirable since the factory that opened in 1753 in Battersea ceased production when it went into bankruptcy in 1756. No documentation exists about York House or its enamels. At the time of the bankruptcy inventory from the factory was disposed of at auction. Other factories picked up the slack and enamel production relocated to the Midlands, particularly to Bilston and Wolverhampton around Birmingham, where it continued until the early 1840s when interest in enamels declined.

When you type "antique enamels" into your web browser you get a man with three last names: Taylor Brown Williams. It was Williams, acquisition of a collection of 18th-century English enamels that hooked him well over 30 years ago; the rest is history. Williams, who is based in Chicago, is the premier American dealer in 18th-century English enamels and he is passionate about these small dear boxes. Williams finds them singularly charming; he loves the idea that they were precious to their owners and were passed lovingly from generation to generation. In addition to his own extensive inventory, Williams says that there are some great private enamels collections in the U. S.

He handles the dainty little boxes as carefully like the old and intimate friends they are. He admires their design and their form, equally, and is knowledgeable about both. Little wonder that museums and collectors alike seek him out for advice on collections and particular boxes.

Williams says that many examples made at the York House factory have a distinctive bombe shape, following the fad of the day: the bombe shape seen in furniture of the time. York House enamels also have a creamy white ground rather than the bright white of enamels from other factories.

An early York House box can cost well into the thousands. Figurals are prized, the rarer the form, the more desirable the box and the greater the cost. Aside from containing patches or snuff, enamel boxes were used to hold sewing articles and just about any other small objects one wished to carry around.

Williams notes that the artisans who made the earliest enamels couldn't enamel around the edges and corners of the boxes and used foot rims sweated onto joints where enamel wasn't applied. As time passed, enamelers refined their techniques allowing them to enamel the entire piece, eliminating the need for the middleman, the metal worker who made the foot rims. He suspects that in the disarray stemming from the York House factory bankruptcy many boxes disappeared into private hands; probably a lot more boxes were made than previously thought.

Williams is pleased as punch with the large English enamel writing casket made in Birmingham in about 1755 that he acquired recently. He describes it simply as "extraordinary!" The casket came from the Hon. Mrs. Nellie Ionides collection and Williams will display it at the Winter Antiques Show in New York in January.

Online you can buy a circa 1770 large Bilston enamel etui on a turquoise-ground with harbor scenes from "the Grand Tour." It contains a snuff spoon, an ear-pick, a bodkin, a folding knife, a pencil, scissors and an ivory aide-memoire for about $3,000 from Lawrence Gould Antiques website in London. Established in 1964 at Portobello Road, Lawrence Gould Antiques has a fine reputation for quality goods.

Today reproductions abound, as do fakes. Halcyon Days began reproducing enamel boxes in 1970 and they are readily available at American shops. Halcyon Days also sells 18th-century examples in its London store.

When you buy, make sure the box is perfect, without damage, but keep it in mind that hairline cracks denote age and should be present. Watch out for fakes! Fakes abound; make sure you buy from a reputable dealer who is willing to provide a guarantee and full description of your enamel box.