became famous for champlevé enamels from the 12th century onwards, producing on a large scale, and then (after a period of reduced production) from the 15th century retained its lead by switching to painted enamel on flat metal plaques. The champlevé technique was considerably easier and very widely practiced in the Romanesque period. In Gothic art the finest work is in basse-taille and ronde-bosse techniques, but cheaper champlevé works continued to be produced in large numbers for a wider market. Painted enamel remained in fashion for over a century, and in France developed into a sophisticated Renaissance and the Mannerist style, seen on objects such as large display dishes, ewers, inkwells and in small portraits. After it fell from fashion it continued as a medium for portrait miniatures, spreading to England and other countries. This continued until the early 19th century. A Russian school developed, which used the technique on other objects, as in the Renaissance, and for relatively cheap religious pieces such as crosses and small icons. China From either Byzantium or the Islamic world, the cloisonné technique reached China in the 13–14th centuries. The first written reference to cloisonné is in a book from 1388, where it is called "Dashi ('Muslim') ware". No Chinese pieces that are clearly from the 14th century are known; the earliest datable pieces are from the reign of the Xuande Emperor (1425–35), which, since they show a full use of Chinese styles, suggest considerable experience in the technique. Cloisonné remained very popular in China until the 19th century and is still produced today. The most elaborate and most highly valued Chinese pieces are from the early Ming Dynasty, especially the reigns of the Xuande Emperor and Jingtai Emperor (1450–57), although 19th century or modern pieces are far more common. Japan Japanese artists did not make three-dimensional enamelled objects until the 1830s but, once the technique took hold based on analysis of Chinese objects, it developed very rapidly, reaching a peak in the Meiji and Taishō eras (late 19th/ early 20th century). Enamel had been used as decoration for metalwork since about 1600, and Japanese cloisonné was already exported to Europe before the start of the Meiji era in 1868. Cloisonné is known in Japan as , literally "seven treasures". This refers to richly coloured substances mentioned in Buddhist texts. The term was initially used for colourful objects imported from China. According to legend,