A beautiful example of the cloisone art of Robert Kuo! This is a cloissone paper weight, made by Kuo, most likely in the 70’s to early 80’s. Cloissone is an ancient decorative art which uses fine metal wires, glass, and enamel. Born in China, Robert Kuo moved to Taiwan with his family in 1947. He emigrated to the United States and opened a studio in California in 1973. He specialized in cloissone art for many years. Cloissone is the art of but he did move into different art forms in the mid 1980’s, and now he works on fine furniture, sculpture, and metal works. This artwork is an almost spherical design, with a flat base for stability. It depicts four swans around the base. Two of the birds have extended necks that reach up across the top. The other two are nestled down below with their heads resting beneath their bodies. Parents with two baby birds? Black, white, grays, highlights of red on the heads of the birds. Beautiful shadings of gray provide depth to the design. The necks of the birds suggest a lively flowing movement, giving this ancient art form a contemporary realism. The entire sphere is highly polished and smooth, though there are two spots of what could be chips – one each on the two birds with extended necks. Both of these spots are about 1/2 wide. They are very slight impressions on the surface, revealing the slightly rougher surface below. I attempted to photograph these areas, photos attached. I believe that this is most likely just part of the hard made process that there will be some spots like this. On the base is a small circular metal plate, with Kuo’s maker’s mark in the center. An elegant addition to the home for display in the office or really in any room in the house. It weighs about 14 ounces, and is about 3″ across and 2-1/2″ tall.