JAPANNING. 251 



but it must be well diluted with oil of turpentine 

 when it is used. 



Blue Japan Grounds. 



Blue japan grounds may be formed of bright 

 Prussian-blue; or of verditer, glazed over by Prus- 

 sian-blue, or smalt. The colour may be best mixed 

 with shell-lac varnish, and brought to a polishing 

 state by five or six coats of varnish of seed-lac; but 

 the varnish, nevertheless, will somewhat injure the 

 colour, by giving to a true blue a cast of green, and 

 fouling in some degree a warm blue by the yellow 

 it contains; where, therefore, a bright blue is, re- 

 quired, and a less degree of hardness can be dis- 

 pensed with, the method before directed in the 

 case of white grounds must be pursued. 



Red Japan Grounds. 



For a scarlet japan ground, vermilion may be 

 used; but the vermilion has a glaring effect, that 

 renders it much less beautiful than the crimson 

 produced by glazing it over with carmine or fine 

 lake, or even with rose pink, which has a very good 

 effect, used for this purpose. For a very bright 

 crimson, nevertheless, instead of glazing with car- 

 mine, the Indian lake should be used, dissolved in 

 the spirit of which the varnish is compounded, 

 which it readily admits of when good; and in this 

 case, instead of glazing with the shell-lac varnish, 

 the upper, or polishing coats need only be used, as 

 they will equally receive and convey the tinge of 

 the Indian lake, which may be actually dissolved 

 by spirits of wine, and this will be found a much 

 cheaper method than the using carmine. If^ liow- 

 ever, the highest degree of brightness is required, 

 the white varnish must be used. 



