494 ART INDUSTRY AND RELATED OCCUPATIONS. 



fastening them, a sort of salep-glue. It is ground down upon 

 a rough sharkskin (Same-no-kawa), and made into a thick pasty- 

 fluid with boiling water. It is then laid on with a brush in the 

 designated places, and the cell walls are placed upon it. When 

 dry they adhere so firmly to the groundwork that the workmen 

 can now proceed to the melting of the solder. 



This R6 (solder) is a grey substance made by melting together 

 8 parts of brass, 7 parts of tin, and 10 parts of zinc. When it is 

 to be used, 10 parts of this pulverized alloy are taken with 3 parts 

 of borax, and enough water is added to make a pulpy paste, with 

 which the groundwork is coated at the places where the cloisons 

 come in contact with it. The article is then heated over a 

 moderate coal fire, so that the solder soon melts. When cooled, 

 the cell walls are firmly fixed, and are now ready for the soft 

 enamel colours.^ 



The solder (R6) which is used for Awata ware in Kioto con- 

 tains 6 parts of brass (Shinshiu), 3 parts of zinc (Totan), and 10 

 parts of borax (Hosha). When the metals have melted together, 

 the still hot alloy is placed in a stone mortar, pulverized, mixed 

 with borax, and then ground with water to a paste which can be 

 laid on with the brush. 



The article designed for enamelling, and provided with firmly 

 adhering cells, passes now into the hands of the painters. These 

 are generally women, who sit in a circle around their pots contain- 

 ing different colours. There is usually a thorough division of 

 labour in this work, of such a kind that each person represents 

 one colour. She dips a little staff in the prepared coloured pulp 

 paste and fills one cell with it ; then the second, which should 

 receive the same colour ; and so on. Thereupon the article goes 

 to the hands of the second painter, who proceeds in like manner 

 with her colour ; and thus the work goes on, till all the colours are 

 laid on and all the cells are filled. When the enamel has become 

 as dry as is possible in the open air, its burning follows. The 

 colours shrink considerably, and holes are formed in the enamel, so 

 that there must be a continual filling up of the cells. Then comes 

 the second burning, and afterwards the first rubbing and polishing. 

 The cracks and other hollows in the cells are again filled up and 

 improved, then burnt for the third time, and often a fourth, and 

 once more rubbed and polished. Cracks and holes which still 

 appear are often filled and painted over with R6 (vegetable tallow), 

 a deceit which should be avoided. The older Chinese and Japanese 

 enamels show these imperfections in great number, especially the 



into England, and appears to be identical with Epidendnim tuberosum., Lour. 

 (Lour. " Flora cochin-chinensis," p. 639), concerning which the author states that 

 it is cultivated in the gardens of China and Cochin China. 



^ Enamel workmen in Nagoya assured me that they did not use any R6, but 

 filled in the enamel colours as soon as the cells had been fastened down with 

 Biyaku-gu. 



