THE POTTER'S ART. 



where great depth of colour is required, to repeat these colours 

 several times. The "ground-layers" do generally, and should 

 always, work with a bandage over the mouth, to avoid inhaling 

 the colour-dust, much of which is highly deleterious. Bossing 

 is the term given to the process by which the level surfaces of 

 various colours, so extensively introduced upon decorated porcelain, 

 arc effected. The " boss " is made of soft leather. 



The process of gilding is as follows : The gold (which is pre- 

 pared with quicksilver and flux), when ready for use, appears a 

 black dust ; it is used with turpentine and oils similar to the 

 enamel colours, and, like them, worked with the ordinary camel' s- 

 hair pencil. It flows very freely, and is equally adapted for pro- 

 ducing broad massive bands and grounds, or the finest details of 

 the most elaborate design. 



To obviate the difficulty and expense of drawing the pattern on 

 every piece of a service, when it is at all intricate, a " pounce" is 

 used, and the outline dusted through with charcoal a method 

 which also secures uniformity of size and shape. Women are 

 precluded from working at this branch of the business, though, 

 from its simplicity and lightness, it would appear so well adapted 

 for them. Firing restores the gold to its proper tint, which first 

 assumes the character of " dead gold," its after brilliancy being 

 the result of another process termed "burnishing." * 



19. The ornamentation of the less costly descriptions of ware, such 

 as are in common use for the table, and in which a single colour 

 only is used, is accomplished by a process similar to that of copper- 

 plate printing. There are two methods of effecting this, one called 

 " press," and the other "bat" printing. In "press" printing 

 the design is formed on the article before it receives the glaze, and 

 is afterwards covered and protected by the glaze, through which, 

 being quite transparent, it is visible. In "bat" printing, on the 

 other hand, the design is laid upon the glaze, and fixed there by 

 enamelling it. 



In both cases the design is first executed on a copper-plate. 

 For press printing it must be cut very deep to enable it to hold a 

 sufficiency of colour to give a firm and full transfer on the ware. 

 The printer's shop is furnished with a brisk stove, having an iron 

 plate upon the top, immediately over the fire, for the convenience 

 of warming the colour while being worked, also a roller, press, and 

 tubs. The printer has two female assistants, called " transferors," 

 and also a girl, called a "cutter." The copperplate is charged 

 with colour, mixed with thick boiled oil, by means of a knife and 

 "dabber," while held on the hot stove plate, for the purpose of 



* Official Catalogue of the Great Exhibition, p. 713. 

 172 



