PAINTING IN ENAMEL. 



overcome. It is true he may leflen It by having by his fide 

 a plate on which he has made trial of his colours, and by 

 which he has afcertained their pofitive colour, and what 

 their various combinations can produce ; but it is alfo necef- 

 far)' that he fhould have in his mind's eye the effeft which 

 the fire will give, and calculate the depth and brilliancy of 

 his work ; without this, he will be ever in danger of ufing 

 one tint for another, and continually fubjeft himfelf to dif- 

 appointment. 



It is of the greateft importance that the colours fhould 

 all agree. This will entirely depend on the properties of 

 the fluxes made ufe of. It would be very defirable that all 

 the colours fhould be fluxed with the fame materials ; but 

 as this cannot be, care fhould be taken that they are not of 

 difcordant principles. This difagreement manifeils itfelf 

 by fome of the colours deftroying the others when mixed, 

 or by occafioning a bubbhng of the tint in the fire, and a 

 roughnefs on the furface when cold. 



Some writers on the fubjeft have confidered it neceffary, 

 that to paint in enamel two fets of colours fhould be made 

 ufe of ; one hard, for the beginning of the pifture ; the 

 other foft, for the latter paintings. This idea could only 

 have originated with a perfon totally unacquainted with the 

 principles of the art, as if it were not more neceffary to 

 have the fuU power of the colours at the finifhing than at 

 the beginning of the work : the foftnefs or hardnefs of the 

 colour depending on the greater or lefs degree of flux mixed 

 with it, it is evident that in proportion to the quantity of 

 glafTy matter mixed, fo will the ftrength of the colour be 

 diminifhed. It is much better to continue the old mode of 

 ufing the fame colours from firft to lafl, more freely and in 

 greater body in the beginning, and more thinly towards the 

 finifh. 



It has been faid, that the French painters in enamel have 

 difcovered the mode of making the colours appear the fame 

 before as after paffmg the fire. If this were really the 

 cafe, the advantage is not fo great as at firft fight it feems 

 to be. The difadvantage is not fo much the different ap- 

 pearance of the colour, as the want of its proper depth. 

 This is not to be overcome but by the admiflion of a 

 greater evil. To bear a colour out, an oil muft be ufed, 

 which will not evaporate, and the confequence of this would 

 be, that on its application to the fire corrofion would take 

 place, and the piclure muft undergo an operation which 

 would much reduce its power before it would be fit for 

 again proceeding with. It is towards the finifh of the pic- 

 ture that the enamel painter's greateil difficulties begin ; for 

 fuch is the nature of his colours, that the parts he touches, 

 when it is not neceffary to cover the whole, whether he 

 heightens the lights or deepens the fhades, appear the fame, 

 and much lighter than the general tint. This is an opera- 

 tion which renders great praftice and great caution equally 

 neceffary. 



The principal colours whofe tints are moft altered by the 

 fire are the reds, and as they are effential in the painting of 

 the flefh, their alteration neceffarily affefts the whole ; as the 

 fame colour which after fire becomes a bright carmine, is 

 before that operation of a dirty-brownifh hue : this incon- 

 venience may be leffened by expofing the colour to 

 a flight heat, by which it will acquire fomewhat of its 

 right tint. Some painters for this purpofe have mixed a 

 portion of carmine, or fome other colour which is deftroyed 

 by fire, with their rofe-colours or reds, to render them when 

 painted with the fame in appearance as after they are fired : 

 this, to fay the leaft of it, is a very fallacious mode of pro- 

 ceeding, and one which an artifl's praftice would foon 

 teach him to defpife. 



The colours ufed in enamel are few and fimple, and from 

 them the different tints fhould be made by the artift him- 

 felf, (and not by the colour-maker, as ufed to be the cafe,) 

 in the fame manner as in any other way of painting. They 

 are, white, yellows, rofe-colours or reds, browns, blues, and 

 blacks. The white is prepared from tin ; the yellows from 

 filver, antimony, and from fome ochres ; the rofe-colours 

 from gold ; the blues from cobali; ; and the browns and 

 blacks from iron. A red may be prepared from iron, and 

 a green from copper, but thefe will not agree with the 

 other colours. A green cobalt has been lately found in 

 fome parts of Germany, from which a green may be made, 

 as alfo one from the chrome ; but neither is found to be 

 in any refpeft better than that which may be made from 

 blue and yellow, and it is therefore unneceffary to encumber 

 the palette with them. No colour fhould be admitted till, 

 from repeated experiment, it has been found to agree with 

 every other in every poffible combination. 



The oils employed are effential, and they are fuch as on ap- 

 plication to the fire evaporate with a flight degree of heat ; for 

 this purpofe, the oil of fpike lavender is the beft. The oil of 

 amber is ufed to keep the colours moift for the day's ufe, as 

 it does not evaporate before expofure to heat. A thick oil 

 of turpentine is hkewife ufed for the purpofe of binding the 

 colours together, and making them work more pleafantly ; 

 this however muft be done with the gi-eateft caution, as if 

 ufed too freely it will not efcape in the fire, and will occafion 

 corrofion. 



The laft procefs which the enamel pifture undergoes is 

 that of paffmg the fire : this is done after every painting, and 

 is very often neceffary ; as without it the artift cannot tell the 

 real ftate of his work. The fire for this purpofe is of the fame 

 utility to the enamel painter, as a proof of his plate is to the 

 engraver : it fhews him what he has accompliftied, and points 

 out to him what remains to be done. The laft time of 

 paffmg through the fire is, as may naturally be fuppofed, 

 a moment of great anxiety to the artift, as he may, in an 

 inftant, witnefs the deilrucflion of his pifture, and fee the 

 labour of months rendered unavailing, by the enamel ground 

 opening and fhewing a crack acrofs his work. This accident 

 may fometimes be repaired, but never without great 

 labour. The mode of firing the pifture is exaftly fimilar 

 to that ufed in the making of the clock plates. See 

 Enamelling. 



The hiflory of enamel painting is involved in the greateft 

 obfcurity ; of its antiquity we have ample teftimony in the 

 account which Diodorus Siculus gives of the painted walls 

 executed by the command of Semiramis, in her city of 

 Babylon. At this time, enamel painting had attained the 

 higheft eminence to which any art can afpire ; when it was 

 made the engine of pohcy, and the inftrument of rehgion ; 

 when it was employed to commemorate the heroic deeds of 

 the living, and celebrate the virtues of the dead. How 

 long it retained this elevation we know not, but it is pro- 

 bable it was efte'emed while Babylon remained, and, like 

 that majeftic city, was overwhelmed with fuch entire ruin, as 

 fcarcely to leave a wreck behind. 



The coloured beads which envelope the mummies, and 

 the painted idols of the Egyptians, prove that this art was 

 not unknown to that extraordinary people ; although nothing 

 which exaftly deferves the name of painting has defcended 

 to us. 



To the Greeks it was known, as is evident from their 

 painted vafes, which although generally executed in one or 

 two colours, yet furnifti fome inftances in which, departing 

 from this fimplicity, they have difplayed a variety of 

 colours with great fuccefs. 



4 F 2 Ta 



