24 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



January, 1910 



placed under the plate glass upon which the Mosaic 

 is to be built, in much the same manner as a well- 

 sketched design is placed on the canvas of a decorator. 

 Then the component parts are placeti together as the 

 painter places his pigments. Herein much depends 

 upon the free and easy placing of materials in securing 

 effect, quite the same as brush work counts in tech- 

 nique. From this point onward until fully completed, 

 the effect of light penetration through his work is de- 

 nied the craftsman owing to the method of procedure 

 thus far discovered, and one has to work in the dark, 

 as it were, by knowledge 

 alone. 



When these many 

 parts are assembled, ce- 

 Tiented and sufficiently 

 hardened, the whole is 

 raised to the light and any 

 discordant tones or colors 

 must be removed and 

 others refitted, thus form- 

 ing by skill and study an 

 harmonious whole. 



By long experience and 

 practice the artist is en- 

 abled to know well his 

 medium and to utilize it as 

 the painter his color, or the 

 musician his instrument. 

 Herein lies the secret of a 

 successful scheme, for in 

 addition to the mere color, 

 the artist must deal with 

 density of same color and 

 the facts of clear or 

 opaque medium to render 

 the effects desired. Thus 

 experience and practice 

 make the completion of 

 the Mosaic picture a mat- 

 ter only of time. 



The cement used in the 

 practical work is a lead 

 compound known only to 

 the artist. It is used in a 

 semi-soft state into which 

 condition it may be ren- 

 dered by heat prior to its 

 setting. When once set, it 

 is impossible to resoften. 

 The lead sets sufficiently 

 well in a week to make 

 it possible to lift the com- 

 pleted work and see the 

 result. To thoroughly 

 harden, making as it 

 does a veritable metallic 

 binding, several months 

 should elapse before it fully 

 attains its true quality of 

 hardness. Ihe cement is 

 applied with tools similar 

 to those used in modelling 

 clay or wax. Various- 

 shaped instruments are re- 

 quired to meet the desired 

 effect to be gained. 



All Marine Mosaic is 

 made upon sheets of thick, 

 clear glass, always of a flat Magnolia cup, electrica 



Candle and electric light shades 



Fairy Screen and candle shades 



surface, and this is bound l)y lead, iron, copper or 

 brass frame-work, which binds the applied Mosaic on 

 all outside edges; this frame-work always being raised 

 above the flat glass surface so as to permit its hold- 

 ing the applied material, and is an added precaution 

 to make a very firm and lasting work. The final 

 treatment of all articles in Marine Mosaic relative to 

 their final purpose comes under another head, so it is 

 sufficient here to treat only of the practical working of 

 this medium. 



The preliminary framed panels are then placeti in 



their respective ornamental 

 settings. All articles ap- 

 pearing curved are in the 

 beginning made upon flat 

 surfaces so designed and 

 put together in their indi- 

 vidual frames and the de- 

 sign of Mosaic applied is 

 so chosen and selected that 

 the thickness of material 

 used really molds the 

 outside surface, thus giv- 

 ing the impression of a 

 curved article. For in- 

 stance, in a lamp dome, it 

 will be constructed of a 

 twelve-sided base, more or 

 less, and then upon this 

 polygon, instead of a cir- 

 cle for a base, truncated 

 triangles of clear glass 

 frames are welded to- 

 gether, thus forming the 

 Hat surfaces upon which 

 the Mosaic is to be ren- 

 dered. In the centre of 

 each panel or side, a heavy 

 or thick medium is chosen, 

 while toward the outer 

 edge more delicate selec- 

 tion is allowed. In render- 

 ing effects of curved sur- 

 faces, the artist has to plan 

 his design, his metal 

 frames, the material to be 

 used and color scheme, all 

 to come into one practical 

 and well-balanced en- 

 semble. 



The medium adapts 



Fruit dish, grape pattern 



itself wonderfully to the 

 effects of perspective 

 which is to a great de- 

 gree lost in stained glass. 

 In Marine Mosaic, this 

 effect is produced by the 

 gradation of density and 

 t)y selection of sizes of 

 one particular medium. 

 For example, if a distant 

 sea view is desired, the 

 glass selected for the 

 predominating color is 

 so chosen that the grad- 

 ual increase or diminu- 

 tion in size gives the un- 

 usual effect of distance 

 by the graded density of 

 tone. Again, if distant 



