Part III.] E. Benskin and A. Rodger: Note on Thitsi. ll 
the thitsi will cool and harden slowly after each application. When 
the design is fixed the surface is polished with paddy husk and water and a 
soft cloth. The other colours usually used are green, and light and 
dark yellow. The light yellow powder is finely ground sulphur, and 
the dark yellow is made by adding to it a little vermilion : green is 
made from the vermilion and indigo. The details of the design 
required in green and yellow are made in each case by scratching the 
surface with the steel style and rubbing in the required powder, and 
for the intricate designs that the more expensive articles bear the 
process is long and complicated, the article being in each case kept in 
the cellar for one or more days, so that the thitsi may become 
thoroughly hardened. The original shining black thitsi remains as 
the back-ground, which is often almost entirely hidden by the red, green, 
and yellow of the ornamentation. 
A thorough polishing is given to the cup with paddy husk, finely 
powdered charcoal and soft cloths, the result being that all the super¬ 
fluous colour is removed and the whole surface brought to a smooth 
finish on which the design shows clearly. TJigse, .complicated operations 
may last, in the case of a large box or tray, for as much as one year, from 
first to last. The result is not always pleasing to the European eye, as 
there seems to be an unnecessary mass of detail, and the colours are 
often crude, but the neatness of the workmanship and the great skill 
necessary to construct well-made articles out of such flimsy materials, 
will always command admiration. The products, especially betel- 
boxes, are sold throughout the length and breadth of Burma and are in 
universal use. The work is carried out by villagers under the superin¬ 
tendence of the headman or headwoman of the business, each worker 
doing one particular part and being paid by the piece. Burmese girls 
are extremely neat-handed and do all the weaving of the bamboo 
baskets, being paid about Re. 1 per hundred for small betel-boxes. The 
art is an important means of livelihood in several places in the 
Myingyan district of Upper Burma. 
( 2 ) Gilt lacquer ware. 
As in the Pagan ware, the articles to be adorned go through a series 
of preliminary preparations so as to obtain one even surface on which 
the gold leaf design can be applied. 
After the lacquered articles have been thoroughly smoothed down, a 
coat of thitsi is applied, either plain or mixed, with a small preparation 
of hintha / pada (vermilion) which gives a red colour. The articles are 
then placed in an underground cellar for a day or two. 
[ 107 ] 
