196 
tlERAMlC STUDIO 
the case requires. A very good effect is obtained by 
tracing or etching many different designs on the gold by 
using a sharp burnishing tool. Be careful and draw in 
the design just as it should be as mistakes cannot easily 
be remedied. The beginner should try and learn to do 
good outhning with gold, as it is one of the most effec- 
tive as well as one of the most general uses to which gold 
may, be put in china decoration. Have the gold so that 
it will flow readily from the point of a No. o or i sable 
liner. Hold the brush hghtly, but firmly, do not load it 
with gold but have it well filled and pointed. Lift the 
brush as seldom as possible. Long, even lines that show 
no break or patching, not thin here and heavy there, but 
even and sure in execution. If the lines need straight- 
ening and evening up, take a small flat, square quill brush, 
dip in alchol, wipe nearly dry and run along the side of 
the lines or when dry scrape into evenness with a pen 
knife. For outlining on white china use Roman gold. 
If one has a steady hand, and can leave the lines as they 
are put, then it is safe to outline on fresh tint by using 
unfluxed gold, but there is always the risk of spotting 
or scratching the fresh tint. In banding or lining china 
with gold the most accurate and rapid method is to use 
the wheel, but many have no wheel or find it difficult to 
manage, so with care and practice bands and lines may 
be put on free handed with satisfactory results. To put 
gold on the rim of a plate or cup have the gold mixed 
rather ' ' pasty ' ' , dip the tip of the middle finger in the 
gold and rub in around the edge and it will go on as smooth 
and even as one could wish, much more so than you can 
possibly put it on with a brush. 
Gold should be fired a rose color heat. When prop- 
erly fired it is a soft, unglazed yellow, and will burnish 
readily. If underfired it will rub off when you attempt 
to polish it. If fired too hard it will crack or blister and 
will not polish. The best burnisher for all around use is 
the glass brush. Be careful and not get the glass in your 
hands, and do not let any of the little bits fall into your 
paint, for it will ruin it. And always wash china that has 
been burnished with glass before repainting, as every 
particle will fire on to the china. For a very high polish 
and lines, use an agate burnisher. For large surfaces 
or places you can not reach with the glass brush use burn- 
ishing sand. 
When once on, liquid gold is hard to remove, and 
even with care is liable to come out in the fire in dark, 
purplish spots when one thinks it had been entirely removed. 
Unless put on just the right thickness, and properly fired, it 
crackles and comes out a coppery color. Do not use it 
on the Royal Worcester colors or on Belleek china. If 
much liquid gold is used and fired with other things it 
often affects the brilliancy of the other colors and many 
will not fire it except by itself. Used under the different 
lustres, very pleasing results are often obtained. 
Green gold and red gold can be used on white china 
or over color. To these golds or to the bronze colors 
you can add even Roman gold and get some charming 
combinations. Green gold is very easily prepared, 3 parts 
silver to 9 parts unfluxed gold. Fluxed gold is best used 
over paste. There is a gold essence that is often used 
in thinning gold, silver and lustres but lavender oil gen- 
erally answers all purposes. If the gold blisters, or comes 
out rough after firing, rub very lightly with the finest 
emery paper, retouch and refire. Always have china 
perfectly dry when you put on gold and thoroughly dry 
the gold before firing. Often (especially on Belleek china 
which literally seems to eat up gold) you can dry gold 
thoroughly, then give it another coat before you fire it. 
Gold is very fine under the lustres, you get very beautiful and 
unexpected results. Also by using a thin coat of gold 
over a fired lustre, padding the gold and letting the lus- 
tre show through more in some places than in others, 
you get surprisingly beautiful things. Brushes for gold 
should be clean and fluffy. Too elaborate use of gold 
often spoils and cheapens an otherwise artistic piece of 
work. The too lavish use of gold, the feeling that there 
must be a bit of gold on every piece of work is one of the 
pitfalls that beginners and amateurs must learn to avoid. 
000 
Fourth Prize— Lucy L. Brown, Roxbury, Mass. 
[extracts only] 
To apply liquid bright gold, dip the brush directly 
into the gold fluid in the bottle and put on the china just 
as it is, if this ever grows too thick, dilute with the gold 
essence which comes with it, or a little oil of lavender, 
never under any circumstances let turpentine touch it or 
you will ruin the gold; liquid bright gold is similar to 
lustres and raised paste may be used with them in a design 
on china. 
Gold over raised paste is one of the richest meth- 
ods used in gold work. Use Hancock's paste for raised 
gold; take out suflicient powder on the ground glass slab, 
use just enough Dresden thick oil or fat oil as you pre- 
fer, to hold it together and not separate, rub well, breathe 
on it several times and turn it over with the knife, then 
dilute with lavender oil, breathe on it again, turn over and 
over with the palette knife until about as thick as cream 
and so that it does not spread. If, when using it becomes 
too thick, thin with the lavender oil, and breathe on it 
again, if it grows thin breathing on it and turning it over 
will help it. 
For modeling, as in little roses and leaves, it must 
be a little thicker than for lines and dots; a beginner had 
better have the paste fired before putting on the Roman 
gold, but it can be done before firing if the paste is thor- 
oughly dry. If the paste does not take the gold easily after 
being fired, put a little turpentine on the paste with the 
brush and it will be a great help. Paste should lose its 
shine and appear dull in about an hour after placing it 
on the china. 
In modeling use the shaders for lines and dots, the 
sable riggers; the process is similar to that for enamels, 
which was explained in the last Class Room; be careful 
in going over the raised paste with the gold to keep on 
the design. Raised gold is not serviceable for hard wear. 
000 
Fifth Prize— Miss Ella Adams, Yellow Springs, Ohio. 
[e.ktracts onlv] 
Several kinds of gold come tightly covered and these 
seem preferable since they are not so liable to be dry and 
hard but are moist and easily transfered to the glass slab. 
Lavender oil should be used in with a miserly hand, 
however, since too much oil makes the gold run. Some 
decorators use a pen for fine lines instead of a brush. 
The gold should be of a thinner consistency for pen work. 
Practice upon undecorated china to secure the right swing 
to your brush or pen instead of rushing boldly to the 
attack of a decorated piece of china that is waiting for 
the finishing touches of gold. Hither Roman or unfluxed 
gold can be used over paste, although the unfluxed gold 
is brighter in effect. The gold should be applied with 
the medium sized pointed brush upon paste since the 
