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RERAMIC STUDIO 
then put on the lustre and when it is deep enough in color 
go over the outline for the last fire again and it will be all 
right. The outline if put on first with sugar and water 
will not be disturbed by the lustre as it or the medium 
will' not hurt the fresh outline. 
lyustre put on too heavy will rub off or crackle, espe- 
cially ruby and orange. Lustre can be removed with 
aqua regia or hydro-fluoric acid on a stick, the former is 
the better as it does not remove the glaze. 
Lustre over fired color has a mat effect. Lustre 
should be used only in conventional designs never in nat- 
uralistic. Bands of lustre with conventional designs in 
flat gold are very effective also bands of lustre with the 
design wiped out and the white china showing and an 
outline of gold. Or a gold band and a conventional 
design outlined on the gold in black and filled in by using 
the various lustres on the gold. 
To get dark metallic effects use two or three coats of 
the lustre and two or three fires. Dark Green, Light Green, 
or Yellow over Purple, Black or Ruby will give the most 
iridescent colors. Lustre over scoured gold will give a 
bronze effect. Used in connection with enamel or raised gold 
the lustre should first be fired. Gold and silver should 
always be burnished before using lustre over them. 
Lustre should be dried as quickly as possible to pre- 
vent the gathering of dust, in drying it artificially be 
careful not to dry it too hard, else it will turn dark and 
rub off. Color and lustre can be on the same piece at 
the same time provided the lustre does not run onto the 
. color. If unfired lustre is thoroughly dried, paste can be 
put on over it. 
A few words as to the firing of lustres. They stand 
any amount of fire. They should be put in the back of 
the kiln. Place flat pieces on edge and tall pieces head 
down to prevent dust settling. Have kiln perfectly dry. 
French china is more satisfactory than Belleek, Belleek 
will not stand hard enough fire and a strong heat causes 
the lustres to sink into the glaze and lose their brilliancy. 
Underfired lustres are dull but can be refired without 
retouching. Lustres do not enter into the glaze but stay 
on the surface like gold, hence a strong heat is ne<:essary 
to make them stay on. If che lustres come out spotted 
it is due to dust, finger marks or dampness of hands or 
kiln. Always handle lustres with an old silk handerchief 
and just before firing wipe off with one. And above all 
avoid finger prints. Some think lustres fired in the same 
kiln with painted colors affect the paint but my experience 
is that they do not. It is well to leave the little flap in the 
front of the kiln open for a time, if you have much lustre 
in. A kiln with fire clay muffle is best but a well white 
washed iron kiln gives good results. 
Dark green lustre put on and let to run as it will, then 
a design in raised paste covered with silver and fired in a 
kiln with an iron pot that is not well whitewashed produces 
the most beautiful effects I have ever seen in lustres. The 
light and dark greens and the ruby lights and the oxidized 
silver effect are truly beautiful. I have tried it again and 
again in a kiln with a clay muffle but with no beautiful 
results. 
Most of the lustres are transparent. The opaque 
lustres are: steel, black, silver, platinum, copper, and 
gold used heavily. 
Gold lustre alone is gaudy, fire first and then cover 
with covering for gold and the result is a rich ruby 
effect. It is also good combined with green or ruby 
used as a foundation coat, it saves gold. 
Silver lustre over fired color has a pretty frosted 
effect. It is useful to cover up defective tinted borders. 
A silver lustre background with a design in raised paste 
covered with gold is beautiful. Lnamels in combination 
with silver lustre are very attractive in conventional 
designs. Over silver, greens, ruby and violet it is very 
fine. Used on plain white china the effect is of old fash- 
ioned silver lustre. 
Dojk green lustre can be lightened before using by 
putting some yellow into it. 
Opal lustre and mother of pearl are not verv reliable 
and sometimes fire out entirely. 
Rose, if put on and fired just right makes a good 
pink, but it is very apt to come out a pinkish lavender. 
Yellow or white lustre over rose keeps it from rubbing 
off and the results are lovely. Rose fired too hard turns 
purple. 
Light green put on too thin or fired too hard is yel- 
lowish. Green gold, bronze or silver used on it gives it 
a pink flush. It is good under violet, ruby, rose, purple, 
silver, in fact almost any color. Purple, put on heavy 
has a gold lustre. It spots easily. Is very good under 
dark green. Orange is a hard color to manage, if too thick 
it crackles and rubs off, yellow over it will fix it. Over 
ruby orange makes a beautiful scarlet, over greens and 
blues, olive tones. 
Brown is good in conventional work and for flesh 
tones. Copper is very expensive, best used under "cover- 
ing for gold" and over gold lustre. Ruby will crackle 
and rub oft' if too thick, a light coat of yellow will fix it, 
put on very thin it makes the most reliable pink. A 
thin coat of gold padded over fired ruby is lovely. There 
is no turquoise blue lustre, the nearest is Blue gray 
wyhich is good for decorative landscapes, figures, or flowers, 
fired too hard has a violet tone. Steel Blue painted on with 
a square shader and allowed to run thick and thin gives 
a most beautiful iridescent effect, peacock, blue green and 
ruby. Padded it is a grayish blue with pink lights, is 
very good for a back ground with light or dark green over 
it for second fire. An oxidized silver effect is obtained 
by using yellow over steel blue for second fire. Yellow 
when padded is a deUcatetint, several coats will give a 
pearly effect. Over orange it prevents rubbing off, is 
pretty over ruby and purple. Blended into rose you will 
get a blue effect. Iridescent Rose padded is pink and 
blue, changeable, with several coats it is greenish blue 
with rose lights. It spots very easily. Black lustre is 
verv useful, is best in several coats, has a golden brown 
sheen. These combinations are the ones that you will 
find given in most books on the subject of lustres, but 
then there are many and very beautiful combinations that 
one may make for oneself. There is always an element 
of chance in using lustres, you never know just what to 
expect and some of the results are very unexpected and 
charming. It is very interesting to experiment with the 
lustres and the golds and silvers with them. You rarely 
ever get any thing that is not lovely. Lustres are very 
effectively used on the unglazed ware. 
Keep yourself in the habit of drawing from memory. 
The value of memory-drawing lies in the fact that so much 
is forgoitenl In time we must learn to leave out in our 
finished pictures these things which we now leave out 
through ignorance or forgetfulness. We must learn what 
to sacrifice. — William Hunt. 
