240 
tlERAMlC STUDIO 
surface to collect any possible lint from the | towel. See 
that every bit of moisture is dried out, because, if you don't 
it will settle in spots on the lustre in the drying oven. The 
oven must be cleaned and well dried out before putting in 
a piece of lustre. This is more important with lustre than 
with any other kind of paint. Remember also that finger 
marks will show on lustre even after it has been dried, if 
handled before firing. Do not wrap in cotton, a hair 
might stick. 
APPLICATION 
Warm the china, dip the brush in the lustre bottle, 
shake it off inside the neck of the bottle so that it will not 
"run", and go over a portion of the surface to be covered. 
If it be a smooth surface, have your silk in one or two 
thicknesses over the cotton, according to its texture, and 
pad the lustre almost up to the edge to be joined on; then 
join with another brush full, working carefully and rapidly 
until the band or surface is covered. By keeping edges 
all soft, and padding only, in the middle of each section, the 
edges can be joined easily and padded down. 
Very often the lustre needs shaking, and it should 
always be kept corked tightly and in a cool dark place. It 
is like liquid bright gold in this respect, the metal is heavier 
and settles at the bottom, leaving more medium on top. 
If a small vase is to be done all in lustre for color effect, 
it is sometimes nice to actually pour on, or dip the piece in 
lustre, letting it run off, without padding. Also it may be 
"dropped on" carefully, to avoid air bubbles, and allowed 
to run down. This process gives a peculiarly beautiful 
effect. 
Not long ago a stein was done in class. There were 
bands of gold, dark blue and black, then a wider band of 
orange lustre with gold dragon flies conventionalised, the 
wings resting on the orange lustre band, with the long, 
slender body separating medallions of mat black. In 
putting on the lustre it was padded in sections, as described, 
but in some way ran over the proscribed lines and on to 
one of the dragon flies' wings. It might have spoiled 
the whole band to wipe off the edges, so an inspiration to 
streak the other wings resulted in the most exquisite iri- 
descent effect, quite like the wings of a real fly. The stein 
had been fired two or three times, the gold on the flies was 
perfect and had been burnished. The result after a hard 
firing was delightful. However it was found that the 
iridescent effect over gold was dulled by another firing and 
could be almost entirely burnished off with an agate; so it 
is best to put the lustre on for the very last firing. 
In tinting a large surface like the inside of a bowl, 
shake the lustre, pour a little into the middle of the bowl, 
dip the pad in the lustre and, without lifting it, go round 
and round the bowl rapidly, each time taking it nearer and 
nearer the extreme edge. Then pounce it with the pad 
until all is even. It requires a little practice to do this 
successfully, but it can be done much more easily than 
with a brush. 
Be careful of your color schemes with lustre, as with 
other painting. Never combine a pink lustre with black 
outlines or bands. Orange red or warm browns and reddish 
browns are beautiful and harmonious with black 
It is well to try your lustres first on broken bits of 
china. The names differ almost as the names of the peo- 
ple who make or bottle the lustres. The gold lustre of 
one make may be the yellow brown lustre of another. So 
if you must match a certain shade, do not be guided entirely 
by the name unless you know what you are using. Do 
not let this deter you from experimenting with lustres, 
for it is like recreation after heavy music. It is lighter, 
more playful, ornamental and sometimes resliul. 
There are many cheap imitations to be found in the 
ten cent stores and sometimes the colors are beautiful, but 
do not spend much time in doing china in these colors. 
Try for rich and unusual effects, and having planned some 
color schemes in water color, see if you can match them up 
by combinations of lustres. 
If any lustre rubs off, a thin wash of yellow lustre will 
hold it. 
For fining a salad bowl, do not use pink or ruby first 
with yellow over. The shade of pink is not pretty for salad . 
Use opal or mother of pearl, or yellow alone, or green. 
For bouillon cups try nasturtium or yellow brown, 
with gold lining and black monogram, and see how hand- 
some they are. 
000 
Fifth Prize— Mrs. Katherine B. Focke, Massillon, Ohio. 
[extracts only] 
Keep brushes in a covered box, and free from dust. 
It is well to have a number of brushes, then one need 
not stop to wash and clean the brush before using it in an- 
other color. 
A few good combinations are : 
Dark green first fire, light green second fire. 
Rose with very strong first fire, yellow pearl second 
fire, rosina third fire. 
Chatoyant rouge first fire, rosina second fire. 
Peacock green first fire, repeat for second fire, rosina 
third fire. 
Purple or violet first fire, rosina second fire. 
Yellow brown first fire, brown second fire. 
Dark green first fire, ruby second fire. 
Rouge first fire, ruby second fire. 
Steel blue first fire, yellow second fire. 
Steel blue and also rose can be made to give delicate 
tones by thinning with white lustre. 
A few drops of liquid gold in white lustre gives a beau- 
tiful golden glow when used as a final finish over dark green. 
Black requires at least three coats to obtain a good 
color. 
Fine metallic effects are obtained by using dark sr<^en 
over burnished gold. vSteel blue over gold gives a copper 
eft'ect. 
000 
Mention — E. Louise Brittain, Dayton, Ohio. 
[extracts only] 
Bright gold as a first wash, light green as a secontl 
wash, iridescent rose as third wash, makes one of the beau- 
tiful effects which it is possible to obtain in the dark col- 
ors. 
Often when taken from the kiln, the piece will be dis- 
appointing but after being exposed to the air a while, it 
will assume the brilliancy desired. 
Using lustres as background for flower or conventional 
borders is very pleasing. After the flowers have received 
their final fire, the lustre may be washed over the whole 
border and the piece fired again. 
000 
Mention^Mtss Bertha Graves Morey, Ottumwa, Iowa. 
[extracts only] 
If the bottles are allow'ed to lay on their sides the 
paint \vill absorb particles of cork which make the 
lustre fire "specky." 
Damp brushes make the paint fire streaky and blackish. 
