96 
KERAMIC STUDIO 
% 
blended together. Unless you 
use an excess of it, the turpen- 
tine will not cause the enamel to 
spread or run and will soon dry 
out. In this manner you may 
blend or shade the enamels. 
Where you wish to use one solid 
color use it heavy at one end of 
the form, and adding more tur- 
pentine, thinning it as you work 
towards the other end. Lay in 
the little yellow forms and then 
the blue. This is used in the 
center of the larger flower in the 
centerpiece, in the ring-shaped 
part of the large flower in the 
border, and in the broken bands 
on the rim. Before doing the 
rim, lay in the second coat of 
gold. Let this dry before you 
float in the blue of the band. Re- 
touch the little block forms with 
Black, and the piece is then fin- 
ished and ready for the second 
and last firing. Do not dry en- 
amels by artificial heat. This 
often drys the outside too soon, 
leaving oil underneath which will 
bubble or cook in the firing, 
causing the enamels to blister 
and chip off. 
Do not use enamels that have 
stood on the palette any length 
of time. Repeated mixing with 
turpentine causes them to be- 
come oily in standing, so it is 
best to prepare fresh each time 
you work. A large quantity of 
the enamel body may be pre- 
pared and set aside, but not the 
body with color. Both French 
and German china are used with 
success but some of the French 
china seems of too hard a glaze to take the enamels. 
It is hard for the amateur to distinguish, and, alas, ex- 
perience seems to be the only teacher. Enamels may be 
used with unfailing success on Belleek; this is a beautiful 
soft glaze china originally made in Ireland. The American 
Belleek is made in Trenton, N. J., and it is from there we 
obtain the plain, undecorated ware. Some of our leading 
American ceramists have designed shapes for these potters, 
and one may obtain especially charming bowls, vases, 
pitchers, etc. 
It is not until lately that much has been made in the 
line of table service, but now some beautiful things are to 
be had. The glaze is very fine, and soft enough to take 
enamels without any danger of chipping. This ware does 
not require a hard firing and must be fired a little lighter 
with each successive firing. There are a number of ready 
prepared enamels on the market. 
These are without exception what are known as soft 
enamels. In this list we find a red enamel; this may be 
be used, as may all of them, on Belleek. Do not use them 
on French or German china, as nine times out of ten they 
will chip. Another ware which is delightful for enamels 
is Satsuma, a Japanese ware which has a very soft glaze. 
mhJ 
UMBRELLA HANDLE 
E. J. CHADEAYNE 
Few dealers carry it, but occasionally an advertisement 
of it is to be found in the Art Magazines, such as the Ker- 
amic Studio. 
It used to be rather difficult to procure, but quite a 
bit of it is being imported now for the use of our ceramic 
workers. The shapes are very often very quaint and in- 
teresting. This too, like the Belleek, requires only a light 
firing. A word here about the use of gold on either the 
Satsuma or Belleek. The glaze in either case is so soft 
that the mat gold sinks into it when fired and will not 
burnish. For this sort of ware, use the mixture of mat 
gold and liquid bright gold, directions for which were given 
in the lesson on gold. 
The English wares are also of the soft glaze class, but 
very little is imported of the plain white for decorating. 
It requires the same treatment as the other soft glaze wares. 
The student is advised to make a test plate. Mix different 
colors with the enamel body varying the tone. Place 
samples of each color on a fair sized plate, carefully num- 
bering each and keeping a corresponding list of the colors 
on paper. Note the color used, the proportion of enamel, 
and the composition of the body enamel. The time spent 
in making such a plate is well invested. It is invaluable 
as a reference when planning a piece of work. Place the 
different tones of each color in groups. Try toning the 
greens with black, or with Ruby or Violet. It can be 
readily seen of what value such a test plate would be, in 
making a color scheme for a piece. 
Good greens are made from Yellow Green or Apple 
Green. These may be toned with a touch of Ruby, Violet 
or Black. To make lighter greens, use more enamels. 
Blue — Banding Blue or Royal Blue. This also is 
toned with Black or Ruby. For blue inclined to a purple 
tone, use more Ruby. This may also be varied by using 
more or less body enamel. For turquoise jewels, add to 
enamel Russian Green which will need to be rather light, 
as the colors all deepen in firing. 
Pink — Use rose, mixing it with enamel, mnking a much 
lighter tone, as this fires much deeper. Another method 
is to paint in the form with white enamel. When this is 
thoroughly dry, skim over it lightly with a very thin wash 
of Rose. This must be done quickly and the color must 
be thin. Lavender oil is a good medium to use in this case. 
Violet or Lavender — Use Violet No. 2 and for bluer 
tones, add Baby Blue. This too is made lighter by adding 
more enamel. 
Sf3*E5S3££ 
POMADE BOX— C. S. BABCOCK 
