184 
KOVAMIC STUDIO 
MEDALLION WITH FLAT ROSE PATTERN 
A COURSE IN CHINA DECORATION 
By JETTA EHLERS 
(Courtesy of the American Woman's League) 
(continued) 
EIGHTH LESSON— RAISED PASTE 
"O AISED paste is the term applied to a composition of 
-IV the nature of clay, which stands up in relief when 
placed upon the china. 
It is used for modeling various forms, floral, geomet- 
rical or otherwise, and after it has been fired is covered 
with gold and again fired. 
This raised gold is then burnished after the same 
method used in burnishing flat gold. Very rich effects are 
to be obtained by the contrast of both raised and flat gold 
in the same decoration. 
In studying the beautiful old European porcelains 
in the museums, many fine specimens of paste work are 
to be seen. The fact that it still charms and interests 
us is proof that it is "right." For, after all, that is the 
"acid test" of art. Fads may come and go, but the things 
that are good give us just as keen a sense of their beauty 
to-day as when we first possessed them. 
The German craftsmen seem to excel in this partic- 
ular branch of decoration. While much of their modern 
work is greatly over-decorated and ornate, one is lost in 
admiration of the absolutely perfect technique with which 
it is done. 
Very little decoration of china with raised paste by 
the amateur has been done of recent years. Probably 
the chief reason for this has been the flagrant abuse of it 
in the past. 
There was a time when the decorator, instinctively 
feeling her design (or shall we say lack of design) to be 
wanting in some indefinable way, fell back on elaborate 
scrolls of raised paste to save the day, so-called rococo 
scrolls, under which head masqueraded many an atrocity, 
far removed from the graceful curves of the French style 
of that period. Very little paste has been generally used 
of late, but when its possibilities are recognized by the 
amateur its use -will surely be revived. Paste may be 
combined with lustres, or with tinting or groundlaid color. 
Enamels and flat gold or silver also may be used; in fact, 
the possibilities are unlimited. 
It may be modelled in high relief, in fine wire-like 
lines, or used almost flat for flowers and ornaments. 
Paste is also used extensively for monograms on table- 
ware. This sort of work must be done with a certain 
freedom of motion. That is, the lines must flow with 
ease and grace if curved, and must be firm and even if 
straight. Practise at first upon an old plate until ac- 
customed to handling the paste. Better a little time used 
in this way acquiring experience than to take up the les- 
son at once with an uncertain hand. The paste is at times 
very contrary, but by carefully reading and following the 
directions given with the lesson the student should be 
BORDER OF DAISIES 
