94 
KERAMIC STUDIO 
No. 4. Corner of a table c 
1 gi-ey green velour, stenciled in greenislx gold. 
When this surface is perfectly dry, the stencil will be ready 
for use. For example, if you have a frieze, an allover pattern, 
or any decoration to apply to a wall, have the design repeated 
several times on your stencil, as it will greatly facilitate the 
work; tack it down as firmly as possible, to the wall, and steadj^ 
with one hand while you stipple with the other. Use a 
stencil brush varjdng in size according to your design. Re- 
move all superfluous moisture from j'our brush before starting 
to apply it to the surface. This rule appertains to stenciling 
on any fabric or surface, and is the only way to secure a clear 
edge to your design. Stenciling on velour and other materials 
is more difficult, and good technique is only possible from 
experiment and practice. For intricate designs small round 
bristle brushes will be found useful, particular^ where several 
colors are to be employed on the one stencil. Oil color thinned 
with turpentine, fresco paint, transparent water color, dyes 
and all bronze powders mixed with gum arable or any good 
mixing liquid can be used, but for sdk, ooze leather, or any 
material where you want the surface qualit}^ to show' through, 
the dyes are by far the best; for some fabrics a little gum arabic 
may sometimes be added to the dyes to prevent them from 
running, but this is not practical where it would spoil the 
brilliant lustre, as in velour, or when it would stift'en thin 
fabrics. Although a stenciled design should never have its 
edge destroyed, after remoAdng the stencil, it is often found 
necessary to retouch some of the spaces and this nray be done 
without altering it in the least. To secure a rich surface of 
gold, especially on a fabric after the bronze is stippled on, take 
a fairly large sable or bristle brush and wash over each space 
with the gold mixture until you get the effect desired. 
Besides the knife, a small steel punch is indispensable 
where numerous dots form part of the design, this method is 
freciuently used by the Japanese who excel in the art of stencil 
washing. A study of the marvelously cut Japanese stencils 
will prove very helpful to anyone interested in this subject, and 
one little volume, called " Illustrations of the Art of the Jap- 
anese Stencil-cutter," by Andrew W. Tuer, F. S. A., contains 
some fine reproductions. 
Stencils should never be rolled or folded. Tack them 
to a wall or better still, if thej- are not too large, place them in a 
flat box or drawer, keeping something heavy upon them. 
All the illustrations of this article with the exception of 
frieze No. 6 were especially designed to be executed in three 
or more colors giving a very different appearance than where 
reproduced in a single tone. Numberless variations maj' be 
obtained from one stencil by varying the tones and colors in a 
design, so that the original interpretation could scarcely be 
recognized. 
No. .5. Stencil design for border. 
No. 6. Frieze stenciled in dxall red on a background of lighter tone, with ceiling 
of the same lighter tone. Wall dull peacock bliie and velour hangings of the same 
shade as the stencil. 
CARVED FURNITURE 
THOSE thousands of articles m carved mahogany turned 
out by the furniture factories and made to look like 
antiques are carved by machinery. The machine is one of the 
most ingenious, elaborate and expensive of modem inventions 
— so much so, indeed, that it can be used profitably only by 
those who turn out furniture wholesale. 
Even the introduction of the machine has not been able 
to ruin the hand carvers, for the work of the machine must be 
followed bj' that of a skilled carver who shapes and smoothes 
it until to the eye of the untaught it seems to be all handwork. 
So great has been the demand for carved furniture, indeed, 
that it is b\^ no means certain that the introduction of the 
W'Ood carving machine has not made more work for the liand 
carver. 
Wood carvers in New Yorlc are chiefly Germans or men of 
German descent, Italians and a few skilled Frenchmen. Some 
men work in the factories as finishers, others work for the 
skilled cabinetmakers, and still others have little shops of their 
own where they employ a few men and boys and do perhaps 
the most delicate work themselves. 
The best carvers earn S4 or $5 a day, but are seldom em- 
I^loyed the year around. A few of much more than average 
skill get considerabty higher A\ages. A man emploj-ed by the 
