202 
KERAMiC STUDIO 
Karchesium, adapted from'-Greek example in Brit- 
ish Musenm, painted underglaze by F. A. Rhead. 
It is executed in a scheme of greens with a black 
background. The handles are Chrome Green, 
the light bands Victoria Green, and the flowers 
shaded pale Pea Green. It was exhibited with 
other vases at Paris. 
Terra Cotta vase, painted under- 
glaze by F. A. Rhead. Back- 
ground Red with Russet and 
Citron bands. The peacock is 
natural colors with bright Tur- 
quoise eyes in tail. 
UNDERGLAZE PAINTING 
F. Alfred Rhead 
(continued) 
The best palette of underglaze colors was made by the 
late Mr. Thomas Brougham, of Staffordshire, England, and 
on his death his stock and recipes were bought by Mr. 
Wenger who has agents in America. Brougham supplied 
the whole Continent of Europe, and many color makers 
purchased his colors and re-sold them; and his palette will 
be found the most complete and best available. Poulenc, 
of Paris, has an excellent palette, but he has no agent in 
America. 
The Chromo Transfer Company, of Stoke on Trent, 
England, make a very fine range of underglaze colors. 
These may be obtained from Mr. Frederick H. Rhead, of 
Zanesville, Ohio, and a set of samples sufficient to do quite 
a number of articles can be got at a very cheap rate. The 
English underglaze colors are much the best, and are chiefly 
used all over the Continent of Europe. Mr. G. T. Croxall 
of East Liverpool, also supplies » both Wenger's and the 
Chromo Company's colors. 
Good effects may be secured in underglaze colors by 
the use of the atomizer or aerograph. Shaded or blended 
grounds can be done by this means, but if applied to painted 
pieces, the process should be employed after, and not before 
the painting is executed. Grounds may be also done (on 
flat surfaces) with a printer's roller, rolled in color. mixed 
with an adhesive oil, such as linseed, and rolled upon the 
tiles or slabs until quite level. This process gives a qual- 
ity of surface' 'something 'between Morocco leather and 
primed canvas, and is valuable on that account. The well 
known Austrian flower painter, Mussill, always had his tiles 
and slabs prepared in this way. 
Any color may be chosen for the ground. But the paint- 
ing must be done in opaque colors applied in exactly the 
same manner as oil colors. It is, in fact, one of the great 
advantages of underglaze painting that the technique may 
be varied indefinitely. The water color or mineral color 
painter can employ his or her little technical devices, and 
the decorator accustomed to oils may use his own method 
of painting by the employment of impasto underglaze 
colors. But this requires some variation in the prepara- 
tion and application of the colors, and this will be dealt 
with later. 
The method of painting naturally, either flowers, 
birds, animals, figures or landscapes, cannot be laid down 
arbitrarily. It depends upon the ordinary practice of 
the worker, who may easily find a means to adapt his own 
style to the necessities of underglaze painting. As has 
been pointed out before, the absorbency of the "biscuit" 
may be either utilized or discarded. Assuming that the 
artist is accustomed to water color work, the vase, pitcher, 
or what not, may be done in a series of successive washes, 
as many water colors are done. 
Or, assuming that a certain "on glaze" method is 
preferred, i. e., that of putting on the color in smooth pulpy 
masses, and taking out the lights with a brush, this may be 
done also. In this case, a pretty strong size (as already 
described) must be used to absolutely check the absorb- 
ency, and to even give the appearance of a slight glaze, 
and the color must be made more flexible by the addition 
of a little vaseline or similar medium. An experiment or 
two will demonstrate the exact amount. For ordinary 
painting, white should not be used except in certain mix- 
tures, such as the blue already described, or when the 
painting is on tinted bodies. In landscape, the ordinary- 
water color method is best. Care should be taken that 
each successive "wash" or painting is perfectly dry before 
the next is applied. 
In painting portraits, heads, or the human figure, 
much depends upon the style and amount of finish desired. 
The great French painter, Lessore, whose underglaze 
paintings command fabulous prices, painted with great 
dash and freedom. He dashed in a sketchy outline with 
a pen, in manganese brown, and with a large and vigorous 
brush put in the draperies, backgrounds and skies. The 
flesh he did with a smaller brush, but with equal vigor. 
He seemed to absolutely ignore the peculiarity of the 
material, and to paint just as though he was working in 
water color on paper. With a curiously restricted palette 
he got great variety and richness of effect, and his plaques 
and vases had all the amplitude and dignity of the best 
Italian majolicas. 
Boullemier, accustomed to the high finish of Sevres, 
found at the Minton firm at Stoke a new outlet for his 
technical skill and fine sense of color in Minton 's under- 
glaze wares. He had three methods of painting in under- 
glaze, cleverly adapting each to his subject and the partic- 
ular class of ware he was decorating. One method was 
similar to that employed by Lessore, except that he care- 
fully finished and "stippled" the heads and hands. The 
rest was done in square and expressive touches. His 
second method was the employment of "impasto" colors. 
He mixed white with his colors until they had the requisite 
body (the colors cannot be used beyond a certain thick- 
ness without the admixture of white) and boldly applied 
them with hoghair brushes, and even a palette knife. The 
colors, used in this way, are apt to have a chalky effect, 
but Boullemier neutralized this by painting over the opaque 
preparation with transparent washes. By this means he 
obtained depth and lichness. His third method was the 
application of his ordinary "china painting" style. He 
worked and "stippled" until he achieved a degree of finish 
surprising to the ordinary painter in underglaze colors. 
He proved, in fact, that almost anything can be accom- 
plished with the underglaze palette. I have often sat 
with him while he worked, and have to thank him for 
many little technical tricks. In his ordinary work (on 
glaze) he made a very free use of the needle, — an ordinary 
sharp darning needle lashed with silk to a pencil stick. 
This he used to break up surfaces, and obtain a "texture*' 
