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KERAMIC STUDIO 
BIRD DESIGN FOR TILE— MAUD M. MASON 
MAUD M. MASON 
218 West 59th Street, New York City 
Page Editor 
BIRD DESIGN FOR TILE 
THE bird design for a tile would be effective developed in 
lustres, by first toning the tile with a rich golden brown 
lustre and firing it before painting on the design. A good tint 
for this purpose would be equal parts of Brown and Orange 
lustres thinned with a little essence, painted on very evenly 
with a large shader or padded. After the design is traced, 
outline the pattern with a delicate ink line just inside of the 
light spaces, as few lines as will serve as a guide, as the lustre 
must not go over them. Then carefully clean off the greasy 
tracing and paint all the darks with copper lustre. 
Lustres on these soft tiles require a very light firing. Tiles 
treated in this manner would be very handsome around a fire 
place giving a very sparkling and glowing effect as they re- 
flect everything near them. 
A color scheme in enamels would also be effective. For 
this purpose use' the Mason soft enamels. Dark Blue for the 
darks — Lavender Blue plus equal parts of White for lights. 
Another Scheme — Black Enamel for the darks, with 
Emerald Green and Citron Yellow distributed in the bird and 
wing forms. 
IN REGARD TO THE CHINA SITUATION 
WHILE some of our workers are experiencing difficulties 
in obtaining the French and German wares to which 
they have been accustomed, this fact need not prove to be a 
source of inconvenience or trouble, as it brings to our attention 
the possibilities of other wares such as the Japanese and wares 
of home manufacture Of the latter I have used many of the 
large bowls as well as smaller pieces most successfully and 
although they are heavy, they are usually simple and interest- 
ing in form and take both enamels and lustres satisfactorily. As 
their glaze is soft, they require only a moderate firing. It 
is always well first to experiment with a small piece in a simple 
design, in order to acquaint oneself with the possibilities of the 
glazes before attempting a very elaborate decoration. 
In my class at the Fawcett School some of the most inter- 
esting pieces decorated this year have been a group of common 
yellow cooking bowls bought for ten cents at a five and ten 
cents store. They were good in form and lovely in color, 
being a beautiful tawny yellow and when decorated in simple 
designs in black and brilliant colors in harmony with the char- 
acter of the bowls, they made very interesting pieces. 
A very amusing story was told me of the purchase of these 
bowls. The saleswoman in the shop thought the first pur- 
chaser was decidedly over fastidious in the selection of her 
ten cent bowl, but when a second purchaser happened in and 
