n8 
KERAMIC STUDIO 
TREATMENT OF FLEUR-DE-LIS STUDY (Supplement) 
F. B. Aulich 
FOR china painting I would advise that the study be applied 
to tall shapes or where a long stem can be introduced. 
The Fleur-de-Lis is also prettier when painted in the natural 
size. The flower is a difficult one to paint, and careful atten- 
tion must be paid to the drawing. For the Violet tints in the 
upper petals use Turquoise Blue mixed with a little Rose, the 
quantity of both depending on the depths of Violet to be 
desired. If you wish a pale lavender use Air Blue instead of 
Turquoise in the mixture. For the lower dark petals use 
Crimson Purple with Banding Blue. For the centre and 
inside parts and the narrow shaped stripes down the centre of 
each petal curling downward use Lemon Yellow and shade 
with Albert and Yellow Brown. Do not forget the purple 
veins in the petals which lose themselves in the yellow centre. 
The three petals hanging downwards are always darker than 
the others. 
When you paint the white fleur-de-lis use a gray made of 
Yellow Green and Violet, first lay in Lemon Yellow, Blue, 
and shade with gray. There are purple veins in the lower 
petals also. Yellow Green, Blue Green and Shading green 
can be used in the leaves. For the distant greens use more 
blue. The general character of the greens in this plant is cold 
in tone, but as in all paintings use warmer colors in the 
leaves, etc. For the first firing you may lay in color scheme 
as given above, using colors very oily for the painting of 
backgrounds also. The background is laid in for the second 
firing, which I consider more practical for the less experi- 
enced painter, as he can change the color scheme and effects 
to suit the individual taste, and if not successful can wipe off 
the tint without destroying the design. The last firing I use 
for finishing and accents and a general rounding up of the 
color scheme and light and shade. 
TREATMENT FOR WATER COLORS. 
Put in the background first by using Payne's Grey and 
Indian Yellow with a little carmine in it. For the violet 
tints use new blue and rose madder mixed and blue and car. 
mine for the lower petals. The leaves are laid in as the back- 
ground, only in a little brighter tones, using more yellow for 
the prominent ones and more blue in the distant ones. The 
whole should be done very watery to get a good effect. 
GOLD 
Emily F. Peacock 
[Reprinted from our October, 1899, Keramic by request.] 
TO the amateur, the preparing of gold for keramic decora- 
tion seems a great undertaking, but with the proper appar- 
atus, materials and care, this should not be. Then the pleasure 
and profit derived from using pure gold, more than compen- 
sates for time expended. There are two methods generally 
used. In both, the metal is dissolved in aqua regia, and when 
precipitated is in the form of a light brown powder. By one 
method the gold is precipitated by j 'err os sulphate (copperas), 
the other by mercury. The former I prefer, and give as 
follows: 
Take four pennyweights of pure ribbon gold, cut into 
small pieces, and put in a large measuring glass or porcelain 
vessel holding not less than a pint, cover with about an ounce 
and a half of aqua regia, placing over vessel a piece of common 
glass. Let this stand over night in a large room, or prefera- 
bly, in the open air. In the morning pour the chloride of 
gold into two glass vessels, each holding three pints or more, 
being very careful not to waste a drop, as every grain counts 
when the precipitate is formed. Then make a solution, taking 
about a quart of warm water to an ounce of ferros sulphate. 
When thoroughly dissolved, add to the chloride until precipi- 
tation begins, clouding the liquid, and the gold in the form of 
brown powder will begin to fall to the bottom of the vessel. 
Let this stand four or five hours, or until entirely settled ; then 
pour off the clear liquid from the precipitate, treating it as 
before, as the gold held in solution may not all have been 
precipitated; i. e., pour off clear liquid into another vessel, to 
this must be added more of the prepared solution, until it is 
cloudy as in the first instance ; if it refuses to cloud there is no 
more gold in solution. Wash the precipitate left in the vessels 
with warm water, let it stand until settled, pour off, and repeat 
the process twice. The washing consists of stirring the pre- 
cipitate with a glass rod a few times in the water. When it 
has settled for the last time, pour off the water and transfer 
to a shallow plate that will bear heat ; place over this a paper 
cover, and put in front or over a fire. When quite dry, rub 
down with a muller, when it is ready for use or to be fluxed. 
Divide your powder into pennyweights. In this way you will 
find out how much you have made. All liquid used should 
be poured through filter paper afterwards, to make sure you 
do not lose the smallest quantity. When dry this may be 
burned, and only the grains of gold remains. To make flux, 
use nitrate of bismuth, twelve parts, to one part of pulverized 
borax; mixing one part flux to twelve parts of the gold pow. 
der. When ready to use, rub down to a proper consistency 
with fat oil and spirits of turpentine, taking care not to make 
it too thin. If made as directed, one coat of this gold is suffi- 
cient for this purpose. 
A couple of glass rods, several pieces of glass for covers, 
and a large jar to hold solution, besides vessels already men- 
tioned, will be necessary, and each one of these must be 
washed scrupulously clean before using. Glazed paper is best 
for wrapping up gold powder, and a small pair of scales will 
be found very useful. 
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. 
This column is only for subscribers whose names appear upon our list. Please 
do not send stamped envelopes for reply. The editors can answer questions only 
in this column. 
C. D. E. Verv frequently when hard enamel has been fired hard and 
then fired at a lower temperature it shows a tendency to chip off, but paste is 
rather expected to be fired lighter the second time for enamels, etc. We think 
the trouble must be either in the ware you are using, or the medium may not 
be just right. A heat sufficient to glaze rose nicely ought to be strong enough 
for paste. Why not try fat or thick oil and lavender instead of turpentine 
during this warm weather which affects all oils more or less, and especially 
turpentine. When paste is not just right, it will sometimes fire all right in 
the first fire and chip in the second. 
You can use Carmine No. 3 for first fire and rose for second, but not vice 
versa. Better make a test first on a bit of broken china, to see if it is the 
tone you desire. Rose used first is likely to purple in second fire. 
L. K. — You will find the formula for gold in this issue. 
E. M. H. — There is no reason why a good pink enamel should fire white. 
Perhaps there was some mistake in your bottle. Wc would return it to the 
dealer, explaining the trouble and asking for a new bottle. 
Mrs. W. R. O'N-— We will send you the La Croix color chart which you 
desire. We do not understand why cement for mending china should turn 
dark in any kiln, but if you have that trouble we should advise using Auf- 
setzweis in tubes for mending instead of cement Fire hard. We would 
suggest as a decoration lor your ice tub one of the conventional borders 
given in the KERAMIC STUDIO. There are many to choose from. Carry 
the design up on handles and, if desired, drop the single principal ornament 
at intervals below the border and a little design in flat gold on the inside to 
correspond. 
MRS. P. A. B.— If you wish to write an article on "China Painting as a 
fine art," the best material we can refer you to for modern decoration is to the 
various articles in back numbers on the different potteries and their work. For 
the older work you can look in any of the reference books mentioned in the 
list on publisher's page. You will have to add to this from your own expe- 
rience. 
