IlERAMIC STUDIO 
^ 
to retouch it, it should be allowed to dry first and then with 
a soft brush pass over the surface. The colors to use are 
Indigo, Brown Madder and Raw Sienna. 
MEDIUM FOR POWDER GOLD 
Anna B. Leonard 
USE equal parts of Balsam Copaiba, Lavender oil and Tar 
oil ; add twenty-five drops of oil of cloves to every 
ounce of this mixture. (This is also a good medium for 
powder colors). If gold is used, add two drops of this mix- 
ture with two drops of Dresden thick oil, thinning with 
turpentine. This is all that is necessary when covering paste 
or for ordinary gold work with liners or with pen, but when a 
larger surface of the china is to be covered the gold must be 
held open a little longer, therefore a drop or two more of the 
mixture is required, just as tinting oil is used, the object of 
the medium or mixture being to keep the gold open long 
enough to put on without the brush marks showing. When 
powder gold is of the best quality it must be used very thin, 
as thin as a flat wash of paint. Follow these suggestions and 
there will be no trouble, and if this is not plainly understood 
write to the Keramic Studio. 
Vase No. 405 Ceramic Art Co. for Leagi 
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. 
Mrs. M. 0. — The only possible method of blending a tinted color into 
a dusted color is to take some of the same powder color used in dusting 
and nib into the tinted color with a brush before it is quite dry. Ruby 
purple should always be rubbed thoroughly on ground glass before using. 
A nick in a piece of china will not develop further in firing unless a 
weight is placed on either side and possibly not then. You could fill the 
nick with Auf setzweis, using one-eighth flux, possibly it will shrink enough 
to require a second filling up. To mend a broken piece use same Aufsetz- 
weis on broken edge, press firmly together and bind with asbestos cord : if 
possible, do not wipe off all the enamel that oozes out on the under side 
as it helps hold. We consider the Aufsetzweis in tubes best for this work, 
that in powder is not so reliable, we can not explain why, as we do not 
understand the chemical composition of colors, but possibly the reason is 
that the proportion of oil is always the same in tube, while the powder is 
at the mercy of the decorator. 
Ordinary white wash is all right for your iron fire pot. No gold put 
up for the market is absolutely pure, in fact it wears better with a little 
alloy. We can not say how much alloy any particular make has. You 
must judge by the color, which should be quite yellow, and by the 
amount necessary to make a good appearance; one to two coats, if rightly 
applied, should be sufficient. In using lustres the brush is dipped into the 
bottle, otherwise much would be wasted Wood alcohol is only fit for 
washing brushes ; lustre can be put on and fired at the same time as color, 
but can not be put on over unfired color. A matt effect is the result of 
putting lustre over fired color; lustres should have a hard fire. If lustres 
are used on the same piece with painted violets or roses they should not 
be too brilliant, light or dark green, yellow, brown or grey blue would be 
best; flowers do not look well painted in lustres unless treated conven- 
tionally. 
Your suggestion of a colored study of wild roses or larkspur violets is 
a good one, unfortunately we can not always get the studies we would 
like, however we expect to give a color study of wild roses by Miss Jen- 
kins some time in the next four months. 
Explain clearly what you Wish to know about the charcoal kiln and 
we will give you all possible information. You will get good brushes 
from any of our advertisers of art material. They all keep about the same 
stock. 
Mrs. H. V. B.— The recipe for gold is iu the September, 1901, number 
just before Answers to Correspondents. Glass for firiug should be Bohe- 
mian or Baccarat to be most reliable, though other glass will fire but must 
be tested before decorating, to make sure. 
Mrs.W. A. R. — Moss green is very unreliable on Belleek, firing brown 
or yellowish, rolling up or cracking if put on thick, and losing its gloss. 
We gave a very good study of strawberries by Miss Stewart in the May 
number, 1900, of Keramic Studio. Can not say whether we shall have 
one in pen and ink later. Even if your painting oil dries quickly you will 
find quite a little powder color will adhere if rubbed into the painting 
thoroughly. Flux used with color gives a higher gloss, too much would 
fade the color. The ivory glaze and azure glaze are simply colors highly 
fluxed, which, when dusted over a painting, give a higher finish and 
hold all together by the uniform tone they give. 
We have never heard of egg yellow, if used purely, turning grey or 
green in the Kiln. Mixing yellow sometimes fires grey green under ex- 
treme heat. Would judge that impure color had been accidentally used, 
or else gases had formed in the Kiln. 
To decorate a dozen, tea cups with little work but effectively, the best 
suggestion we can make is to uss lustre bands with a design in flat gold 
over. The lustre in itself is verv decorative and easily put on— a light de- 
sign in flat gold to fiuish this ed^s would be all tha work necessary. We 
would prefer ourselves a design in blue monochrome similar to those in 
Miss Peacock's exhibit in February Keramic Studio. 
Bands of yellow brown lustre with design of some flower taken out in 
white and outliued in gold would be dainty. 
A. A. L. — If you wish to make your fired gold band narrower it would 
be best to take it off with acqua regia or hydrofluoric acid, first dipping 
piece into melted wax and cleaning off portion of gold to be removed. It 
would not be safe to cover band with color. You could cover it with 
green lustre but. oe course, the gold effsct would show through. Usually 
the charge is higher for firiug English plates, as great care has to be taken 
and the risk of breakage is much greater than with French china. 
M. P. D.— The reason your paint chipped in the third fire was no 
doubt on account of its bging heavily put on, though why it should chip in 
the third fire and not in the second is one of those problems of firing not 
yet explained. It would be dangerous to retouch and fire it, as it would 
probably then chip in another place. About drying pieces in the oven — it 
is rather risky when quite wet if the color is heavily put on, otherwise 
not— but care must be taken that the oven is quite clean, as the moisture 
or grease from cooking will sometimes settle on the piece and cause the 
"weeping" of which you speak. 
M- H.— You say 'part of your yellow brown lustre came out light 
green. The only possible, explanation is that in some way your brush 
must have had light green in it, either it was dipped into the wrong bottle, 
or was not thoroughly clean. If the fault was with the lustre, it would 
have all come out light green. 
Mrs. L. C. K— To get the dark metallic effects in lustre, you must 
rely on two or three fires— dark green, light green or yellow over purple 
or black or ruby— will produce most of the iridesceut colors. To get a 
bronze effect, the lustre is used over fired and scoured gold. To make an 
even tinting on a large piece you will have to use a little oil of lavender to 
keep the color open till it is padded all around with a silk pad. You will 
have to rely on repeated fires for depth of color if you wish it even. To 
use raised gold or enamel over the lustre, it is safest to have the lustre 
finished first, but not necessary. You can work over lustre as over a tint 
of color. 
