RERAMIC STUDIO 
283 
ANSWERS TO INQUIRIES 
V. 0. — A draw plate is a flat piece of steel pierced with rows of graduated 
holes ol' different sines and shapes, and lused for drawing wire. Wire oF Hi 
gauge can be drawn down to the smallest hole in the draw plnlc, 1>ut Hie wii-c 
must be anne-aled occasionally, as it becomes brittle in the drawing and In-caks. 
A. M. — Pure silver is better than sterling for making beryls — it is not 
so springy and shapes to the stone better. Use 28 or 30 gauge for ordinary 
beryls. 
G. B.— A piece of Circassian waliuil would he very suitable for the large 
traJ^ the grain of tlils wood is so beautiful, (inly a very simple design would 
be necessary. 
W. S. — It' tlie silver buttons arc repousseed they should lie barked with 
thin silver. 
O. T. — .\ ,i lb. pitch ball ami a (1 inch leather ring pad are the best sizes 
lor general use. 
E. S. — Doming punches are steel pmiches with round heads, they con\e 
in sets to ht the hollows in the Steel doming block. 
Miss K. I. — ^We will give a design for a silver tea strainer very soon. 
G. H. — Try a riffle file for cleaning up the small places. This curA'ed file 
will often reach an unfinished spot when a straight one will not. 
O. L. I. — ^Stencils are made from regular stencil impcr. bought f)\- the 
yard. They must be cut out with a very sharp knife and coatrd with shellac. 
F. P. — .\ window box made with the blue and white tiles would be very 
attracti^'e. Six 6 inch tiles for each side, and one at each end; these could 
be framed in grey wood and the interior of the box lined with tin or zinc. 
SHOP NOTES 
We are in receipt of Miss Mason's catalogtie of materials 
for porcelain decoration. It contains much valuable instrnc- 
tion in the use of colors, enamels, lustres, etc. 
A neat little folder has just been received from Stearns, 
Fitch & Co., Springfield, O., with illustrations^'of their cele- 
brated Kilns adapted to the tise of gas or charcoal. 
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. 
This column is otilv for subscribers whose names appear upon our list. Please 
do not send stamped envelopes for reph-. The editors can answer questions onlv 
in this column. 
All questions to be answered in the Magazine must be received before the 10th 
day of the month precedina issue. 
A. L. D. — We are alw-ays glad to give what information we can to 
subscribers. Occasionally it happens in the rush of business that letters are 
mislaid or lost but in tliis case your former letter was not received at all. 
There is a, dark blue both in powder and tube colors, Marsching & Co. carry 
the dark blue in powder if you can not find it anywhere else. 
For a deep red gromul use Pompadour — Deep Red Brown or Carnation I. 
Beside Royal and Dai-k Gireen there is Brown Green, A'ellow^ Green, Moss 
Green, Grass Green, Olive and man3' other tones between the two — or you can 
mux Albert Yellow or Yellow Bro-uii with j^our greens to change the tone. 
To make a sugar syrup for outlining dissolve enough sugar in hot water 
to make a thin .syrup, rub it well into your color and you should have no trouble 
in using for outlming either with pen or brush. Use nothhig else in the 
mixture but sugar, -water and powder color. 
ilrs. C. A. B. — For violets in Dresden colors use Ruby Piu'ple, Violet and 
Banding Blue. For puik and yellow roses see treatment of colored supple- 
ment "Little Roses," by Sara Wood Safford, No■^^ 1902. A good medirmi 
for powder colors: — 6 drops oil copaiba to 1 drop clove oil — for tube colors 
use equal parts turpentine and oil of lavander, turpentine alone for sharp 
touches. 
L. N. W. — Liquid bright gold is sometimes used with Roman gold for 
cheap gold effects on china, but it does not wear well and is not as fine a color 
as the Roman gold used alone. The liquid gold is put on for the first fire 
and Roman gold for the second — liquid gold is used as it comes in the bottle, 
thimung with gold essence or lavander oil if necessary. The Roman gold is 
usualh' thinned with spirits turpentine. 
M. D. S. — Tlie jardiniere of rococo design is so elaborately in relief that 
it is difficult to suggest a decoration. The shield or plain medallion on either 
side l)euig the only spot free from raised work should be left undecorated or 
simply tinted as contrast to the rest. This shape is well adapted to lustre 
decoration as the modelling catches the light and brings out the color in the 
lustre. The plain shape would look well with a body of black lustre arid a 
conventional border in lustre and gold or a tinted or groimded body with 
border in enamels and gold. 
.\. S. — In putthig lustre over gold and silver, the latter should first be 
burnished. Opal lustre is not very reli.-ilile, we often hear of its eomuig out 
of the fire with no color at all. 
Mi.ss B. C. — For painting mediums see Answer to C. A. B. Gold can be 
used over well dried color if the latter is not too heavy, Imt it is richer to have 
the white china under it. 
J. — ^Lustre can somethnes be used over a light coat of paint but the effect 
is not always good. We would prefer carrying out the design entirely in 
lustre with gold or bronze, lustre and paint do not combine so well. 
Opal and mother of pearl lustres are not reliable, we have had numerous 
c(jmi)laints latel\- in regard to them. The sugar and water can be used for 
ootliiiin"; oidy with powder color where no turpentine is combuied with it. 
Sec answer to X. L. D. Hancock's and other enamels can lie used flat Init it 
is not necessary to add them to .Vufsetzweis. 
Mrs. E. M. F. — The German Powder black makes a good dusted ground 
or a rich black can be made by dusting with pompadour or blood red and then 
Avith Banding blue — few blacks ha\-e a good tone used alone. Usually add a 
a little Banding blue, or for a warmer red, add pompadour. 
For Daffodils use Albert Yellow, Yellow Brown — a little Violet for 
shading — Royal Brown and Dark Green. 
U-ory Glaze is dusted over a finished painting to tone it all together and 
give it an even glaze. 
C. D. E. — The powder enamels should not need an addition of flux for 
flat use, but if you find yours does not glaze you can add J flux. You can out- 
fine in a second fire if you wish but it would lie better to outline tor first fire 
and retouch in second. Aufsetzweis always looks yellowish before firing and 
gives that tone to blue but usually it fires white and loses any yellow tone. 
There is no objection to a third fire for gold on jjaste but usually a second coat 
of gold over the first which has been dried will make the gold rich enough in 
the second fire. 
The floor of the overglaze kihi is always the hottest part and the back is 
usually hotter than the front. AA'e expect to give an article soon on the 
distinctions between naturslistie and con\-entional decoration. There is no 
reason why flowers could not be used con\'entionally or otherwise in any 
place where other motifs of decoration are in order. 
Mrs. S. ,J. B. — We should prefer doing the entire set in little roses as you 
suggest, to using different kinds of flowers. 
To get good piid-cs it is best to paint in liglitly first with Pompadoiu-, 
then' when everything is finished and fired, except perhaps the gold, use Rose 
delicately and do not fire too hard. 
For dusting or tinting the edges of plates, the t)resden yellow green is 
very good, as also Coalport and Sevres green, but these are lial)le to brown 
if underfired. Apple green also ^akes a delicate edge and Gelation or Grey 
green is ver}- effective. 
Any piece can be stacked leaning against the wall of the kiln but it is 
safer to put stilts between for large pieces. A piece filling the kiln diagonally 
Avould be safe if a stilt could be put behind it to prevent it wedging. Firhig 
tests are as nearh' reliahle as any way of gauging the fire, only practice will 
teach one when the fire is fust right. 
M. H. A. — .\ny tinting or painting in color will go over .-Vufsetzweis ex- 
cept the irou reds and browns. You might perhaps remoA-e the enamel with 
a fine sand paper and if the tint does not coAer tlie spot trj' a gold design, 
f: - X. — You win find a recipe for gold in the April 1902, number of Kehamxc 
Studio. The Rose Book just issued b>- the Keraiuic Studio Pub. Co. has a 
large collection of designs of little roses by various decoratoi's, with tli- 
rections for painting whicli you wo\ild find very helpfid. 
^0&^ :^f'' 
Syracuse, n:\. 
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N ILLUSTRATED eight=page addition to our Catalogue, 
\ showing color studies to=date is in preparation. 
SENT FREE ON APPLICATION. 
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