RERAMIC STUDIO 
13 
THEiFLATTERER AND THE NET (Banyan's Pilgrim's Progress)— 
F. A. RHEAD 
THE DECORATION OF POTTERY IN THE CLAY STATE 
PATE-SUR-PATE 
F. A. Rhead 
THE process known as pate-sur-pate (or paste on paste) 
is one of the most delicate if not the most difficult of 
ceramic processes. 
M. Taxile Doat has produced examples of pate-sur-pate 
in a variety of novel forms, both by itself and in combination 
with other decorative methods. M. Solon, in his article in the 
London "Studio", wonders whether a painter or a sculptor will 
succeed the more quickly in discovering the way of drawing 
out of the process all that it may yield under proper treatment. 
That its decorative range is wider than has yet been demon- 
strated is unquestionable. I have myself made one or two 
essays in its application, which go far to show that the pos- 
sibilities are extensive. The plaque illustrating "The Flatterer 
and the Net," from Bunyan's "Pilgrim's Progress," is an 
amplification of the ordinary methods, inasmuch as the back- 
ground is polychromatic. The sky is yellow and low toned 
red, the foliage and the rest of the landscape is quiet myrtle, 
olive and bronze tones, while the "flatterer" is wrapped in a 
semi-transparent red cloak. The figures of the captives under 
the net and the punishing angel are in pure white. Although 
this plaque was done purely as an experiment the efl'ect is quite 
legitimate, and not at all bizarre. I have also another plaque 
with a figure of "Giant Despair" cased in armour. The land- 
scape backgi^ound in this is also done in colours, but the tints 
are subdued so that at a little distance the general effect is 
almost monochromatic. The face and hands are modelled in 
white, and the giant has wisps of lank hair falling from under 
his helmet in black. He has green pupils in his eyes, and these 
touches of color in combination with the whiteness of his face, 
give him an unearthly appearance, in keeping with his title 
and character. 
His armour was etched with hydro-fluoric acid in elaborate 
patterns and gilt and scoured. 
I have mentioned these examples to show that the use of 
this method of decoration need not be confined to the ordinary 
cameo-like effects, but may be extended to fit the ingenuity 
of an enterprising craftsman. 
The idea of pate-sur-pate, was not founded, as might be 
supposed, on the Wedgwood Jasper wares. The resemblance 
is only superficial. Both have cameo-like figures in white on 
dark grounds, but there the similarity ends. The jasper figures 
are opaque, or nearly so, while the figures in pate-sur-pate are 
translucent, and the thinner parts of the modelling suggests 
shadow by showing the ground through in a greater or lesser 
degree, as desired. 
About the middle of the last century the Curator of the 
Museum of Sevres admired so much the efi'ect of a Chinese 
vase in the Museum that he induced one of the modellers 
at the Imperial factory, Mr Fishback, to make trials with a 
view of obtaining similar effects in the Sevres porcelain. The 
result exceeded the anticipations of the experimentalists, and 
pate-sur-pate became a standard process at Sevres. M. Solon 
was asked by M. Regnault, the Director of the Imperial factory, 
to assist in the development of the new venture. He did so, 
and during his spare time accepted commissions from M. 
Rousseau, and a large series of plaques were exhibited at the 
"Union Centrale des Arts appliques a ITndustrie," in 1865. 
M. Regnault pointed out in his official reports the difference 
existing between M. Solon's technical method and that em- 
ployed at Sevres, and as a further acknowledgment, requested 
him to decorate a large vase to go with the exhibit of the 
Imperial factory to the International Exhibition of 1867. 
The outbreak of the Franco-Prussian war led to M. Solon's 
engagement by the great English Minton firm, and his adapta- 
tion of pate-sur-pate to the English bodies was a new and 
interesting departure, which we will deal with later 
This decoration may be applied to any semi-vitrifiable 
body, but the materials of the vase or plaque and the decora- 
tion applied must be of the same nature. 
There are no secrets connected with the application of 
this process. There are, it is true, certain arbitrary rules, 
which must be observed, in spite of the fact that they contra- 
PLAQUE— LAURENCE A. BIRKS 
PLAQUE, WASHING DAY— L. M. SOLON 
