14 
RERAMIC STUDIO 
diet generally accepted theories. It is generally understood 
that all clay decoration must be executed while the piece is 
damp, and that it must be kept in exactly the same state of 
dampness until the decoration is completed. With pate-sur- 
pate the exact reverse is the case. The vase or other object 
intended to be decorated must be absolutely dry, in fact, it is 
actually advisable to pass it through an easy fire — say an 
enamel kiln — before beginning to work upon it. This will make 
the piece about as hard as chalk and will make handling of 
the object less irksome, by minimizing the risk of breakage. 
Even now it is fragile, and if it happens to be a vase with a 
delicate or unsubstantial foot it is better to embed it in sand, 
or prop it in a jar or cylinder, packed with cotton, leaving 
exposed the portion to be decorated. If the foot is to be 
decorated, the vase can be taken out of the cylinder and turned 
upside down. 
We will now suppose that the vase or plaque is made of 
solid dark colored clay, or has a sufficiently thick and even 
coating of the color required, and is slightly hardened by a 
fire in the kiln as described. A careful drawing to exact scale 
should be made of the design to be applied, and an equally 
careful tracing prepared. By placing this tracing on the vase 
in the required place, and passing over it lightly but firmly 
with a hard, fine pointed pencil, it will be found that the design 
will be slightly indented in the surface of the piece, and will be 
a sufficient guide for the application of the slip. 
The white clay should be mixed with water, in a saucer, 
to the consistency of thin cream, and applied with a sable 
brush. It will be found puzzling at first, because the absorption 
is so rapid, but a very little practise, and the exercise of a little 
judgment in the mixing of the slip to the exact consistency, 
will soon overcome any apparent difficulty. The outline must 
be very firm and exact. The first tracing need have no detail 
of any kind — it should have, in fact, only the outside or con- 
taining outline. When this white flat silhouette is filled, ',in 
on the vase, it must dry, and a second coat be applied. 
But the drying of one coat before another is applied is 
one of the rules which must be observed, or there will be crack- 
ing or blistering. It will be found absolutely impossible to 
get a perfectly level coat with the brush alone. When the 
second coat is applied it should be levelled by light scraping. 
The result should be exactly similar to a silhouette cut out of 
two ply cardboard and pasted on the dark ground. The clay 
should be about the same thickness as the cardboard and the 
edges should be just as square and firm. If they are not per- 
fectly firm, they should be strengthened and levelled by a fine 
brush well charged with "slip," and finished with a steel tool. 
This is the first plane, and it is the most important part of the 
work. Any re-iteration or repetition of instructions in these 
papers must be excused, because it is essential that certain direc- 
tions should be well understood. 
To sum up, Figure 1 is the first plane, consisting of a thin 
film of slip on a dark ground. 
1. It should be level with firm edges. 
2. It should be about the thickness of thin cardboard. 
In levelling this plane with the steel scraper, it will be found 
at commencement that the pencilled surface will be full of 
little undulations, owing to the rapid absorption of the slip 
by the porous body. The tops of these undulations should be 
scraped off' as in sectional Figure 2, down to the line A, leaving 
a number of little hollows. These hollows should again be 
filled with slip, dried, and scraped. If this is not done, there 
will be a danger of scraping the film too thin. 
This plane represents the minimum thickness, or lowest 
thickness of the relief. In other words, the relief must be 
nowhere thinner than the first plane. It must be built up in 
varying gi-adations to form the desired contours and relief, 
but always on this platform. If the design is anywhere thinner, 
