H4 
DOROTHEA WARREN O'HARA 
132 East 119th Street, New York City 
KERAMIC STUDIO 
Page Editor 
PORRIDGE SET 
Black — Old Blue Enamel hard. Dark Grey — River Green Enamel hard. 
Light Grey — Dark Violet Enamel hard. 
r I "*HE scarcity of good shapes to work on has made the New 
*- York china decorator look around in department store 
basements and in all unusual places from ten cent stores and 
small Japanese shops to the wonderful china houses on Fifth 
Avenue, where heretofore we have only thought of going to pur- 
chase expensive decorated china. In these exclusive shops we 
have found the lovely undecorated Wedge wood which can be had 
in a wide variety of the most charming colorings — dull yellow, 
pale blue, gray green, rose and white. 
As a result of this searching, unusual and interesting things 
have been seen in the Exhibitions. The china decorator has 
been brought' more in touch with the interior decorator, con- 
sequently, her viewpoint has been broadened. She is not 
found aimlessly doing a cup and saucer which has no relation 
to anything else she has. 
A breakfast set of cream colored Italian peasant ware, 
was found at one of the department stores and decorated with 
a little bright enamel sprigs. The cloth and napkins were of 
coarse gray linen, finished with an Italian hem-stitched edge. 
This breakfast set when seen in the country home for which 
it was made, certainly possessed an air of great distinction. 
It was arranged in Japanese fashion, with pale yellow and violet 
asters in the center of the table. 
The fascinating Japanese tea-sets with colored glazes are 
also very nice for country homes, bungalows, porch sets etc. 
I have just decorated a mulberry set with a simple little motif 
on each side of the tea-pot, creamer, sugar, cups and centers 
of plates and with bands on edge of plates, saucers and inside 
edge of cups and top and bottom of the tea-pot creamer and 
sugar. All handles have lines same size as bands. Only one 
enamel was used in decorating this set, Dark Blue enamel, 
soft. The napkins and tray cloth matched in color the Dark 
Blue enamel and the Bamboo tray was also painted the exact 
shade of the Dark Blue enamel. The linens have a very simple 
crochet edge, done with a mulberry shade of embroidery floss, 
"Royal Society", India, color number 213. 
The English Wedgwood, which is beautiful in texture and 
shape, has been decorated in many interesting ways. A pale 
blue tea set was decorated in Manchu Blue enamel and silver, 
with just a little touch of Old Chinese pink enamels. The 
Center ornament for Porridge Bowl 
linens matched the blue enamel in color and the tray was 
silvered. As this ware requires rather a light fire to prevent 
sanding, soft enamels must be used for decorating. 
The pitcher here illustrated is part of a set that may 
be used for berries, puddings, porridge or anything that requires 
cream or milk and is served in a sauce dish. The set is of 
common yellow kitchen ware, and was purchased in a ten 
cent store; even so, each piece was carefully selected. In 
order to avoid mistakes in making selections, I will give the 
dimensions: Sauce dish, six inches at top, three and one 
half inches at base, two inches high; plate eight inches, one 
inch high, shoulder one and one quarter inch. The pitcher 
comes only in the one size as illustrated. Hard enamels 
were used for decorating: Dark Violet, Old Blue and River 
Green. Be sure to apply thinly. The design should be made 
smaller to fit the bottom of the porridge dish. The same scal- 
lop band found on the pitcher, should go on the edge of porridge 
dish and plate. This scallop edge is the only decoration on 
the plates. 
In doing this cheap ware, the designs must be simple and 
the execution spontaneous to be interesting. Never fire the 
cheap ware but once and then be very careful not to overfire. 
Foil size medallion for Porridge Set 
