MODELING IN RELIEF.
Under this head may be comprised the decorative modeling of figures
and other designs upon pottery, in various degrees of relief. First,
we have figures in relief forming decorations upon vases. These,
as well as other designs in high relief, belong properly to the
domain of sculpture, and the methods of producing them do not vary
essentially from those in use in that art. The final process in this
case is the firing, instead of the casting in plaster and cutting in
marble.
Of the methods of producing floral designs in relief, a few
suggestions may be of use. These, as well as the painting described
in the previous chapter, must be executed when the body of clay, to
which they are applied, is very wet, and the applied clay must in
this case be, as nearly as possible, in the same condition. If the
clay is not in the proper condition, the work will crack in drying.
The vase which is to be decorated being in the right state, a lump of
clay, having the plasticity necessary for modeling, is procured. This
may be of C. C., a deeper cream color, or red, according to the color
desired. White granite is not plastic enough, and is, besides, liable
to crack in drying. But of all white clays, parian forms the most
beautiful substance for this kind of modeling. Leaves and petals of
flowers can be shaped from pieces of clay, which have been flattened
to the required thickness, either by pressing upon a slab of plaster
of paris, by means of a weight, such as potters use; or, if the work
is not on a large scale, the clay can be shaped in the palm of the
hand. The forms can then be cut with a sharp modeling tool. If there
is more moisture in these pieces of clay than in that which forms the
body of the vase, they should be allowed to remain a short time upon
a dry plaster slab. The plaster will quickly absorb the moisture in
the clay. When ready, the pieces can be placed in position on the
vase, the places where they are to be applied having been previously
washed with clay and water (technically called “slip”), or with
glaze water, to make them adhere. Stems are made by rolling pieces
of clay between the palms of the hands, or upon a flat surface of
wet plaster or wood. They are afterwards allowed to dry, and when
in proper condition, applied in the same manner as the flowers and
leaves. Delicate touches may be put in with a brush dipped in clay,
of a proper consistency for painting. The forms of the design can be
shaped and finished after they have been applied to the vase by the
use of modeling tools, and, finally, with a camel’s-hair brush. The
design may also be brushed over with a sponge, moistened with water,
which will also be found very useful in restoring the smooth surface
of the ground, if it has been injured in the process of modeling.
After the modeling has been completed, the work should be gone over
with a modeling tool, and in places where a mass of clay has been
attached to the surface, the edges should be under-cut. This will
prevent cracking. If this precaution is not taken, a crack thus
produced may extend into the body of the vase and render it unfit for
firing. Where a large mass of clay occurs in the modeled design, it
is better to hollow out the projection from the inside of the vase,
to prevent the cracking or warping of the whole in firing, caused by
the unequal thickness.
Cracks, which may appear in drying, should be filled, or, if
possible, be pressed out with a modeling tool, before the piece is
fired. If the crack is so deep that it is necessary to fill it, the
place should be cut open with a modeling tool, moistened with water,
and filled with clay, as nearly as possible in the same condition as
that upon the vase.
Flowers can be modeled in parian clay upon a creamy-tinted ground
with good effect. Various colors of deeper tinted natural clays, or
clay which has been artificially colored in the body, can be used as
the ground of such decorations. Light grounds are sometimes colored
after the first firing, in the biscuit; or a ground can be painted
in the method described in the previous chapter, while the vase is
soft, and the modeled decoration can then be applied instead of the
painting.
Decorations of this character in high relief are frequently colored
in natural tints, either under the glaze, in the biscuit; or over the
glaze. The taste of this manner of finishing relief-work is somewhat
questionable, and the same objection might apply to it as to colored
sculpture. That it has received the sanction of the best factories in
the world is no proof of its being in accord with correct taste, as
the many (artistic) atrocities of Dresden and Capo di Monte testify.
Some of the later Haviland faience, however, having a ground in the
usual style of that ware with decoration in high relief, colored
with subdued tints, harmonizing with the grounds, is so artistically
done that one can hardly think it open to this objection, although it
can not be considered an improvement upon the earlier work of this
establishment in which the colored decorations were simply painted
upon the surface.
It is only to the use of colors which imitate those of nature upon
modeled decorations that there could be any objection. Relief-work
may be conventional in its form, or colored conventionally, in one
color or many, or gilded, with perfect taste. The latter method
produces a fine effect, but, to make it successful, the color of the
ground should be well chosen, and the design simple in form and not
too much detached from the surface. The gilding looks best when left
unburnished, and should only be rubbed enough to give the effect of
dead gold.
Next, we have applied designs in low relief. These are made in
several different ways, according to the effects desired. Work of
this kind is more commonly executed by the method used in the
production of Wedgwood-ware. The designs to be applied are first
modeled in clay. Casts are then taken of the models in plaster of
paris. Clay of the kind desired for the relief designs is then
pressed in the mold and the edges trimmed off. The design can be
removed from the mold by the aid of a flat, steel instrument, with
a short, broad blade; or a palette knife, which when pressed upon
the clay adheres to it and detaches it from the mold. It can then be
transferred to the piece of ware to be decorated, to which it is made
to adhere by the use of “slip,” as described before.
This method is very useful, indeed, indispensable in the manufacture
of such wares commercially, when the same designs are to be repeated
many times, but it is hardly to be recommended for artistic work,
except for conventional designs, borders, etc. This method of casting
the forms in a mold may be useful, however, in the reproduction of
leaves of intricate outline, which can be made of various sizes,
and, from the plasticity of the clay, can be infinitely varied in
position according to the taste of the worker.
When objects of delicate and intricate form, such as threads,
spider’s webs, nets, and sometimes leaves, are to be represented in
work of this character, it can be accomplished by dipping threads, or
nets of cotton, or, if leaves, the natural leaves themselves, into
“slip.” The clay adheres to the threads, or forms, and after it has
set sufficiently, they can be placed upon the object to be decorated.
On firing, the substance inclosed within the clay is dissipated and
the clay only, remains. Some very wonderful and beautiful effects may
be produced in this way; but, as these delicate forms are necessarily
very fragile, especially if much detached from the surface, they are
only suitable for articles intended solely for ornament.
Designs in low relief can also be applied with the brush in the
forms desired, which may afterward be shaped and finished by the
use of modeling tools, or, when dry, carved with steel instruments.
This latter is said to be the method by which M. Solon executes his
exquisite designs in fine white clay upon ware which has been colored
in the body. One of the greatest beauties of M. Solon’s work is the
transparent effect produced where the clay has been left so thin as
to show the colored ground through.
Work in the very slightest relief can be done with the brush alone.
Care must be observed in this, however, that the application of
clay is not so very slight as to produce complete transparency upon
firing. By a judicious mixture of work in which the clay is so
heavily laid on as to remain opaque after the firing, and of that
which is applied so thinly as to become transparent, very delicate
and beautiful effects can be produced by the use of white clay upon
colored grounds.
The colored grounds in the Wedgwood and Solon ware are produced by
the use of a fine clay body, which has been artificially colored
throughout, which, in the case of Wedgwood, is finished by a very
slight glaze, and in the Solon ware, by a full glaze, by which
the transparent effects of certain parts of the work are brought
out. The colors used in the body of these wares are blues, dark
greens, and olives, and also black. Where it is not possible for the
amateur, for whom these hints are written, to obtain such wares for
decoration, very pretty work can be produced, as has been mentioned
before, by the use of a body of naturally colored clay upon which
white or a light-colored clay can be applied.
Relief-work can be finished with a full glaze, a very slight glaze,
or can be left unglazed. As a general thing it may be said that
the modeling in a design in high relief will look best with but a
slight glaze, or none at all. The slight glaze is called by potters
a “smear” glaze, and is effected by firing the work in a “seggar,”
which is glazed upon the inside. The unglazed ware absorbs enough
glaze from the glazed surface to give it a semi-glazed appearance,
which is very pleasing. Work in partial relief, as well as articles
in full relief, can also be finished by the application of colored
glazes. This is the method by which the ware known at the present
time as majolica is produced. Blue and green glazes of this kind
are frequently to be obtained in potteries in this country, where
they may be applied to work which has been modeled. Other colors in
majolica glazes are to be had from the dealers, and if the colors
desired can not be applied at the pottery, the artist can apply them
with a brush in the same manner as paint is used upon the biscuit.
The effect of work of this kind can also be enhanced by gilding put
on over the glaze.