PAINTING UPON THE BISCUIT.
After the ware has been fired once and is in what is called the
“biscuit,” it can be decorated by the use of underglaze colors, in
the form of thin washes resembling water-color painting. Ware used
for this purpose should be made of white, or very light cream-colored
clay, as the colors, being used in transparent washes, would be
dimmed, and would have their tints sullied by use upon a ground of
dark color.
On white ware those colors should be used which will best stand the
heat necessary in the firing and glazing of this ware. For this
reason painting executed on white is usually in monochrome, and
only the strongest colors are used, such as blue, black, or brown.
The best effect is produced by the use of blue. This style of work
is familiar from the numerous pieces of Japanese ware, of porcelain
or white earthen-ware, painted in blue, which are brought to this
country.
The method of painting is simple and not likely to prove difficult or
uncertain as to its results in the hands of one familiar with the use
of water colors. The color generally used is dark blue, and there are
several different blues which furnish very fine tints. Among these
might be mentioned Emery’s cobalt blue, which is excellent and does
very well upon the white ware manufactured here. Phillips’ mazarine
blue and Harrison’s Persian blue are also very rich, deep colors, the
latter having a purplish tint. One of the best blues, as reliable and
pleasing in color as any, has been prepared by Mr. Joseph Bailey, of
the Hamilton Road Pottery.
The color must be rubbed down until perfectly smooth, and should
be mixed with water and enough gum arabic to keep it from rubbing
off in the necessary handling before firing. The design having
been sketched upon the ware to be decorated, with a lead pencil,
the first washes may be put in with a light tint of the blue. These
should be laid on with a free hand and without retouching before
they have dried. The darker tints may then be laid in, and lastly
the deepest shadows. These should be painted thickly and sharply to
give the proper depth of color. If necessary they may be painted over
a second time; care should be taken, however, not to have an excess
of paint in any part, as that would prevent the glaze from adhering
to the ware. The lines should be particularly clear and sharp, as
they generally spread more or less in the glazing, and if they are
not well defined and the shadows are not dark enough, the effect
will be blurred and indistinct. In this kind of work clearness and
distinctness are to be desired. If the painting is carefully executed
and the various degrees of light and shade are well preserved,
something of the effect of a painting in water colors will be
produced. Monochromes in brown and black are done in the same way,
only that in the case of the latter color it is better to mix a very
little blue with it, as that will make it stand the fire better.
Before glazing, the ware should be fired once to “harden on” the
colors. If the color should run in the glazing, the painting may be
repaired by the use of gilding over the glaze, by which the blurred
outlines may be concealed. When, from the perfection of the firing,
this is unnecessary, work of this kind, and especially that in blue,
may be very much enhanced by a judicious use of gilding.
PAINTING IN THE LAMBETH OR BENNETT STYLE.
This is done upon a very light, cream-colored ware. The method of
painting is similar to that described above, with the exception that
all colors can be used. In using the weaker colors, and in mixtures,
the same rules that have been given before must be observed. Colors
which do not stand the fire very well, such as yellow and rose
color, must be laid on thickly, while in mixtures, as well as when
used alone, the stronger colors should be used sparingly. In the
Lambeth or Bennett style of painting upon faience, the designs are
either wholly or partly conventional. The grounds are either left the
natural color of the ware or painted. The designs usually of flowers
are in natural colors very slightly shaded and surrounded by a dark
outline.
The design having been drawn upon the surface with a lead pencil,
the ground, if it is to be colored, may be laid on with some color,
or mixture of colors, which will harmonize with the decoration. As
it is impossible to paint it smoothly with a brush, or to do it by
any of the methods in use for over-glaze painting, the ground must
be “dabbled” on, either with a small blending brush, or better, a
sponge, which has been cut to the proper shape and size, and which
may be fastened in a quill and used as a brush. This is dipped in the
color which has been mixed upon the palette, and with it the color
is applied to the surface of the vase, producing a mottled ground,
which may be shaded from light to dark, by the application of more
or less color, as desired, and also may be varied by the introduction
of other colors which will harmonize with each other, and with the
decoration. The design may then be painted in flat washes, which
should be laid on freely, with the shadows boldly defined. This done,
a line, either of black or dark olive green, made from dark brown
and a little green, may be painted around the design, outlining and
relieving it against the ground.
The painting finished, the piece should then be fired to fix the
colors. If necessary, it can be touched up in any places which are
thought to need deeper tints after this firing, and before the final
process of glazing. It must be remembered, however, that the effect
of the glazing will be to deepen the colors, and, unless the result
of this process has been learned from experience, the tendency will
rather be to get them too dark than too light. The most important
thing is, to keep the relative value of the lights and shadows. If
this is done, the effect will not be bad, even if the colors should
fade a little in firing.
Another very important item in under-glaze painting, which has been
mentioned before, is, that the colors must be in proper condition for
use, and to that end, must be carefully rubbed down with a muller or
palette knife. Inattention to this detail has caused much work of
rude and rough appearance to be produced, which might otherwise have
been fairly good.
In the Lambeth and Bennett ware the charming effect of color will
generally be found to have been produced by a system of burning which
would scarcely be considered legitimate, according to the strict
rules of the potter’s art. The ware is not fired in the biscuit as
hard as such ware is usually fired, and the glaze applied is softer
than the body of the ware demands. This soft glaze is used to save
the colors, and not being suited to the body of the ware will,
generally, be found to be badly crazed. In this case, however, lovers
of beautiful and harmonious colors, in the decoration of pottery,
will think that the ends justifies the means, and as the articles
are wholly adapted for ornamental purposes, this defect of glaze
detracts but little from their value.
Some work of a similar character has recently been done in this city,
however, in which the ware has been fired and glazed in such a manner
as to make it perfectly durable, and, at the same time, great beauty
of coloring has been retained. This result is not only important from
the fact that it offers opportunity for the production of ornamental
wares, but, also, from the consideration that the perfection of the
firing and glazing of the ware renders it valuable for articles of
use. Nothing could be prettier than sets of tableware made of this
cream-tinted clay, decorated in colored, conventional designs. This
would, we think, be the perfection of ware for ordinary use, and
would form, with the combination of the delicately tinted body and
the harmonious colors of the underglaze decoration, a service both
pleasing to the eye and very durable.
It is not the province of a work on under-glaze painting to
enter into the subject of over-glaze decoration, yet as they are
frequently combined, mention may be made of some of the varieties
of decoration in which the two processes are used. The most common
form of the union of the two methods is that in which gilding is
used as an adjunct to under-glaze decoration. Gold is always applied
over the glaze, as it would be utterly destroyed by the action of
the heat necessary in the firing of any hard glaze. That prepared
by decorators by dissolving gold in aqua regia may be used, or the
“bright” gold, which is obtained in a liquid state. The former is
the most durable, and when fired can be burnished or left with a
dead finish, which in many cases has the most pleasing effect. The
“bright” gold, as its name indicates, becomes bright in the firing
and the burnishing is thus rendered unnecessary. On a “smear” glaze
the “bright” gold produces a beautiful dead gold effect, owing to the
dead surface of the ware to which it is applied. In Japanese wares,
dark blue, under-glaze, often appears in conjunction with gold, and
also with red, green, or other colors which have been put on over the
glaze.
One beautiful result of the combination of over and under-glaze
painting is seen in the ware painted by Lemonnier. In this the ground
is generally painted under the glaze in a manner similar to that
described in this chapter for the production of Lambeth faience.
The design is then painted with over-glaze “relief” colors, and the
high lights laid in heavily, the whole producing an effect which
combines the delicacy of the over-glaze colors with the depth of the
under-glaze.
We have tried to indicate, in the preceding chapters, the principal
methods employed in the decoration of pottery under the glaze. These
various methods are combined with each other and with over-glaze
work in so many ways that it is difficult for any but an expert to
distinguish in a given piece of ware the many processes which may
have combined to produce the result. This renders the subject more
difficult to treat comprehensively, and these various ramifications
of the art of under-glaze painting can here be but indicated. It
is hoped, however, that the suggestions given may be sufficient to
afford the student of ceramic decoration an idea of the various forms
and of the possibilities of the art.
[Illustration: Finis]
Transcriber’s Notes
pg 44 Changed: glaze sufficiently soft to perserve
to: glaze sufficiently soft to preserve
pg 49 Changed: may be added a drop of salycilic acid
to: may be added a drop of salicylic acid
pg 57 Changed: in colored slips, and the thicknesss
to: in colored slips, and the thickness
pg 92 Changed: delicately tinted body and the harmonions
to: delicately tinted body and the harmonious
Table of Contents was created by the transcriber.