Part 15

Black oxide of cobalt Blue Black oxide of copper Blue green Green oxide of chromium Yellow green White oxide of antimony Lemon yellow Red oxide of iron Yellowish brown Green oxide of nickel Dirty gray (for neutralizing) White oxide of tin Makes glaze opaque Black oxide of manganese Purplish brown Yellow ochre Yellow Burnt umber Brown

COLOUR COMBINATIONS

Olive green Iron oxide 5 Cobalt oxide .5

Dark brown Iron oxide 3 Nickel oxide 2 Manganese oxide 5

Light gray-blue Tin oxide 5 Cobalt oxide .5 Copper oxide 1.7

Blue-green Cobalt oxide 1 Copper oxide 7 Yellow ochre 4

Dark gray-blue Nickel oxide 5 Yellow ochre 3 Cobalt oxide 2 Copper oxide 1

_Applying the Glaze._--Before applying the glaze to the piece of pottery or bisque, the latter should be soaked in clear water for about five minutes or until the air is expelled from the pores. When this has been accomplished it should be removed from the water and all moisture should be wiped from its surface. The piece is then ready to be dipped into the glaze, or to have the glaze poured over it, if the size and shape of the piece make it more convenient to apply the glaze in this way. It is usually best to glaze the inside first, shaking out all the superfluous glaze before applying the glaze to the outside. During this process the piece must be held firmly but by as few points of contact as possible. These points of contact will generally need to be touched up before it is ready for firing.

It is sometimes necessary to glaze large pieces with a brush, putting on several coats in order to cover the surface with an even thickness. The matt glaze requires a greater thickness than the bright glaze in order to develop its characteristic velvety texture. The greater thickness may be easily secured, because it flows more slowly than the thinner bright glaze and is less likely to drip from the sides of the piece to which it is being applied; but, on the other hand, it is at a disadvantage in that it does not, in flowing slowly, correct inequalities of thickness so readily as the more mobile bright glaze does. A certain thickness, however, is essential; and if, after firing, it is found that the glaze was put on too thin, a second coat may be applied and the article again fired.

_Firing the Glaze._--Before the glazed piece is fired the glaze should be dried and what runs down and collects about the bottom or foot should be scraped off. It should then be set in the kiln on a kind of pointed tripod of hard burned clay, called the "stilt," which prevents the glaze from sticking to the floor or shelves of the kiln. All glazed ware should be placed in the kiln with at least 1/2 an inch of space between the pieces to prevent them from sticking together during the fusing state of the glaze, when it is apt to bubble or "boil."

The firing of glaze is a process very similar to that employed in the production of bisque, already described. Greater care, however, must be taken in controlling the increase in temperature so that it shall be even and steady--free from all sudden flashes of heat. The cooling also should be very gradual and, as in bisque firing, the kiln should be allowed to get cool before it is opened. With this second firing the pottery is finished unless it should happen that a second coat of glaze is found to be necessary. If only a few spots need attention, this second coat is best applied with a brush.

PROBLEM: A VASE FOR LONG STEMMED FLOWERS

The tools required for making this vase are the same as those used for the bowl, and the process of building is much the same. The chief difference is that it is more difficult to preserve the profile in building because the added height and the greater weight tend to bulge the lower part. To meet this difficulty it will be necessary to set the work aside quite often in order to let the lower part harden sufficiently to support the upper part.

_The Profile._--In preparing the profile the same rules hold as were applied in working up the problem of the bowl. It will be well to remember, however, that the curves of a vase must be treated with greater reserve as to their lateral projection than was necessary in the case of the bowl--_i. e._, the curve of a vase should be enclosed within a rectangle narrower in comparison with its height than is the case with the curve of a bowl. The reason for this, of course, is found in the greater height of a vase in comparison with its diameter. The following figure shows three typical vase forms. If these curves be compared with those shown on page 288, illustrating bowl contours, it will be observed how the height of the vase is emphasised in the greater restraint and subtlety of its curves. In the next illustration we have two "horrible" examples to which attention has already been called in the suggestions for the design of bowls. The dotted lines in the illustration show how these curves may be improved if, in either A or B, one element of the compound curve be made dominant at the expense of the other. If at the same time the diameter be made smaller in comparison with its height the attractiveness of the contours will be still more improved. Indeed, it will be a transformation from a profile that is positively bad to one that is very good.

_Decoration._--The problem of decoration is not very different from that of the bowl. Here again, however, the added height seems to call for greater accent by means of vertical or panel divisions. Unless this be understood there is some danger that the larger vertical spaces will seem to offer simply more room for horizontal bands, resulting in a barber pole effect.

_Handles._--If handles or buttresses are desired, care should be taken that they are designed as an integral part of the vase--_i. e._, that they continue or reinforce its lines. Two suggestions for the treatment of the problem of handles are given in the accompanying drawing. It will be noted how sympathetically these handles conform to the lines of the vases to which they are attached. Handles that give the impression of being made for another vase should be avoided.

PROBLEM: THE FERN DISH

The process of building the fern dish is not essentially different from that employed in making the bowl described in the first problem. If the fern dish is to be round, the coiling method may be used; but if the dish is to be square or rectangular it is not necessary to use this method. In place of it the process of "piecing on" may be employed--_i. e._, one piece of soft clay may be added to another and the different pieces welded together as the work proceeds.

_The Lining._--The fern dish requires a separate inner dish or lining with a hole in the bottom of it like that in the ordinary flower pot. This feature forms the unique part of the problem. Generally speaking, the presence of this lining seems to call for a little closer approach to the vertical in the sides of the outer bowl; and yet some latitude is allowable, as is shown in the right hand dish illustrated in Plate XIII following, which is somewhat similar in profile to that illustrated in the accompanying drawing. This drawing shows the development of the problem as applied to a round fern dish. Much freedom, however, may be used in the plan as either the round or the rectangular fern dish seems to give satisfaction. The half section in the drawing shows a very narrow space between the inner and outer bowls at the top edges. This adds greatly to the good appearance of the completed fern dish. The sides of the inner dish are made vertical, since it is necessary for it to be easily removed.

_Decoration._--The problem of decoration differs very little from that discussed under the problem of the bowl. Either the fern itself or its woodland neighbours may easily furnish the motif. Sometimes there is occasion for designing similar dishes not for ferns but for other plants. Thus the smaller square dish, illustrated in Plate XIII opposite, was designed and made for the familiar "bluets," and the subject matter for its design was found in that flower.

_Glazing._--The rules already given for glazing apply in this case, but it will be necessary to glaze the outside fern dish only. It is well, however, to glaze a narrow strip along the upper edge of the inner dish; but the rest of it should be left unglazed. It hardly needs to be added that in firing it is necessary to keep the inner and outer dishes separate.

PROBLEM: THE CANDLESTICK

_The Design._--This problem introduces several points in design that need to be especially emphasized. The candlestick should be of such size that it will easily support the average candle without putting the user to great inconvenience in fitting it by paring it off or melting it down. It is necessary to provide a lip to catch the stray drops of wax that will run down the sides of the candle; and it will be a convenience to have this supplemented by a slight dishing of the base if the candlestick is to be carried about. If a handle is to be added it should seem to be a natural outgrowth of the candlestick itself, as was explained in the discussion of handles for vases; and it should, at the same time, offer a place for a firm and comfortable grasp. The accompanying drawing shows how handles may be designed really to form a part of the candlestick and at the same time, by means of a sharp bend or elbow at the top, to provide a natural place for the thumb to assist in grasping the handle.

Whether the candlestick is to be high or low depends entirely upon the use intended for it or upon the preference of the user. Generally speaking, a low candlestick is better for carrying about and a high one more desirable for standing in a cabinet or on shelf or table. It is well for some definite idea of utility to manifest itself in the form chosen. Merely planning a tube and a handle upon a base, without carefully relating these three different elements according to the requirements of use, can hardly be called designing a candlestick.

The building of the candlestick is started, like the bowl in the first problem, by coiling from the centre, and the rim may be added in the same way. Care should be taken, however, to attach the central tube firmly. This may be coiled or simply modelled from a single lump of clay. If there is to be a handle it is well to build it at the time the central tube is built, as it is then easier to make a firm attachment.

PROBLEM: TILES

The varied and extensive uses of tiles make it difficult to limit the scope of this problem. Tiles are used for paving, wall facings, ceilings, coverings for stoves, linings and facings for fireplaces, rests for flower pots and teapots, and for various other purposes. Tiles figure very prominently in the history of art. They are objects of interest and study in many public buildings and museums throughout the civilized world. But this problem will confine itself to two of the many varieties of tiles, _viz._, tiles designed for bowls or teapots and tiles used for the facing of fireplaces.

_The Tile Frame._--In building tiles a frame is used measuring about 6 inches square by 5/8 of an inch thick. The strips forming the frame may be 1 inch wide, lightly nailed together at the corners so that, if necessary, the frame can be easily taken apart while the clay is moist. This frame is placed on a plaster bat or piece of paper and the clay forced firmly into its corners and sides, working toward the centre, until the frame is completely filled. It is then turned over in order to make sure that the under side of the clay is thoroughly welded together. Care should be taken to use sufficient clay to bring both surfaces well up to the surface of the frame, scraping off the surplus clay with a straight edge. While the clay is moist, one side is chosen for the back, and this is hollowed out to prevent warping. The hollowing may take the form shown in the right-hand tile at the top of Plate XIV, or it may be in the shape of channels 3/4 of an inch or more in width, separated by ridges 1/2 of an inch wide running across the back of the tile. Whichever method is used, the depth should be about 3/16 of an inch and not over 1/4 of an inch. Even when the utmost precaution is taken, the tile is very liable to warp. It should therefore be dried slowly and with the greatest possible evenness of exposure on both sides. The greatest help of all is found in the use of the so-called "grog." This is made by grinding to a powder clay that has been fired once and shrunk, but not glazed. It is used by mixing it with the clay before it is moulded, in the proportion of one part grog to three of the clay. It may be added here that grog will be found of great assistance not only in making tiles but in making other ware. It will not be necessary, however, to burn clay for the express purpose of making grog. The occasional failures which develop at the first firing of every batch of pottery will furnish an adequate supply.

_Decoration._--When the tile is dried and shrunk a little it may be easily taken from the frame, but it should be allowed to get quite stiff before decoration is applied. While the hardening process is going on the decoration may be studied. The three general methods of decoration considered under the flower bowl--_viz._, the sunken line, the modelled surface, and the painting with under-glaze or over-glaze--are all available for use with the tile. If it is to be a tea tile the modelled surface must be treated with considerable caution, otherwise there may result an uneven surface for the teapot to rest upon.

_Firing._--In giving the tile its first firing it is safer to stand it on one edge in the kiln, but not on the floor of the kiln, as the intense heat of the floor would be liable to shrink that side more than the others. It may be supported on two stilts or it may be placed on one of the shelves. For the glaze firing the tile should be placed flat on the stilt.

_Tea Tiles._--The tiles illustrated at the top and bottom of Plate XIV were designed and made to serve as rests for a teapot, a bowl, or a vase. It will be noticed that the centre is left free with one exception, which is given as an interesting variation from the general rule. The free space is an advantage in giving relief to the design and in furnishing an even surface for the teapot or bowl to rest upon. In the decoration of rectangular tile forms the general principles as to variety of measure or shape in space divisions hold true. Emphasis should be concentrated at the corners in order to strengthen the design.

_Fireplace Tiles._--Some of the tiles illustrated in Plate XIV would be entirely appropriate for facing a border around the opening of a fireplace. This is especially true of the middle design shown at the top of the plate, on account of the lines which project through the corner design nearly to the edges of the tile. This makes it especially adapted to repetition in a facing or border.

_Decoration of Tiles._--It is in the field of painted decoration, however, that the most attractive possibilities in fireplace tile designs are found. The framed tile illustrated in Plate XV opposite--an example of over-glaze painting--is intended for use as a colour accent for the wall. This tile is painted in matt glaze between raised outlines. Three similar tiles are illustrated in the middle row in Plate XIV. The right-hand one, like the framed tile of Plate XV, is a matt over-glaze, but the outline instead of being raised was slightly depressed. The other two are examples of under-glaze painting. They were painted on moist clay, as described in the problem of the bowl, and afterwards covered with a bright glaze. In this case the glaze was itself coloured, thus adding richness to the colour scheme. The repetition in a tile facing of landscapes, designed to be complete or nearly so, would be tiresome. It is better so to design the entire facing that it will be made up of a series of very simple landscape motifs, each fairly complete in itself, but all so related to each other as to form, when joined, a larger, somewhat conventionalized, landscape. A treatment of this kind lends itself to many other decorative schemes.

The fireplace offers a great opportunity for design, not only in itself, but as related to the decorative scheme of the room in which it is placed. It should not be forgotten that it is, in a sense, the focal centre of the room. This fact, together with its comparatively small size, makes it possible to give it a strong and rich note of colour, accenting the prevailing colour scheme of the room. Tiles, properly designed and applied, offer a rich and varied field for charming effects in colour and texture.

XI

DECORATIVE WORK IN LEATHER, COPPER, AND OTHER MATERIALS

To become an artist in dealing with tools and materials is not a matter of choice or privilege; it is a moral necessity; for a man's heart must be in his skill and a man's soul in his craftsmanship--_Hamilton Wright Mabie_

LEATHER WORK

Leather work, like weaving and pottery, is of very ancient origin. The New Testament text concerning "new wine in old bottles" referred to bottles of leather, or wine skins. We read of leather as having been used in still earlier times for shields, saddles, harnesses, parts of chariots, and as an accessory to clothing. In the middle ages the "gentle craft of leather" was not confined to the shoemakers' useful productions but included much ornamental work. There were wall coverings of leather with designs carved, or modelled, or stamped with hot tools; seats were upholstered and books were covered with tooled leather. Some of this work was richly adorned with painted and gilt figures like the celebrated Spanish leather.

_Why Leather is Suited to Decoration._--Leather seems, therefore, to have won the right to a high place among the materials suited to decoration. Its beautiful texture, the rich brown tones of its natural colour, the ease with which it takes dyes, and the readiness with which under proper treatment, it receives and retains the marks of the modelling tool, qualify it to minister to the artistic sense no less than its durability enables it to serve the more common uses.

_Limited Decoration Desirable._--The tooling of leather is based upon the fact that, when wet, the fibre yields readily to compression and receives impressions that are retained after the leather is dry. But the beauty of design depends upon the colour and texture of the surface quite as much as upon the figured impressions upon it. It is therefore a good point in design not to cover the surface so completely that the peculiar beauty of the material itself be lost. The decorations should be bold and rich, but the tooling should be confined to a small part of the surface. Calf skin and cowhide are well suited to tooling. They are supplied in two general forms, _viz._, the smooth, generally as Russia calf, and the rough or split cowhides, known as ooze. Leather may be stained a variety of colours by aniline dyes; but since the natural colour of leather is brown, brownish tones are more satisfactory than the blues, greens, violets, grays, etc., because they seem more sincere.

_Tools._--The simple tools required for tooling leather may be purchased at small cost, or they may be made from cheap nut picks by filing these to shape, polishing them, and buffing them. The illustrations show two different tools, each double pointed. A and B are different views of the first tool; C is the second tool. The narrow pointed end of the first tool is for outlining and working into corners. The broad, flat end is for smoothing down and for general use; the broad tool should be used whenever possible. The round point on the left end of C is used for outlining and transfering the design to leather. The right hand end of C is known as the background tool. It is cupped out like a nail set, as indicated by the lengthwise section just above and by the end view at the extreme right; in fact, a nail set may be used for the same purpose. The background tool, however, is to be used sparingly. If used to excess, especially on large surfaces, the result is likely to have a mechanical and "shoppy" appearance.

PROBLEMS

TO DESIGN AND TOOL A BELT

The sizes given in the illustration on page 325 are typical, but it is expected that in this and other problems, dimensions will be varied to suit conditions. When the size has been determined the leather should be cut a little longer and wider than the final dimensions are to be, to allow for attaching the belt pin or buckle. The strip of leather should be thoroughly soaked in _cold water_ and then rolled in dry cloth until the leather is dry enough for tooling. It is essential that there should be absolute uniformity of moisture. If on applying the tool, water follows pressure, the leather is still too wet. If it should get too dry to retain the mark of the tool it may be sponged on the back. There is danger of water stains, however, if the entire back is not wet.

_The Design._--The illustration shows two treatments. An interlaced pattern is shown in A which concentrates the interest at the ends and in the middle of the back. The pattern shown is tooled solid and the background is left untooled. If the pattern be tooled in outline it is well to shade these outlines out into the background in order to give relief to the interlaced bands.

Modelled natural forms are shown in B. In this the background is tooled down, but is heaviest at the ends or in the spaces against the raised forms. This gives the background a richer appearance than it has when tooled absolutely flat. Both patterns here shown are straight with parallel sides. Other shapes are possible--for example, those wider in the middle and tapering toward the ends.

When a satisfactory design has been worked out and drawn it is transferred to thin bond paper. The greatest care should be taken not to have any pencil marks on the back of this paper, for they leave a dirty gray stain on the leather which is difficult to remove. It may be added here that whenever it is desired to mark the leather for any purpose a tool should be used, not a pencil.

_The Process._--As soon as the leather has dried just enough to retain the marks, the pattern should be placed upon it, pencilled side up, allowance being made for trimming to the desired width. The paper may be held in position by thumb tacks, which must not, however, pass through the leather inside the part that is to be cut off. The pattern may now be traced through the paper, over the lines of the drawing, with the round pointed tool. Care will have to be exercised to make sure that the pattern is completely transferred to the leather. When this is accomplished the pattern should be removed and the lines, which will be found somewhat dimly traced on the leather, should be immediately deepened by going over them with the same tool.