The most satisfactory way to make modelled tiles or panels is to run out upon a stout board, cross battened to prevent warping, a flat slab of clay of the required thickness. Sketch in the design with a point and model straight away onto the clay. Care must be taken, if the panel is to be fired, to see that all the added work adheres firmly to the background. Where several presses are to be made, the edges of the modelled slab should be carefully trimmed with a bevel, the board oiled, and the mould made directly after the modelling is finished. The mould may be worked on in moderation. Lettering is much more easily incised in the mould than raised in the clay. For tiles needing much sharpness of detail almost the whole can be carved in the plaster. Unless done with great sympathy, however, this leads to a certain harshness and angularity that should be foreign to clay. Where a
moulded frame for a panel is required, a strickle, or profile, is cut in zinc. For short use one made from a thin slab of plaster will serve. The strickle is keyed to a straight-edge and dragged over the clay until the correct moulding emerges. This is then cut into lengths and very carefully dried.
The tendency of all transparent glassy glazes to pool in hollows and run off at high points must be borne in mind. With thick matt glazes any delicacy of detail is apt to be lost labour. These problems should be faced before the design is made, as in this process there is a certain quality of surface required by the glaze. On the other hand, in endeavouring to make a good surface for the glaze to enhance, it is easy to slip into the over-round and slimy treatment that characterizes so much modelled pottery.
CHAPTER IX
Drying: Finishing
“There nis no workeman whosoever he be
That can werke bothe welle and hastile.”
—“Merchants Tale.”
Drying out is quite an important part of pot making. For this a drying cupboard is a necessity. It is easily erected, if the front and sides of wood be backed against a wall. Across the bottom, which should be open, run a row of gas jets protected above by perforated zinc or iron. At the top, which is boarded in, place a small sliding panel to insure a draught. With side brackets and removable shelves it should answer all purposes. A cupboard may be built over a radiator, but here the heat is not so easily regulated.