In Germany this art is carried to a great extent, and a large proportion of the German toys so common in our stores, as well as the jointed bodies of the expensive French and German dolls, are made of this material.
Papier-maché means “softened paper,” and is simply any old soft paper converted into pulp by water; the poorer the paper the better. Cheap newspapers, such as tear with a mere touch, thin handbills and posters, are all particularly suited for this purpose.
For a first trial it would be well to take some simple object, and a cup would perhaps make as good a beginning as any. First have some good flour-paste made, by pouring into boiling water enough flour, which has previously been moistened with cold water, to make a substance rather thicker than boiled starch; this should be stirred only enough to unite the flour with the water, and to prevent burning. Add to this one or two old newspapers and a dish of water, a broad brush for the paste, and any prettily shaped tea-cup conveniently at hand, and you have all the materials required. A bag filled with sand or stuffed hard with cotton is a great help in molding, although not indispensable to the operation. Take the cup, which should be well smeared over with sweet-oil or lard, and cutting out a piece of paper sufficiently large, wet it, and press it down on the cup, using the fingers, or the sand bag, if you have it, for the purpose; then with the brush spread the paste over the paper, and lay on this another piece; press this down as before and continue the process until twenty or thirty paper coverings have been used. After the first two or three layers, it is not necessary to use pieces which entirely cover the surface; any sized scraps will do if they are so placed that the same thickness is preserved throughout. The outer surface should be as smooth and even as possible. When this is completed, let it dry for a day or two in any moderately warm place, as it is not well to dry it too quickly. When it seems sufficiently hard, remove the mold, and you will have a pasteboard cup with an uneven edge which must be trimmed with a sharp knife and smoothed with sand-paper.
It might be well to trim off the top before removing the mold, as you would be more certain of getting it even by so doing. After this the cup can be painted in any manner desired.
A plaque can readily be molded upon the inside of a plate or saucer, and a pretty work-basket can be made upon a shallow bowl. Toy boats are made in the same manner as the cup, upon wooden molds cut out for the purpose.
Card Receivers.—These are generally flat dishes or shallow cups, made to hold visiting-cards, or the varied collections from Christmas, Easter, and New-year’s. They may be molded on plates, saucers, or small bowls, or receiving their concave shape from a plaque or saucer, they can be cut into any fantastic form your fancy may dictate. A large, well-shaped grape-leaf, or the catalpa, would furnish pretty designs to those who have no confidence in their own skill in that direction.
Umbrella Holders.—Take any cylinder with a smooth surface, about two feet in length, and six to ten inches in diameter, for the mold; make upon it a coating of papier-maché about half an inch in thickness. It is made much stronger by rolling it during the pasting. The bottom may be of the same material, or a wooden disk made to perfectly fit into the cylinder. The whole surface should be thoroughly sand-papered and given two or three good coats of paint. A simple band of gold paint around top and bottom forms a pretty finish, but a large bunch of peonies or poppies, freely painted upon one side, greatly improves its appearance.
By reducing a quantity of paper and paste into a pulp, and allowing that to become a little dried—still moist, but not liquid—a number of objects can be molded, such as animals, boats, marbles, etc., by simply forming them with the hands and allowing them to dry.
Paper pulp is sometimes mixed with common blue clay and glue, instead of flour-paste, used as a binding material.
A beautiful vase can easily be made of papier-maché by forming a frame-work of pasteboard, and joining it together with a few stitches or with narrow strips of strong paper pasted across the edges. Make this frame-work as near the form and size of your vase as it is possible for you to get; then with your thin paper line it inside and out, until it seems as thick as you desire. Trim and sand-paper off the upper edge, and cover with one or two extra layers to insure a rounded edge common in earthenware vases. Stand it on a smooth, even table or board to make it flat on the bottom, and let it have plenty of time to dry. Next make from the paper pulp and fine clay preparation spoken of above a rose, poppy, or other flower, with its leaves and buds, resembling as nearly as possible those on the bisque vases so fashionable just now. This may seem at first a very difficult undertaking, but by molding one petal at a time, and placing each in position with glue as it is finished, the work is comparatively simple. Do not undertake a difficult flower at first. If in summer, you may take any from the garden, and after enlarging every part in the same proportions, make it your model. When the flowers, stems, and leaves are all in place, let them become thoroughly dry, then after painting the body of your vase with shades of blue, red, or olive, so applied that they give a clouded effect to the whole, color your flowers as nearly as you can like the natural ones of the same species, and the stems and leaves the proper shades of brown or green. Let this paint thoroughly dry, and then varnish with the white shellac dissolved in alcohol spoken of elsewhere in this book, if a very light surface is to be covered, or with the dark shellac or common varnish if the surface is intended to be dark. The floral decorations are not absolutely necessary, and a very pretty vase is made by simply painting the smooth surface with any graceful or pretty design, and varnishing it subsequently to give it the desired polish.