How to amuse yourself and others

by Lina Beard; Adelia B. Beard

Fig. 188.—Royal Worcester Vase.

Select a vase of the finest French china, and be sure that it is perfectly clean, dry, and free from dust. Then with a clean white cotton cloth give the vase a wash all over with clear turpentine, and having chosen your design, make a tracing of it on the vase, and it will be ready for grounding. Mix enough mat lemon-yellow to cover the entire surface of the vase. First place a little of the powder on the tile, then dip your palette-knife in the capavia oil and tap it off on the tile; in the same way drop turpentine on the tile with the oil. Use a horn palette-knife and thoroughly mix the paint, oil, and turpentine; if the mixture seems too stiff, add a little more oil and turpentine, but be careful not to have the paint too thin, so that it will run; try the paint with a brush on a clean place on the tile to see if it is of the right consistency and shade; do not let the color be too intense; it should be of a delicate tint, and if it is too dark add a very little more oil. Take a broad, flat brush and begin to paint at the top of the vase, passing around with short strokes rapidly over its whole surface; go over the tinting with a pad, touching lightly and gently; then set the vase away to dry in a dry place free from dust. The Indian-ink outlines will be plainly visible through the paint, and when the grounding or tinting has thoroughly hardened, to remove the color from the design, mix a little of the tar paste upon a clean tile by working it with your palette-knife until it is smooth. Use a small brush and go over the design with this mixture, covering every part except the stems and fine grasses; be very careful not to go outside of the lines. When the design is all painted with the paste, begin at that first covered and wipe off the tar paste with small pieces of cotton batting rolled into little balls, using a fresh wad for each stroke; clean it all off carefully and the vase will present vacant white china spots where the flowers, leaves, and bird are soon to appear. For a guide we will take Fig. 188. Now mix a little mat pink with fat oil and turpentine in the same way you prepared the grounding yellow, only this time fat oil takes the place of capavia; use the horn palette-knife as before; the steel knife should never be used with the Royal Worcester colors, as the metal is apt to rub in with the paint, dulling and spoiling the colors. Paint all the flowers a flat tint of light pink. Always try the color first on the tile until you have the desired shade. By the time all the flowers have received their tint of color, those first painted will be dry enough for shading. Observe attentively the copy, and notice where the different flowers are shaded; then shade yours with the same color, following as nearly as possible the copy before you.

For painting the leaves, mix separately with turpentine and fat oil, mat light yellow-green, mat dark-green, and mat blue green. These colors can be used separately or any two mixed if desired. Shade the leaves with mat yellow-brown mixed with the different greens. Paint the body of the bird a flat tint of mat gold-yellow and the top of its head and back green; the edges of wing and tail and eye must be of mat black. When the bird is dry, shade its breast with broad sweeps of mat gold-yellow, according to the copy; then mix black with yellow-brown for the other shading on the bird’s breast, and mix black with blue for painting and shading the wings and tail.

While the paint is drying on the vase mix the mat relief for the raised edges of bird, flowers, and stems. Mix the relief with turpentine and fat oil, making it as stiff as it can be used. With a very fine brush outline the bird, its wings, and tail; also a few strokes on its breast, tail, and back; be sure the relief is stiff enough to make a fine raised line; then outline the flowers and the stems; the leaves are not raised on the edges. When this is finished the vase is ready for its first firing. Allow the ware to become perfectly dry before sending it to the firers.

As great care should be taken with the firing of royal Worcester china, send your vase to the most reliable firers you know of, and when it is fired and returned, all that remains to be done is to carefully gild the vase. Mix pure gold with turpentine, but do not have it too thin, as the gold should be applied as thick as possible. For fine gilding use a fine small brush with long hairs; this will make a distinct thread-like line; first cover all the relief with the gold, next outline the leaves, veining them if necessary; then with thick gold make your grasses according to the copy. When the gold becomes too stiff work in a little more turpentine. After you have finished this gilding, mix some mat gold with turpentine and gild the top rim of the vase; use the small stipple brush cut off square at the end (Fig. 179), and bring the border down unevenly along its lower edge, making it the same way on the inside of the vase; then with the fine long-haired gilder cover the upper edge of the vase thick with gold. This finished, gild the bottom of the vase in like manner and make the handle solid gilt; after it is all dry the vase is ready for its second and last firing, and when it returns again from the firers you will have a piece of beautiful Royal Worcester ware similar to that seen at Tiffany’s.

The mat colors used, remove all the gloss from the china, and when mat lemon-yellow forms the grounding, the china comes from the firing having the appearance of beautiful decorated ivory without any glaze.

This ware must be seen to be appreciated, and is suitable for vases and ornaments, but the Royal Worcester colors cannot be used on table china, for any grease coming in contact with the colors would spoil them.

Exquisite little vases of all shapes are decorated in this manner; the delicate gold tracery and outlining brings the designs out effectively. In this style of painting the decoration is more conventional, and does not require the same amount of working up and shading, but is as a rule, treated simply, flat tints with a little shading being all that is required. Almost any floral design can be used on royal Worcester, when outlined with relief and gold; there are, however, copies which come expressly for the purpose.