Pottery decoration under the glaze

by M. Louise McLaughlin

There are many others, but these are mentioned as among those that have been tried and found to fire well, and the colors given in this list will be sufficient for the production of all the tints needed in underglaze painting. In faience painted after the Haviland method, fine white clay takes the place of white.

In painting on the biscuit white paint is sometimes used. This can be procured of English manufacture, but is not, I believe, made by M. Lacroix. The colors manufactured by Messrs. Hancock & Sons, Worcester, England, are also very satisfactory. The tints of these and the colors of other English manufacturers corresponds with those of M. Lacroix, which have been mentioned. The latter manufacturer, however, furnishes a much greater variety of colors, and the reds especially are superior to any English reds I have seen. M. Lacroix’s list includes at least three reds, one of which, Rouge T., can be relied upon to produce as good a scarlet as is possible under the glaze, when used under the proper conditions. The English carmines are very satisfactory. The English green, called French green, corresponds in tint to that of M. Lacroix, called Vert foncé, No. 1, while mazarine blue, of the Worcester and Phillips manufactures, and Cobalt blue of others corresponds to the Bleu de Roi of the French, and for work on biscuit white ware stands the fire rather better. The Victoria green, of the Worcester colors, is especially to be commended for a light green which stands the fire remarkably well.

Phillips’ English colors are also very good. His mazarine blue, especially, is one of the finest blues I have ever met with. Emery’s and Harrison’s colors fire very well, but are not so finely ground as the first mentioned.

CHAPTER III.
PAINTING ON POTTERY AFTER THE MANNER OF
THE HAVILAND OR LIMOGES FAIENCE.

This method of painting on pottery is said to have been discovered by M. Laurin, at Bourg-la-reine, in the year 1873. The process was afterward adopted by M. Haviland, and by him improved in such manner as to materially change the method, as well as the appearance of the painting. Specimens of the ware were first exhibited at the Centennial Exhibition, in Philadelphia, in 1876. The first application of a similar style in the decoration of pottery, in this country, was made by the writer in Cincinnati, in October, 1877.

This method of decorating pottery, although not involving the use of any new principle, was yet so entirely novel an application of principles already in use, as to entitle M. Laurin to all the credit attaching to a very original and important discovery. It places in the hands of the painter of pottery a method at once so artistic, and so thoroughly in accord with the modern school, as to awaken a profound interest in the minds of all lovers of art. It is probable that there are capabilities in this art that have not yet been brought out. It is still in its infancy, and that there are in it possibilities of much importance to the artistic world, can hardly be doubted.

If it were not for the technical difficulties which surround all work on pottery, and this style in particular, it would offer facilities for the production of works of art unequaled by any method heretofore in use. It is the hope of the writer that the following description of the method of decorating pottery, in this manner, may throw some light upon these technical difficulties, and also that artists of ability may be induced to try it, and so demonstrate the capability it undoubtedly possesses.

The mere knowledge of the materials used will, however, no more produce artistic work, than a box of Winsor & Newton’s colors, in the hands of a beginner, will enable him to paint a picture, equal to one by Titian. To produce good work in this method, there must be a certain amount of skill at the command of the painter, just as the same degree of skill is requisite in the production of a good picture by any other method. There is a certain boldness of effect produced by the very nature of the materials and process, which probably would not be seen in the work of the same person in other methods, yet the lack of artistic feeling and ability will be as painfully apparent in this as in any other.