The painting finished, the piece should then be fired to fix the colors. If necessary, it can be touched up in any places which are thought to need deeper tints after this firing, and before the final process of glazing. It must be remembered, however, that the effect of the glazing will be to deepen the colors, and, unless the result of this process has been learned from experience, the tendency will rather be to get them too dark than too light. The most important thing is, to keep the relative value of the lights and shadows. If this is done, the effect will not be bad, even if the colors should fade a little in firing.
Another very important item in under-glaze painting, which has been mentioned before, is, that the colors must be in proper condition for use, and to that end, must be carefully rubbed down with a muller or palette knife. Inattention to this detail has caused much work of rude and rough appearance to be produced, which might otherwise have been fairly good.
In the Lambeth and Bennett ware the charming effect of color will generally be found to have been produced by a system of burning which would scarcely be considered legitimate, according to the strict rules of the potter’s art. The ware is not fired in the biscuit as hard as such ware is usually fired, and the glaze applied is softer than the body of the ware demands. This soft glaze is used to save the colors, and not being suited to the body of the ware will, generally, be found to be badly crazed. In this case, however, lovers of beautiful and harmonious colors, in the decoration of pottery, will think that the ends justifies the means, and as the articles are wholly adapted for ornamental purposes, this defect of glaze detracts but little from their value.
Some work of a similar character has recently been done in this city, however, in which the ware has been fired and glazed in such a manner as to make it perfectly durable, and, at the same time, great beauty of coloring has been retained. This result is not only important from the fact that it offers opportunity for the production of ornamental wares, but, also, from the consideration that the perfection of the firing and glazing of the ware renders it valuable for articles of use. Nothing could be prettier than sets of tableware made of this cream-tinted clay, decorated in colored, conventional designs. This would, we think, be the perfection of ware for ordinary use, and would form, with the combination of the delicately tinted body and the harmonious colors of the underglaze decoration, a service both pleasing to the eye and very durable.
It is not the province of a work on under-glaze painting to enter into the subject of over-glaze decoration, yet as they are frequently combined, mention may be made of some of the varieties of decoration in which the two processes are used. The most common form of the union of the two methods is that in which gilding is used as an adjunct to under-glaze decoration. Gold is always applied over the glaze, as it would be utterly destroyed by the action of the heat necessary in the firing of any hard glaze. That prepared by decorators by dissolving gold in aqua regia may be used, or the “bright” gold, which is obtained in a liquid state. The former is the most durable, and when fired can be burnished or left with a dead finish, which in many cases has the most pleasing effect. The “bright” gold, as its name indicates, becomes bright in the firing and the burnishing is thus rendered unnecessary. On a “smear” glaze the “bright” gold produces a beautiful dead gold effect, owing to the dead surface of the ware to which it is applied. In Japanese wares, dark blue, under-glaze, often appears in conjunction with gold, and also with red, green, or other colors which have been put on over the glaze.
One beautiful result of the combination of over and under-glaze painting is seen in the ware painted by Lemonnier. In this the ground is generally painted under the glaze in a manner similar to that described in this chapter for the production of Lambeth faience. The design is then painted with over-glaze “relief” colors, and the high lights laid in heavily, the whole producing an effect which combines the delicacy of the over-glaze colors with the depth of the under-glaze.
We have tried to indicate, in the preceding chapters, the principal methods employed in the decoration of pottery under the glaze. These various methods are combined with each other and with over-glaze work in so many ways that it is difficult for any but an expert to distinguish in a given piece of ware the many processes which may have combined to produce the result. This renders the subject more difficult to treat comprehensively, and these various ramifications of the art of under-glaze painting can here be but indicated. It is hoped, however, that the suggestions given may be sufficient to afford the student of ceramic decoration an idea of the various forms and of the possibilities of the art.
