Dish for Candy with Ring Design
Materials required:
A wheel-made dish or bowl,
Ultramarine blue water-colour paint,
A small water-colour paint-brush with a fine point,
A saucer of ground, baked clay, mixed with water,
A pitcher of water.
The low bowl shown in the plate is not difficult to mould on the wheel. After it has become bone dry—as it will in three or four days—it will be safe to decorate it in this way. Be careful, in handling the piece, not to grasp it by the edge, which, in all unbaked pottery, but especially in that that is bone dry, is the most fragile part. It should be held in the hollow of the left hand, while the right does the work. Have ready some ultramarine blue water-colour paint mixed with water in a cup, a small paint-brush tapering to a fine point, and a saucer in which is some baked or biscuit clay, pale yellow in colour, ground fine and mixed with water to the consistency of thick cream. A jug of water nearby is also necessary, to thin the clay mixture when it stiffens.
The design chosen is one large and two small rings, alternating around the bowl near the top (see Fig. 20). First measure the circumference of the top of the bowl. Divide it into fifths and mark the divisions with the paint-brush and blue paint. Starting a quarter of an inch below one of these marks, draw a small ring, about half an inch in diameter, with the blue paint. Should you make a mistake, the paint will erase easily after it is dry.