Flower Candlestick
Materials required:
About 1½ pounds of clay,
The wooden modelling tools,
A plaster tile.
A candlestick in flower form may be made in green and white, for a bedroom in a country house.
Five leaves, much the shape of poppy leaves, radiate from the centre, making a base from which the stem rises for three inches. A round, slightly flattened calyx, topped by a five-petalled flower, forms the cup for the candle. A sixth leaf, starting at the centre of the base, curls over until its tip rests sideways against the stem, serving the double purpose of a handle and a brace for the stem. The base should be modelled first, from a single piece of clay, placed on a plaster tile. Care should be taken to have it sufficiently thick—at least half an inch in most places. Although the leaves should be indicated, do not try to carry the leaf form way to the centre of the base. Let the irregular outline of the whole base, with an occasional raised tip, or edge of a leaf, suggest rather than imitate leaves. The leaf that forms the handle will, of course, be more carefully modelled. Now mould the stem, about an inch in diameter and three inches long, with the calyx on the end, an inch and three-quarters in diameter, and an inch high. After criss-crossing the middle of the base with the pointed-steel tool, wet it with slip and set the stem on the base, working the edges firmly on to it with the flat of the nail and wooden modelling tools. The leaf for the handle is brought over against the stem with a graceful turn, and there fastened with a touch of slip and some clay added underneath. Be careful to have the whole candlestick substantial, and not at all thin in construction, or it will suggest metal work rather than pottery.
After the candlestick has stiffened for a few hours, a five-petalled flower, three and three-quarter inches in diameter, is modelled and put on top of the calyx, which has first been criss-crossed and wet with slip. The cup for the candle is next hollowed out in the centre of the flower and calyx, raising the edge of the flower centre slightly above the surrounding petals. The candle cup should be a trifle larger than it will need to be when finished, as it shrinks somewhat in drying and firing, and the glaze, too, fills it up a little. Be sure, also, to have it deep enough to hold the candle.
The base, stem, and handle are finished with a gray green mat-glaze (see Chapter V.), while the petals are white—the uncoloured mat-glaze.