In other tiles a kind of mosaic was made—a combination of fine clay and enamels, which were mixed into soft pastes. The design was modelled and fitted together in these coloured pastes, which, when they were fired, the heat fixed and vitrified. Again these cunning craftsmen left in the clay incisions forming a design. Into these settings, so to speak, small pieces of glass or enamel were fitted, and when fused into place by the heat of the kiln suggested jewels.
Now-a-days our artist potters are designing and modelling tile for wall and floor decoration —whole mantels to match the colour scheme of a library or my lady’s boudoir.
To the uninitiated, the making of a tile seems almost too simple to learn—just a slab of clay, cut square and baked. Simple enough it is, to be sure, yet it has difficulties enough to make it interesting.
Suppose we mould a tile and learn by experience just what the difficulties are and how to surmount them.
The clay that is used in moulding tiles is the same as that of which the other pieces of pottery are made—i. e., a mixture of fire and ball or blue clay with the addition of a large amount of what is called by potters, “grog.” This is fire clay which after baking becomes pale yellow in colour and quite hard. It is pounded into pieces the size of a small pea, and smaller, and mixed thoroughly through the clay, to act as a tempering agent. Mould in as much of the “grog” as the clay will hold. Too much will make it lose its plasticity and separate into small lumps, but short of this the more “grog” the tile clay contains the better, as, being baked and shrunken, it minimises the chances of cracking by shrinkage.
In making a tile, the following materials will be required: