For those who have no knowledge or talent for painting, are designs
for transferring, and if the work is skillfully done it can hardly be told
from painting. The pictures come ready to be transferred to china, of
flowers, figures, birds, and almost any subject, colored in the dull shades
of La Croix colors. Before firing, you transfer the picture, say a bouquet
of flowers, upon a cup and saucer; cover them with a thin coating of
varnish, which comes for the purpose, and send to the kiln. After firing,
they are as bright and beautiful as one could wish, and often much more
correct in drawing than when done by hand. The varnish used for this
work is quite expensive, but the same preparation is made in this way,
at little expense. Put balsam of fir into a bottle with just enough tur-
pentine to eat the balsam on the picture ; don't rub it, only give it a
soft dab or two ; then take a large tailor spool for a roller, so as to get
it all smoothed out, or any smooth wood roller will do.
A Japanese cup and saucer is made by taking an ordinary transpa-
rent china cup and saucer, one more flat than deep, and paint them a
dark blue, red or yellow. Bake thoroughly dry in a mild oven. Then
transfer carefully small Japanese figures. Do not be in too great a hurry
to remove the pictures, for, to make a good imitation, there must not
be a crease or wrinkle. When completed set away a day or two before
using. Plates and pictures can be made in the same way, and very
beautiful cider pitchers can be made by taking the pitchers in their
natural colors and transferring the pictures on them. These transfer
pictures can be bought at any artist's store. Some people call the same
style of picture decalcomanie.
Handsome plates for brackets or shelves can be made by painting the
edge of a shallow plate, red, blue or gold, and transferring in the center
a large group of autumn leaves, flowers or fruit. A small wire bent so
that each end just comes over the edge of the plate far enough to hold,
PAPER LANDSCAPES. 309
and a V-shaped piece of wire fastened to this makes a good support
for it. The little wooden plates can be made almost as pretty as if
hand painted, by using scrap-book pictures or decalcomanies in the
center. One large flower is all it needs, but this must, to be pretty, be
of a graceful and bright design. A stork wading through grasses is
easily arranged, and very effective.
A tasteful paper-weight can be made by taking a large mussel or
clam shell. Boil it in lye to make it white, fill it with sand, glue it
together, and polish the outside with sand-paper and chamois. When
it glistens like mother-of-pearl, select a pretty little marine view and
transfer upon it. On nearly all beaches you can find large, smooth,
pretty-colored stones. By transferring landscapes or marine views on
these, they can be made into pretty paper-weights. Cupids, storks, and
some kinds of flowers are very pretty for this purpose. They are pretty
in their natural colors, but if another is desired they can be dipped in
a dye made of a solution of chloride of tin. The dye should' first be
boiled and then allowed to settle.
PAPER LANDSCAPES.
Page 274
Presented as published in 1886. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
For those who have no knowledge or talent for painting, are designs for transferring, and if the work is skillfully done it can hardly be told from painting. The pictures come ready to be transferred to china, of flowers, figures, birds, and almost any subject, colored in the dull shades of La Croix colors. Before firing, you transfer the picture, say a bouquet of flowers, upon a cup and saucer; cover them with a thin coating of varnish, which comes for the purpose, and send to the kiln. After firing, they are as bright and beautiful as one could wish, and often much more correct in drawing than when done by hand. The varnish used for this work is quite expensive, but the same preparation is made in this way, at little expense. Put balsam of fir into a bottle with just enough turpentine to eat the balsam on the picture ; don't rub it, only give it a soft dab or two ; then take a large tailor spool for a roller, so as to get it all smoothed out, or any smooth wood roller will do.
A Japanese cup and saucer is made by taking an ordinary transparent china cup and saucer, one more flat than deep, and paint them a dark blue, red or yellow. Bake thoroughly dry in a mild oven. Then transfer carefully small Japanese figures. Do not be in too great a hurry to remove the pictures, for, to make a good imitation, there must not be a crease or wrinkle. When completed set away a day or two before using. Plates and pictures can be made in the same way, and very beautiful cider pitchers can be made by taking the pitchers in their natural colors and transferring the pictures on them. These transfer pictures can be bought at any artist's store. Some people call the same style of picture decalcomanie.
Handsome plates for brackets or shelves can be made by painting the edge of a shallow plate, red, blue or gold, and transferring in the center a large group of autumn leaves, flowers or fruit. A small wire bent so that each end just comes over the edge of the plate far enough to hold,
PAPER LANDSCAPES. 309
and a V-shaped piece of wire fastened to this makes a good support for it. The little wooden plates can be made almost as pretty as if hand painted, by using scrap-book pictures or decalcomanies in the center. One large flower is all it needs, but this must, to be pretty, be of a graceful and bright design. A stork wading through grasses is easily arranged, and very effective.
A tasteful paper-weight can be made by taking a large mussel or clam shell. Boil it in lye to make it white, fill it with sand, glue it together, and polish the outside with sand-paper and chamois. When it glistens like mother-of-pearl, select a pretty little marine view and transfer upon it. On nearly all beaches you can find large, smooth, pretty-colored stones. By transferring landscapes or marine views on these, they can be made into pretty paper-weights. Cupids, storks, and some kinds of flowers are very pretty for this purpose. They are pretty in their natural colors, but if another is desired they can be dipped in a dye made of a solution of chloride of tin. The dye should first be boiled and then allowed to settle.
PAPER LANDSCAPES.