Universitätsbibliothek HeidelbergUniversitätsbibliothek Heidelberg
Metadaten

International studio — 14.1901

DOI Heft:
No. 54 (August, 1901)
DOI Artikel:
Fisher, Alexander: The art of true enamelling upon metal, [2]
DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.22775#0139

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Enamelling

CANDLESTICK OF CHAMPLEVE ENAMEL ON BRASS
(English, X VII Century)

stirrings before the ingredients become thoroughly
combined. As soon as the combination is com-
plete the mixture is poured into a tin of water.

The enamel substances being made, the next
step is to prepare them for use upon the metal.
This is done in the following manner. Take an
agate mortar measuring 5 ins. in diameter, fill it
half full with distilled water, and add a small
quantity of enamel; then place the mortar over a
leather pad, and holding an agate pestle firmly in
the left hand perpendicularly over the enamel,
strike the top of it with a wooden mallet, taking
care to avoid the sides of the mortar. Continue
this operation until the enamel is smashed into
fragments. Then take the pestle in the right hand,
and hold the mortar firmly with the left, still on

' the leather pad ; rotate the agate end of the
pestle on the enamel, and go on doing so until
the enamel is pulverised to the finest powder.
Meanwhile the water has become milky, so
pour it away, and add a fresh supply, repeat-
ing this part of the work until the discolora-
tion of the water disappears. Thoroughness
of washing is of the utmost importance in
the preparation of a clear transparent enamel.
Opaque enamels do not require so much
washing.

And now, leaving the enamel corked up
securely in a clean bottle, to prevent any
dust or foreign matter from getting in, let
us see how the metal is prepared. The first
process which I shall describe is that known
as champleve;, the next bassetaille; then
cloisonnd; then painted or Limoges enamels;
and, last of all, miniature painting in enamel.

Champleve enamelling is so called from
the two words champ, a field, and leve,
raised. The field or ground of metal is cut
away, leaving bands of metal to form the
outlines of the design; then with enamel
the part cut away has to be raised flush to
the surface of the outlining bands, so that
the whole is a uniform surface. The first
requirement is a pitch block, that is, a piece
of wood on which a composition of two parts
of pitch, six of plaster, and one of tallow, all
mixed together in a saucepan over the fire,
is poured to the thickness of an inch. In
the case of large work the wood must be
strong and heavy, but when the work is
minute the pitch or cement must be placed
upon the end of a stick.

There are two ways of using the tools, con-
cerning which it is now necessary to speak.
For large work a chaser’s hammer and long steel
chisels must be employed; for small work the graver
or the scooper is held rigidly in the right hand, and
by a firm, restrained pressure the metal is gouged out,
as shown in the illustrations. It is very necessary
to keep the tools sharp and clean. The design is
either drawn on the metal with a hard black lead
point or else transferred upon it by means of transfer
paper in the usual way, and then the lines are
traced with a fine graver, giving a faint hair line
of the utmost exactitude. This done, the line is
cut deeper with a V-shaped tool, about one-thirty-
second of an inch to one-sixteenth, the depth being
governed by the strength of colour required. In
transparent enamelling on silver or gold, for
instance, the darker the colour used the deeper

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