DOI Heft:
No. 41 (August, 1896)
DOI Artikel:Miller, Fred: An enameller and his work
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.17297#0166
An Enameller and his Work
sists of two parts, the colouring matter, usually a work. Enamels on gold yield the most beautiful
metallic oxide, and a flux or fusible material which result, but Mr. Fisher has enamels which look
assumes its proper condition only when subjected almost as well on copper. Sometimes an enamel
to a heat sufficient to melt it. White is produced will have transparent colours in the background
by oxide of tin, which mineral is
also added to make enamel of any
colour opaque; blue by oxide of
cobalt; red by gold; violet by
manganese; green by copper. An
enamel may be either transparent
or opaque, and applied to a vitreous
surface, such as glass, pottery or
china, or to metals such as gold,
silver, copper, platinum or iron,
though the first three are those
most usually employed. These
enamels are ground into a fine
powder and are applied like body
colour and are then fired in a
muffle. Mr. Fisher uses one heated
by gas, and the firing of an enamel
is only the work of a few minutes.
Indeed, on the occasion of a visit to
Mr. Fisher's atelier he allowed me
to do a small enamel myself which
I brought away as a memento. The
colours were mulled up in a mortar,
and I put them on with a long-
haired brush, using simply water to
float the enamels on with it, for they
must be put on as thickly as body
colour and not merely as a wash.
The enamels before they are crushed
up looked like lumps of coloured
glass, but are not necessarily the
tint they assume when fired; thus
a ruby may look an amber and a
blue a dull yellow. When I say
that the firing is the work of a few
minutes, I mean that the firing of
the pigment into glass is so ; but
one of Mr. Fisher's enamels is fired
many times as one enamel is painted
over another.
In all the most beautiful enamels
both opaque and transparent colours
are used, and it is on this blending of
these two qualities that much of the
effect depends. The metal showing
through the transparent enamels
produces the effect of a gem, and
thin plates of gold and silver are
fused to the copper to give particular
qualities of colour to portions of the ends of enamelled silver casket by a. fishek
l5
3
sists of two parts, the colouring matter, usually a work. Enamels on gold yield the most beautiful
metallic oxide, and a flux or fusible material which result, but Mr. Fisher has enamels which look
assumes its proper condition only when subjected almost as well on copper. Sometimes an enamel
to a heat sufficient to melt it. White is produced will have transparent colours in the background
by oxide of tin, which mineral is
also added to make enamel of any
colour opaque; blue by oxide of
cobalt; red by gold; violet by
manganese; green by copper. An
enamel may be either transparent
or opaque, and applied to a vitreous
surface, such as glass, pottery or
china, or to metals such as gold,
silver, copper, platinum or iron,
though the first three are those
most usually employed. These
enamels are ground into a fine
powder and are applied like body
colour and are then fired in a
muffle. Mr. Fisher uses one heated
by gas, and the firing of an enamel
is only the work of a few minutes.
Indeed, on the occasion of a visit to
Mr. Fisher's atelier he allowed me
to do a small enamel myself which
I brought away as a memento. The
colours were mulled up in a mortar,
and I put them on with a long-
haired brush, using simply water to
float the enamels on with it, for they
must be put on as thickly as body
colour and not merely as a wash.
The enamels before they are crushed
up looked like lumps of coloured
glass, but are not necessarily the
tint they assume when fired; thus
a ruby may look an amber and a
blue a dull yellow. When I say
that the firing is the work of a few
minutes, I mean that the firing of
the pigment into glass is so ; but
one of Mr. Fisher's enamels is fired
many times as one enamel is painted
over another.
In all the most beautiful enamels
both opaque and transparent colours
are used, and it is on this blending of
these two qualities that much of the
effect depends. The metal showing
through the transparent enamels
produces the effect of a gem, and
thin plates of gold and silver are
fused to the copper to give particular
qualities of colour to portions of the ends of enamelled silver casket by a. fishek
l5
3