Omaha daily bee., 1910-04-03

lacquer f. Opaque. and only becomes trans
parent In thin layers BY grinding the
final coating with charcoal. the gold
sprinkling underneath can be made more
or less visible. according to the desire Of
Of the artist. Finally. after being carefully
polished. the object receives a very thin
coating Of the same lacquer to produce
G~lossiness. For common ware. tinfoil is
used instead OF EoId-lesf, but owing 20 the
yellow color Of the nsshiji, the tinfoil pre-
sents a gold-like appearance. The method
Of lscquerinE always remains the same, but
the number Of c~oatings can be reduced.
The printing may be done with cheaper ma
t~erials. and the lacquer may be Of inferior
quality.
The final process Of decorating the OBJ
iects is one which admits Of an almost
infinite variety Of devices, and consists
either Of paintings. or incrustations Of
mother-of-pearl metal, porcelain, or else
Of a peculiar preparation OF the surface.
The relief paintings are made with a mix
ture Of red oxide Of iron and lacquer upon
which fine charcoal powder is used before
the lacquer has hardened. This again is
coated with lacquer and colcothsr. the
operation being repeated until the required
relief work has been produced. The metal
lie powders namely. gold, silver, bronze,
etc. are applied to the final coating, while
the lacquer is still in a viscous condition,
so that the powders are soaked into the
fresh lacquer. and a thick layer, chiefly
composed OF metal. is produced. After the
lacquer has become hard. the painter re-
moves the surplus powder. and either pol
boy never sees any money Of his own eX-
ishes the painting or simply rubs it over,
according TO the result he desires 20 obtain.
Many Different
Lacquer painting is an art which admits
Of almost as many different methods OF
producing a certain effect as does that Of
oil painting. Although the painter in lac
quer has only a limited number Of bright
colors at his command, he can make use
OF many dark brown and neutral tints. and
also OF various metallic powders, besides
which he has it in his pawer TO modify the
surface as he pleases. The lacquer can be
carved or incrustated with mother-of-peaH,
ivory, metal;-be made dull OF brilliant
smooth or grained, producing relief or fiat
pictures by mixing with the lacquer a
paste made OF bean powder, or the white
Of eggs. He can thicken it to such an sz'
tent as to give it a kind OF Elasticity 90
] hat impressions can De ma0e llAL remain
visible after hardening. This is done, fol
instance, with the Tsugars lacquer, which
presents a msrbled appearance with red
brown. and green veins. The first coating
is done in black lacquer, which is mingled
with the whites of eggs. and by tampins
with a ball of cotton, or some similar op.
Grafton. the surface is made to present q
mass Of irregular depressions and elsva.
tons. which remain after the hardening
The latter are partially ground down, and
a second coating of a different color II
applied and similarly treated. After having
finished the coating with variously coloret
lacquers the surface is ground until all tho
successive layers appear again in veins OF
different coloTs.
The history OF lacquer ware, according 4