they should be put on in thin
washes. The whole work must then be glazed and fired. But I shall not
touch further on this part of the subject here, for I must say something
about modelled decoration applied to vases and plaques.

The plaque or vase to receive modelled decoration must be of the same
degree of dampness, or nearly the same degree of dampness, as the clay
used in modelling, for reasons already stated. You cannot put modelled
decoration on to clay that is dry, or ware that has been fired. To make
a plaque, it is almost necessary to have a plaster mould. You might make
this for yourself by buying a china plaque the shape and size you
require, and filling this plaque with plaster-of-Paris, being careful to
let the plaster come to edge of plaque all round. When the plaster is
dry, trim the edge round, and take it out of plaque. You must now roll
out a flat sheet of clay sufficiently large to cover this plaster mould,
and, by pressing the clay evenly all over the mould, and trimming round
the edges with a knife, you will get a clay plaque sufficiently good to
answer your purpose. Don't attempt to remove the clay immediately from
the plaster, but let it remain on a few hours, to enable the clay to
set. The surface of this plaque may be kept moist by keeping a damp
flannel over it. When the modelling has been started, the damp cloth
must not press upon the modelled portions, but be supported on a wicker
frame.

It is always better to model direct from nature--and for this reason. By
taking a leaf and pressing it into a piece of clay, and marking it round
with a darning-needle, you get the exact shape of the leaf, and by
pulling off the leaf you can bend the clay impression into any form you
like, and put it upon your clay plaque or vase, pressing it into the
curve you wish it to take. A little very wet clay should be put on back
of leaf, to ensure it sticking to plaque. I have taken as my
illustration (fig. 2) the garden poppy, and if I were modelling it
direct from nature, I should first of all roll out a strip of clay for
the stem, and put this on the plaque so that it makes a graceful curve.
Strip off the leaves one by one, and take impressions in clay, and then
fasten them to plaque, following the natural growth, and yet arranging
them so that the leaves fall into their places agreeably. The back
leaves, instead of being modelled, might be just marked in outline on
the plaque itself. This will give depth to