On the Theory and Practice of Art-Enamelling Upon Metals - Tapa blanda

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated.1906 Excerpt: ... Chapter I INTRODUCTION THE process of enamelling consists in coating the surface of earthenware, porcelain, glass, metal, or any other substance that will bear to be raised to a red heat, with a layer of melted glass. The origin of the name is doubtful. In old French it was spelt "esmail." It probably is connected with the word "smelt," and the German "smeltzen," from which also the word " smalt" is derived. A mere uniform glaze of glass, such as is used to cover pottery and porcelain, is sometimes termed enamel, but more strictly the word is only used when the glaze is laid on so as to form a design. The use of the word should also in strictness be confined to cases in which coloured glass is employed, laid on in masses like washes of colour, and not to work painted with a brush. Thus when china or metal is covered with solid coats of glaze it is said to be enamelled, but stippled ornaments or landscapes upon Dresden China, or Battersea ware, are not enamels properly so called. In practice the word is loosely employed, and it is usual to call all applications of melted glass upon metal by the name enamel, so that the term is employed for saucepans and other kinds of household ware made by coating iron with vitreous material. The so-called enamels used on bicycles are not true enamels, but only preparations of pitch or other resinous substances, which are hardened by baking them for two or three hours in ovens at a temperature rather higher than that of boiling water. Used in this way, common Japan black produces a hard and beautiful surface; but it is not a true enamel. Enterprising tradesmen sometimes mix two or three pennyworth of paint with a hard varnish, strain it, and sell it in tins as "enamel." Ladies' faces are also "enamelled" by the application ...