Enameling: Principles and Practice

I A BRIEF HISTORY OF ENAMELING
Greek enamels – Celtic enamels – Byzantine enamels – German enamels – French enamels – Enameled portraits – English enamels – Russian enamels – Chinese and Japanese enamels – English revival in 1864 – Viennese school – Enameling in America

II HOW ENAMELS ARE COMPOUNDED AND ENAMEL ING TOOLS AND MATERIALS
Types of enamels – Silica – Oxide of lead – Borax – Potash and soda – Oxides of metal – Materials – Kilns – Tools – Gum tragacanth

III MAKING THE FIRST PIECE OF ENAMEL
Shaping the copper – Trimming – Cleaning – Acid bath – Alkalizing – Washing the enamel – Applying the counter enamel – Firing the enamel – Tracing the design – Spatula method – Dusting method – Deep bowls – Warping – Blowtorch firing

IV TESTING THE COLORS, THE USE OF METAL FOILS AND THE INDIVIDUAL PALETTE
Opaque tests – Metal foils – Transparent tests on copper – Transparent tests on pure silver – Enameling on sterling silver – Test for melting point – Palette

V CHARACTERISTICS OF CERTAIN ENAMELS
Black – White – Gray – Flux – Blue – Green – Brown – Red – Purple – Chartreuse – Yellow – Ivory

VI MAKING LIMOGES ENAMELS
Preparing the plaque – Counter enamel the plaque – Designing the plaque – Transferring the design – First coat of enamel – Paillons for plaque – Grisaille enameling – Detail painting – Metallic lusters

VII MAKING CLOISONNE ENAMELS BY THE OLDER TECHNIQUE AND A MODERN VERSION
Forming panels – Cleaning the gold – Wire for cloisonne – Soldering cloisonne wires – Applying the enamel – Firing cloisonne – Stoning process – Shorter cloisonne method

VIII MAKING CHAMPLEVÉ, PLIQUE-A-JOUR, BASSE TAILLE AND OTHER TYPES OF ENAMELS
Design for champleve – Plating – Preparing the copper – Etching with acid – Enamels for champleve – Buffing and polishing – Plique-a-jour process – Plique-a-jour on copper plate – Plique-a-jour on mica – Plique-a-jour by capillary attraction – Applying the enamel – Basse-taille process – Grisaille process – En resille process

IX DESIGN FOR ENAMELING AND THE UNDERSTANDING AND FEELING FOR THE MEDIUM OF ENAMELING
Scale – Vibration – Edges – Stress – Subject matter

X EXPERIMENTS, SUGGESTIONS FOR NEW USES OF ENAMEL AND EARNING A LIVING BY ENAMELING
EXPERIMENT 1 – Enameled jewels
EXPERIMENT 2 – Gas flame colorations
EXPERIMENT 3 – Enameling over fire glaze
EXPERIMENT 4 – Overglaze shading
EXPERIMENT 5 – The thin enameled line
EXPERIMENT 6 – The embossed line
EXPERIMENT 7 – Sgraffito technique
EXPERIMENT 8 – Enameling on brass
EXPERIMENT 9 – Textures with glass

APPENDIX
Materials for Enameling and Where to Buy Them – Contemporary American Enamelists – Tables of Information Useful to the Enamelist – Where to Find Information on How to Color Copper

GLOSSARY

BIBLIOGRAPHY

INDEX