Majolica & Lowfire Recipes from Linda Arbuckle

Biscuit Jar: Plenty - Linda Arbuckle

     Majolica Overview | Majolica Recipes | Majolica Bibliography

     Low-Fire Recipes: all are cone 04- 03 unless otherwise noted.

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Majolica White Glaze	Cone 03	Cone 05
Frit 3124	65.75	58
F-4 feldspar	17.24	20
EPK	10.82	2
Nepheline Syenite	6.24	7
Tin oxide	5	5
Zircopax	10	10
Bentonite	2	2

One part oxide to one part gerstley borate (GB) for materials that melt well at lowfire temperatures:
green-blue: 1 copper carbonate + 1 gerstley borate

brown: 1 iron (red, black, ochre, crocus martis, et al.) + 1 gerstley borate.  Regardless of raw color of iron, most forms mixed with flux produce    brown colors.

blue: Cobalt carb works but may be more prone to spit in firing than stain, and is pale lavender raw, which is very different from the fired dark blue. Using stain works better for many people.

All other colorants and stains mix 1 part colorant + 3-4 parts GB:

blue: Mason Mazerine 6300 or other blue stain. Vivid Blue is refractory: use 4 GB.

green opaque: chrome oxide. NOTE: use of chrome with high tin glazes can cause tin-opacified white ground color to pink. If this happens, replace some of the tin with zirconium opacifier at 1 tin to 1.5 Zr opacifier. Chrome is refractory. Use 4 GB

rusty orange: rutile. Good mixed with harsh yellows to make them more of a golden color. Refractory: use 4 GB.

bright orange- red: Johnson Matthey or Degussa Inclusion stains. Expensive. Wide firing range. May present limited toxic hazard in foodware.

yellow: Mason vanadium 6404 or Drakenfeld praes.41545 (note: many lovely yellows contain LEAD: read the ingredients)

chartreuse: wet mix 3 parts above prepared yellow + 1 part prepared copper mixtures

pink: Mason Alpine Rose 6001 (cool pink, refractory, use 4 GB), Shell, Rose, Clover, or U.S. Pigments Rose S552

purple: Standard K-42 Orchid or Mason Pansy 6385, or Blackberry Wine, or Mulberry.

grey: O'Hommel 2B 9886 or Mason Neutral

turq.:O'Hommel TU96 or Mason Turq. 6288 . Nice with a dash of copper carbonate added.

mint green: Mason Bermuda 6242

black: Mason 6650 black, US Pigments Midnite, or black oxide mix

crimson: Standard K24 Maroon or Mason Crimson 6004. Crimson colors are brighter using frit 3124 in place of gerstley borate, which brushes better using liquid laundry starch or gum solution in place of water.

NOTE: body stains (e.g. Mason 6020 Pink, Titanium Yellow, and Lavender) are too refractory for majolica surface decoration (even with flux) and leave a pigskinned surface.

Many Amaco Velvet underglazes work well right out of the bottle for decorating on top of majolica base glaze. Mist Grey, Jet Black, Rose,Maroon, Leaf Green and 350 Orange all work well. Amethyst, Violet, Real Orange, Lt. Red, Red are bright colors that work. Too refractory to use: Electric Blue, Pearl Grey, Ivory, Hunter Green, Deep Yellow, Straw, Lt. & Med. Pink . Test others.

Amaco now makes a series of colors specifically for majolica decoration, the GDC series of products. Deep Yellow, Violet, Amethyst, and Cantaloupe are favorites. They work well right from the bottle for decoration on top of the base glaze. Prices for small jars are $3.50-5.75, pints $12 -38.00.

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Frit 3124 72

flint 10

EPK 12

zircopax 10

For decorating mix 25% stain or oxide with 75% frit 3124 (adjust for refractoriness of oxide or stain) and a tablespoon of liquid laundry starch. Generally fired to 04. Optional pre-fire to cone 018 to harden base glaze for easier decorating.

For black majolica substitute 8% Mason #6650 black (cobalt free) for the zircopax.

Terry says she occasionally does a soft fire to 018 to sinter the glaze and make it less fragile for working on.

Terry sometimes sprays a very thin coat of clear over her majolica. She says this brightens colors.
 

Bibliography:

Low-fire

• Brody, Harvey, The Book of Low-fire Ceramics, Holt, Rinehart, Winston, 1980 . Out of Print.
• Caiger-Smith, Alan, Tin-glazed Pottery in Europe And The Islamic World, Faber & Faber, London, no date. Out of print.
• Caiger-Smith, Alan, Lustre Pottery-technique, Tradition & Innovation in Islam and the Western World, London & Boston, Faber and Faber, 1985
• Carnegy, Daphne, Tin-glazed Earthenware: from Maiolica, Faience, and Delftware to Contemporary, '93. Chilton. ISBN 0-8019-8487-4 . Out of print from Chilton. Available from The Potters Shop, or Axner, et al.
• Conrad, John, Contemporary Ceramic Techniques, NJ, Prentice-Hall, 1979
• Nigrosh, Leon Low Fire: Other Ways to Work in Clay, Davis, MA, Davis Pubns. Inc., 1980
• Studio Potter magazine, v.11, no. 2 Earthenware issue, includes Stan Andersen majolica article. V. 24 no. 2 June, '96 has a majolica feature with articles by an number of majolica artists.
• Wechsler, Susan, Low-fire Ceramics, Watson-Guptill, 1981. Out of print. Section on majolica.

Ceramic process, materials

• Hopper, Robin, Ceramics Spectrum, Radnor, PA, Chilton Book Co., 1984. Excellent book on glazes and color development.
• Hopper, Robin, Functional Pottery, Radnor, PA, Chilton Book Co., 1986. Great reference for thrown functional forms, incl. historic information, and proportion and design considerations.
• Ceramic Industry magazine for ceramic manufacturing, annual January issue is a materials handbook for ceramic chemicals and materials. $25.00 for just the Jan. issue from Ceramic Industry 5900 Harper Rd., Suite 109, Solon, OH 44139-1835. (216) 498-9214.

General trouble-shooting

• Frazer, Harry, Ceramic Faults And Their Remedies, London, A.C. Black, 1986.
• Hamer, Frank, The Potters Dictionary 3rd ed. Phila. PA, Univ. Of PA Press.. 1991. ISBN 0-8122-3112-0

Art philosophy, aesthetics, and psychology

• Arnheim, Rudolf, Art And Visual Perception: a Psychology of The Creative Eye, Univ. of CA Press, Berkeley,1974
• Bayles, David & Orland, Ted, Art And Fear: Observations on The Perils (And Rewards) of Artmaking, Santa Barbara, Capra Press,1993. ISBN 0-88496-379-9
• Brolin, Brent, Flight of Fancy: The Banishment And Return of Ornament, St. Martin's Pr., NY, 1985
• Dormer, Peter, The Art of The Maker, London, Thames & Hudson, 1994. ISBN 0-500-27778-8. About the role of craft (i.e. skill) in art-making. Very helpful, inspiring.
• Larsen, Ron, ed. , A Potter's Companion: Imagination, Originality, and Craft, Park St. Press, Rochester, VT. ISBN 0-89281-445-4. A great job of compiled essays and articles inspiring to potters. Includes Bernard Leach, Michael Cardew, Warren MacKenzie, Wayne Higby, and others.
• Lipsey, Roger An Art of Our Own: The Spiritual in 20th Century Art. 1988, Shambala, Boston, MA.
• Gombrich, Ernst, The Sense of Order: a Study in The Psychology of Decorative Art, Cornell Univ. Press, Ithaca, NY, 1984.
• Lucie-Smith, Edward, The Story of Craft; The Craftsman's Role in Society. NY, Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1981.
• Rawson, Philip, Ceramics, U of PA Press, (paperbound ed.) 1984. Part of Rawson's series of art appreciation subjects. Excellent information about looking at pottery and meaning, altho wordy reading. Highly recommended.

Design

• Durant, Stuart, Ornament: From the Industrial Revolution To Today, Overlook Pr.
• Klee, Paul, Pedagogical Sketchbook, Faber and Faber, London, reprtd. 1986
• Wallschlaeger, Charles, & Busic-Snyder, Cynthia, Basic Visual Concepts and Principles for Artists, Architects, and Designers. Wm C. Brown, Publishers, Dubuque, IA, 1992. ISBN 0-697-00651-4
• Wong, Wucius, Principles of Two-dimensional Design, Van Nostrand Reinhold Co., NY, 1972
• Wong, Wucius, Principles of Two-dimensional Form, Van Nostrand Reinhold Co., NY, 1988
• Zelanski, Paul, & Fisher, Mary Pat, Shaping Space: the Dynamics of Three-Dimensional Design, 2 nd ed.. Harcourt Brace College Publishers, Ft. Worth, Philadelphia, NY, et. al., 1995. ISBN 0-03-076546-3