Chapter II: Part 2

In a lecture delivered before the British Architectural Association, on this subject, the lecturer suggested that in the treatment of a drawing-room the walls should be a light neutral grey, fawn color, or pale green (not dark, but not white). Dados are suitable for all rooms, even drawing-rooms. They may be made of wood, painted as the room doors, or of stamped leather, or of the French paper imitations of stamped leather. A frieze does not interfere with the heads of sitters, and adds much interest if it has its sentiment or story. If flowers form part of your decorations, have no relief, no imitation of nature’s light and shade. A wall must be a wall; if, neglecting this, you introduce illusions to the eye, the sense of solidity will not be suggested. The Japanese decorate on correct principles, with truth to the idea derived from nature, and truth in art, adaptation of representation to materials and method. As regards the woodwork there should be no graining anywhere; its aspect, however well executed, is repulsive. Real woods are always beautiful. Plain painting may be darker or lighter than the general wall surfaces; both will look well. The doors may have stencilled decorations in angles of panels; birds or butterflies, or plants, or any beautiful natural objects will supply motives. The ceilings should rarely be wholly white, except of halls or where the light is defective. Papered ceilings look well. The use of gold is generally satisfactory; it reflects a warm tone on everything below. Put a good amount of color on a ceiling--not, however, making it so dark as to bring it too close to the eye. The carpet must be either lighter or darker than the walls. This is following out the artist’s rule, to make either background or foreground run into the figure. If this is not done in painting, a woman in white satin, for instance, against a dark floor and dark walls, will look like a cut-out figure stuck on, and the same sort of result would occur in rooms. As in ordinary life dresses are dark in color, where a light wall tone has been recommended, the carpet will have to be darker than the walls. Not too vivid in color, however, and of course, no flowers, ferns, birds’ nests, and such like fearful things. _Furniture and hangings_ should not be too much alike in color; have, say, the carpet one tone, the coverings of the furniture another, and the curtains and other hangings a third. Have summer and winter hangings and furniture coverings; those for the former light and cheerful, the others with more warmth, and suggestive of comfort and home life. A table-cloth, occasional chair, or a rug, may supply a bit of effective contrast with prevailing hues of hangings, etc., and a spot of vivid color in a vase or some small hanging will complete the formal decoration of the room.

=Graining.=--The art of imitating the grain of the more expensive woods has been brought to a great degree of perfection, but of late years so many unskilled workmen have undertaken to imitate the natural grain of wood with such imperfect results, that this beautiful branch of painting has fallen into partial disuse. A few remarks, therefore, to the uninitiated may not be inappropriate in this work. Mahogany, satinwood, rosewood, mottled and walnut roots, maple, and some others, are frequently imitated; and it is seldom that a house is finished without some graining being introduced. The imitation of the above-mentioned woods are best performed in ground distemper (water colors) which are always preferable and more economical purchased ready prepared. Oak, chestnut, ash and similar long-grained woods, are best executed in oil-color, particularly for outdoor work. For drawing rooms, delicate party colors are preferable, as they harmonize better with the neutral tints on the walls or delicate tinted papers. The process of graining is very simple. To be an accomplished grainer, practice and an artistic taste is very necessary. Too frequently the imitation is overdone, the shading too deep and obtrusive, and the work made too glaring with figure and varnish, has an unnatural appearance; a grainer should always avoid attempting to over-do nature. The following is an approved method:--The surface on new wood should be prepared with three coats of oil paints for the ground color, and regulated in shade by the color of the wood to be imitated, making due allowance for the graining tint that is to cover it. The ground colors should always be perfectly dry before the graining is commenced. The painter then preparing small quantities of the colors he requires, applies it thinly and evenly over the surface and proceeds to wipe out with his thumb and a piece of white cotton cloth the figure of the grain. Some grainers use rubber instead. We cannot here explain all the different processes for the imitation of the grain of wood. Many painters have a method of their own, which from long practice produce excellent results. In some cases, graining in distemper may be adopted with great success for indoor work, and if the colors are put on thin, so that the varnish will penetrate through into the ground color, this kind of graining is as durable as oil-color, and is susceptible of being made far more beautiful, and soft looking in the imitation of mottled woods. For blending distemper colors, a badger’s hair blender should be frequently used to soften down and blend the tints where necessary; but for blending oil-color, in order to produce an elongation of the grain, we have found a flat varnish brush, kept moderately damp and clean, preferable to the badger’s hair. When the work is dry, the shades necessary for some woods should be laid on in distemper-color (some use thin oil-colors) and then covered with two coats of good oil varnish. Common varnish should never be used on outside work.

=Oak Graining.=--In oak graining the color is made in the following manner:--Procure some finely-ground burnt umber and raw sienna (or Vandyke brown and raw sienna if a dark oak be required), and thin with equal parts of linseed oil and turpentine. Add a large quantity of patent dryer to make it stand the comb. The color is now ready for use. The graining color is brushed over the work in the ordinary way with a pound brush, care being taken not to put too much color on, else it is liable to look dirty. A dry dusting brush is now used to stipple with, which, if properly done, will distribute the color evenly. It is now ready for combing. First take a medium or coarse-cut gutta-percha comb, and draw it down one side of the panel, then use a finer one to complete it. This comb will leave the marks of the grain in clear unbroken lines from top to bottom of the panel. We now take a fine steel comb and go over the whole of the previous combing; but in drawing this comb down, we either move it in a slanting or diagonal direction across the previous combing, or draw it down with a quick and short wavy motion and curl. Both the former and latter motions will break up the long lines left by the gutta-percha comb into short bits, which, of course, represent the pores or grains of the real wood. Next take out the lights of figuring or veining. This is effected by means of a piece of washleather, held tightly over the thumb nail. Every time a few lights are wiped out the leather should be moved slightly, so that the same part of the leather will not be used twice, thus ensuring clean work. There are various methods of doing this, but they require much more practice. When the figures are all wiped out they will require to be softened. By softening we mean the imitation of those half shades seen upon and about the figures in the real wood. These are imitated by doubling a piece of washleather into a small roll, and with the side of this the grain is partly wiped away or softened. Care should be taken not to wipe off the whole of the grain. If the operator has a piece of the real wood to look at occasionally he will be materially assisted. As soon as the oil color is dry it should be over-grained. This is effected in water color. Next go over the work with a bit of sponge and soap to prevent it “cissing.” Before laying on the over-graining, wash out the sponge and wipe the work. It is now ready to receive the color. Grind up finely a little vandyke brown in water, and dilute it with table-beer and water. It is then ready. Take a flat hog-hair brush, 3 in. to 4 in. wide, dip it in the color and draw it over the work, in most cases in the direction of the combing, but occasionally crossing. The hair of the brush, being thinly placed, will separate into patches, and hence the color will be deposited in streaks, resembling the natural gradations which the wood presents. If you have not a brush of this kind a sponge may be used to put in the streak and to soften off. Then dry varnish in the usual way.

=Spirit Graining for Oak.=--2 lbs. whiting, ¹⁄₄ lb. gold size, thinned down with spirits of turpentine, then tinge your whiting with vandyke brown and raw sienna ground fine. Strike out your light with a pitch or piece of rubber dipped in turpentine, tinged with a little color to show the lights. If your lights do not appear clear, add a little more turpentine. Turpentine varnish is a good substitute for the above mentioned. This kind of graining must be brushed over with beer with a clean brush before varnishing. Strong beer must be used for glazing up top graining and shading.

=Old Oak in Distemper.=--To make an exceedingly rich color for the imitation of old oak, the ground is a composition of stone ochre or orange chrome and burnt sienna; the graining is burnt umber or vandyke brown, to darken it a little. The above colors may be used for oil as well.

=Pollard Oak.=--Ground color, a mixture of chrome yellow, vermilion and white lead, to bring it to a rich light buff. The graining colors are vandyke brown and small portions of raw and burnt sienna and lake, ground in beer or vinegar. Fill a large brush with color and spread it over the surface to be grained, and soften with a badger hair brush. Take a moistened sponge and dapple round and round in kind of knobs, then soften very lightly, after which draw a softener from one set of knobs to the other while wet, to form a multiplicity of grain, and finish the knobs with a hair pencil, in some places in thicker clusters than others. When dry, put the top grain on in a variety of directions, and varnish with turpentine and gold size; then glaze up with vandyke and strong beer. Finish with copal varnish. This is for distemper only.

=Mottled Mahogany.=--The ground is prepared with the best Venetian red, red lead, and a small proportion of white lead. The graining colors are burnt sienna, ground in beer, with a small portion of vandyke brown. Cover the surface to be grained, soften with a badger hair brush, and while wet take a damp sponge and go over the lights a second time, in order to give a variety of shade; then blend the whole of the work with the badger softener. Put the top grain on with the same color. When dry, varnish. For distemper only.

=Rosewood.=--Mix vermilion and a small quantity of white lead for the ground. Take rose-pink, tinged with a little lamp-black or vandyke brown, and grind very fine in oil, then take a flat graining brush, with the hairs cut away at unequal distances, and cut down the grain as if wending round a knob. When nearly dry, take a graining comb that is used for oak, and draw down the grain. This will give it the appearance of nature. Then varnish. This makes an excellent and durable imitation.

=Another for Rosewood.=--This ground is prepared with vermilion and small quantities of white lead and crimson lake. When the ground is dry, and made very smooth, take vandyke brown, ground in oil, and with a very soft tool spread the color over the surface in different directions, forming a kind of knots. Before the work is dry take a piece of leather, and with great freedom strike out the light veins; having previously prepared the darkest tint of vandyke brown or gum asphaltum, immediately take the flat graining brush with few hairs in it, called a top grainer, and draw the grain over the work and soften. When varnished, the imitation will be excellent.

=Curled Maple in Oil.=--Prepare a rich ground by mixing chrome yellow, white lead and burnt sienna. For the graining color, grind equal parts of raw sienna and umber with a little burnt copperas and turpentine, and mix it with a small quantity of grainer’s cream, thin the color with oil; then fill a tool and spread the surface even and rub out the lights with sharp edge of a piece of buff leather, wiping it frequently to keep it clean; soften the edges of the work very lightly, and when dry, put on the top grain with burnt umber and raw sienna ground in beer with the white of an egg beat into it. Varnish.

=Curled Maple in Distemper.=--Prepare a light yellow for the ground, by mixing chrome yellow and white lead, tinged with Venetian red. The graining color is a mixture of equal portions of raw sienna and vandyke brown, ground in beer. Spread the surface to be grained in an even manner; then with a piece of cork rub across the work to and fro, to form the grains which run across the wood; soften, and when dry lightly top grain with the same color. Varnish.

=Bird’s Eye Maple in Oil.=--The ground is a light buff, prepared with white lead, chrome yellow and a little vermilion or English Venetian, to take off the rawness of the yellow. The graining color is equal parts of raw umber and sienna, ground in oil to the proper consistency. Spread the surface of the work with this color, and having some of the same prepared a little thicker, immediately take a sash tool or sponge and put on the dark shades, and soften with a badger hair brush; before the color is dry put on the eyes by dabbing the dotting machine on the work, or by striking the colors short and sharp with the tips of the fingers, then blend slightly the eyes in one direction only. When dry, put on the grain with the camels hair pencil on the prominent parts to imitate the small hearts of the wood. The same graining colors to be ground in here for distemper.

=Walnut in Oil.=--The ground is formed with ochre, Indian red, umber, and white. The graining coat is similar to that described under the oak heading, and is prepared with vandyke brown; and for the darker shades, fine ivory-black; the wiping out and blending to resemble that in mahogany; the fine dark veins of ivory-black to be lightly and wavily drawn over the work after it is blended. It is then ready for the varnish.

=Satin-wood in Distemper.=--This ground is prepared with white lead, stone ochre and small quantities of chrome yellow and burnt sienna. The graining color is one-third of raw sienna and whiting, ground in pale ale, very thin; then spread the color over the surface to be grained. While wet soften, and have ready a wet roller or mottling brush, in order to take out the lights; blend the whole with the badger hair brush, and with the same color put on the top grain. Varnish.

=To Imitate Granite in Oil.=--For the ground color, stain your white lead to a light lead color, with lamp-black and a little rose-pink. Throw on black spots with a coarse brush or graniting machine. A pale red also, and fill up with white before the ground is dry.

=Another for the Same.=--A black ground; when half dry throw in vermilion, a deep yellow, and white spots.

=Marble.=--For _White Marble_, get up a pure white ground, then hold a lighted tallow candle near the surface, and allow the smoke to form the shades and various tints desired. This will make a very handsome imitation. _Black Marble._--Imitation is made by streaking a black surface with colors, using a feather and pencil. Another plan is to get up a smooth black surface; then take the colors, green, yellow, red, white, etc., ground thick in gold size, and streak the surface with a stick or hair pencil. Allow it to dry, and apply a heavy coat of lamp-black and yellow ochre mixed, mixed rough stuff. When all is hard, rub down to a level surface with lump pumice-stone, varnish and a beautiful variegated marble will be the result.

=Red Marble.=--For the ground put on a white tinged with lake or vermilion; then apply deep red patches, filling up the intermediate spaces with brown and white mixed in oil; then blend them together; if in quick drying colors, use about half turpentine and gold size. When dry, varnish, and while the varnish is wet, put in a multitude of fine white threads, crossing the whole work in all directions, as the wet varnish brings the pencil to a fine point.

=Jasper Marble.=--Put on a white ground lightly tinged with blue; then put on patches of rich reds or rose-pink, leaving spaces of the white ground; then partly cover these spaces with various browns to form fossils, in places running veins; then put in a few spots of white in the centre of some of the red patches, and leaving, in places, masses nearly white. When dry use the clearest varnish.

=Blue and Gold Marble.=--For the ground color put on a light blue; then take blue, with a small piece of white lead and some dark common blue, and dab on the ground in patches, leaving portions of the ground to shine between; then blend the edges together with a duster or a softener; afterwards draw on some white veins in every direction, leaving large open spaces to be filled up with a pale yellow or gold paint; finish with some fine white running threads, and a coat of varnish at last.

=Black and Gold Marble.=--This description of marble is very chaste, and is in great demand. The ground is a deep black, or a dead color, in gold size, drop black and turpentine; second coat, black japan. Commence veining; mix white and yellow ochre with a small quantity of vermilion to give a gold tinge; dip the pencil in this color, and dab on the ground with great freedom some large patches, from which small threads must be drawn in several directions.

In the deepest part of the black a white vein is sometimes seen running with a number of small veins attached to it, but care must be taken that these threads are connected with and run, in some degree, in the same direction with the thicker veins. If durability is not an object, and the work required in a short time, it may be executed very quickly in distemper colors, and when varnished, it will look well.

=Compound Colors.=--The following tints can be formed by mixing the colors as below. The shades can be made to suit any taste by the exercise of a little judgment in proportioning the colors:

_Cream._--White lead, yellow and red.

_Drab._--White, Prussian blue and vermilion.

_Fawn._--White, stone ochre and vermilion.

_Flesh._--Lake, white lead, and a little vermilion.

_Grey_, Pearl--White lead, Prussian blue, and a very little black.

_Grey_, Flaxseed.--White lead, Prussian blue, and a little lake.

_Gold._--Massicot, or Naples yellow, with a small quantity of Realgar and Spanish white.

_Green_, Light willow.--White, mixed with verdigris.

_Green_, Grass.--Yellow pink with verdigris.

_Green_, Pea.--White lead and chrome or Paris green.

_Green_, Dark.--Black and chrome green.

_Green_, Olive.--Prussian blue and French yellow; mix to the tints required. This is a cheap and handsome color for outside work, such as doors, carts, wagons, railway cars, etc.

_Jonquil._--Yellow, pink and white lead. This color is only for distemper.

_Lead._--Prussian blue and white, with a light shade of white.

_Olive._--For distemper, use indigo and yellow pink mixed with whiting or white lead powder.

_Olive._--Red, green, or black and yellow.

_Pearl._--White lead, Prussian blue and red.

_Purple._--Dark red mixed with violet.

_Purple._--White, Prussian blue and vermilion.

_Red_, Dark.--English Venetian, red lead and litharge.

_Red_, Light.--Venetian red, and red lead in equal parts.

_Red_, Deep.--Vermilion, with a very small quantity of red lead.

_Stone._--White, with a little spruce ochre.

_Straw._--White lead and yellow.

_Snuff._--Yellow, sienna and red.

_Slate._--White lead, black, red and blue.

_Steel._--Ceruse, Prussian blue, fine lac and vermilion.

_Salmon._--White lead, yellow and red.

_Walnut._--Tree color; two-thirds white lead and one-third red ochre, yellow ochre and umber, mixed according to the shade sought. If veining is required, use different shades of the same mixture. (See article on graining).

_Yellow_, Light.--French yellow and white lead. A little red lead may be used.

_Another._--French yellow, white and red lead.

_Another._--A mixture of a small portion of Prussian blue, French yellow, white lead and Turkey umber and burnt vitriol, or litharge, will produce different shades of yellow, according to the preponderance of one of the above colors.

_Yellow._--Bright for floors, white lead, French yellow, chrome yellow a little, some red lead and litharge; mix with equal parts of boiled oil and turpentine and use it thin.

_Yellow_, Dark.--French yellow and a little red.

_Yellow_, Lemon.--Yellow pink, with Naples yellow. For distemper only.

MISCELLANEOUS RECEIPTS.

=For Iron.=--A good paint for preserving iron exposed to the weather, is made as follows:

Pulverized oxides of iron, such as yellow and red iron ochres, or brown hematite iron ores, finely ground, and simply mixed with linseed oil and a dryer.

White lead applied directly to iron is thought to have a corrosive effect. It may be applied over more durable colors.

Red lead, when pure, is very durable. An instance is recorded of iron painted with it having been under water for nearly 50 years, and had not been affected by rust.

Sheet iron, before being used for roofs or other outside purposes, should be heated and dipped into hot linseed oil, which will penetrate into it. Tinned iron in roofs has been found to corrode quicker than in former years, owing to the more general use of coal.

=Paint for Rusty Iron.=--Black Japan varnish, mixed with turpentine, to make it thinner if necessary, is one of the best preventatives; but the iron must be dry when you put it on. If you can warm the iron when painting it, so much the better. If not sufficiently opaque, you may put in dry finely pulverized paint, such as lamp-black. Red lead, with linseed oil is also a good paint for rusted iron; so are the mineral reddish-browns which consist of oxide of iron; they become very hard, and are used for the iron-work of the elevated railroads in this city.

=To Paint on Stucco.=--Great care is required in painting upon stucco, for the work must not only be thoroughly dry, but free from any liability of dampness; that is to say, the walls themselves must be dry. It is, consequently, usual to allow the stucco to remain for several months before it is painted; and this is especially necessary when it covers over a large surface, as in the walls of churches, chapels and theatres. If the paint be applied too soon, the work will have a blotched appearance, and be probably filled with small vesicles, formed during the evaporation of the water. When the work is dry, it may be prepared by covering it with a coat of linseed oil, boiled with dryer. This must be laid on very carefully, or the face will be irregular. The color may then be applied, and four coats will not be too much, the work being new. Persons are generally so anxious to have their buildings finished, that they disregard the future appearance of the work, and within a few weeks after the application of the stucco, cover it with paint. But it would, in all cases, be sufficient to wash the surface with distemper, as it would give a finished appearance to the building, and make it less necessary to hurry the work. When the work is sufficiently dry to receive the oil-colors the distemper color should be removed by washing, and when the stucco is dry apply the oil-color. The tints may be regulated by mingling different colors, as in all other kinds of painting.

Plastered walls should not be painted until they are thoroughly dry, and all settling in a new house has taken place. If painted too soon they will blister.

Unseasoned wood should never be painted, as it stops the pores of the wood and the sap acidulates, causing dry rot. Greasy surfaces must be washed with water mixed with lime or soda, otherwise the paint will not adhere to it.

=Mixing Quick Drying Paint.=--Venetian blinds should be painted to dry dead, then varnish; but few take this trouble. Mix the paint as under: White lead, boiled oil, and the least drop of turps; mix sufficient of each to form a creamy mixture; then add about 1 oz. patent drier to each 1 lb. of paint. If you want the paint darker use enough burnt umber to give the required tint. If you want to varnish, omit the oil and use turps.

=Transparent Paint for Glass.=--Take for blue pigment, Prussian blue; for red, crimson lake; for yellow, Indian yellow; and for other shades, a mixture of the appropriate primary colors. Rub them in a size made as follows: Venice turpentine, 2 parts; spirits of turpentine, 1 part, and apply with a brush. The colors are moderately fast unless exposed too long to direct sunlight. A solution of the various aniline dyes in shellac varnish has also been recommended.

=Gilding.=--Gold leaf is the only successful application. First put on a coat of Japan gold size, and when that is “tacky,” and nearly dry, lay on the gold-leaf and dab it with a small tuft of cotton-wool. Where you buy the gold-leaf you can buy a gilder’s tool for applying it; but in order to get a smooth surface it must (when perfectly dry) be burnished with an agate burnisher, which you will also get at the color-shop, but you will not be able to burnish gold-leaf on the bare wood. You can, if you like, varnish with pale copal varnish.

=Gilding on Glass.=--Glass letters are gilt the same way as you would a name on a glass door. You can easily get a good burnish if you take a little trouble. Get some of the best cotton wool at a chemist’s, and well polish the gold with it; the gold must be thoroughly dry. Then go over it with your size boiling hot; do not touch the same place twice with the brush, or you will bring the gold up; repeat the process three or four times, being sure to have your gold dry each time, the hotter the size the brighter will be the burnish; be careful, however, and not break the glass with the heat.

=Gilding Fretwork, etc.=--The first thing to be done is to whiten the work. To do this scrape some whitening very fine, place it in a pipkin with a lump of gilder’s size, and water sufficient to make it of the consistency of thick cream, when heated over a fire; then, with a camel-hair pencil, paint it on the object several times, allowing each coat to dry before applying the next. When the several coatings have raised it to the thickness of ¹⁄₁₆ in., set it aside for twelve or more hours, to harden; when hardened, smooth the surface with very fine sandpaper first, and finally with a piece of cork; when using the cork frequently dip it in water, and, when practicable, use it in a circular motion. Thus far successful, the next thing is to lay on the gold. To gild, then, dissolve some gilder’s--not common size--in water, and heat, and with a full brush lay it on the surface of the object. Cut the gold leaf, on a pad of buff leather, with a clean cut of the knife (much easier said than done; perseverance, however, with the cost of a book or two of gold mutilated, and a large amount of patience exhausted, will overcome the difficulty), to the size required; take these up on a tip (a row of long hairs placed between two bits of cardboard)--the professional way to do this is to strike the hair of the tip against the gilder’s own whiskers or hair--and gently lay them on the surface of the object, taking care that each succeeding piece slightly overlaps the preceding. When dry, a small piece of fine sponge, dipped in a weak solution of size water, should be gently passed over it to give a uniform appearance. If the bright gold requires to be deadened, deep ormolu should be used in a similar way after sizing. The yellow used for the ungilt portions consists of gilder’s yellow, dissolved in size water, and is put on with a brush.

=Painting on Gilded Panels.=--There is no preparation needed to paint in oils on a gilded panel. No mediums are required, the ordinary oil colors being used unmixed. If required to dry flat and to remain so, they are mixed with turpentine and left unvarnished. If the shiny look of oils is to be retained, they are slightly diluted with boiled oil, and varnish with white hard varnish when dry.

=Gilding on Wood.=--To gild in oil, the wood, after being properly smoothed, is covered with a coat of _gold size_, made of drying linseed oil mixed with yellow ochre; when this has become so dry as to adhere to the fingers without soiling them, the gold leaf is laid on with great care and dexterity, and pressed down with cotton wool; places that have been missed are covered with small pieces of gold leaf, and when the whole is dry, the ragged bits are rubbed off with cotton. This is by far the easiest mode of gilding; any other metallic leaves may be applied in a similar manner. _Pale leaf gold_ has a greenish yellow color, and is an alloy of gold with silver. Dutch gold leaf is only copper colored with the fumes of zinc; being much cheaper than gold leaf, is very useful when large quantities of gilding are required in places where it can be defended by the weather, as it changes color if exposed to moisture, and it should be covered with varnish. _Silver leaf_ is prepared every way the same as gold leaf; but when applied, should be kept well with varnish, otherwise it is liable to tarnish; a transparent yellow varnish will give it the appearance of gold.

Whenever gold is fixed by means of linseed oil, it will bear washing off, which burnished gold will not.

=To Gild Letters.=--When the sign is prepared as smooth as possible, go over it with a sizing made by white of an egg dissolved in about four times its weight of cold water; adding a small quantity of fuller’s earth, this to prevent the gold sticking to any part but letters. When dry, set out the letters and commence writing, laying on the size as thinly as possible, with a sable pencil. Let it stand until you can hardly feel a slight stickiness, then go to work with your gold leaf knife and cushion, and gild the letters. Take a leaf upon the point of your knife, after giving it a slight puff into the back part of your cushion, and spread it on the front part of it as straight as possible, give it another slight puff with your mouth to flatten it out. Now cut it to the proper size, cutting with the heel of your knife forwards. Now rub the tip of the knife lightly on your hair; take up the gold on the point, and place it neatly on the letters; when they are all covered, get some very fine cotton wool, and gently rub the gold until it is smooth and bright. Then wash the sign with clean water to take off the egg size.

=Sign Writing in Colors, Etc.=--On an oak ground ornamental letters, in ultra-marine blue, filled in with gold and silver leaf, blocked up and shaded with burnt sienna. _Another._--Gold letters on a white marble ground, blocked up and shaded with a transparent brown or burnt sienna. _On glass._--Gold letters shaded with burnt sienna. _Another._--Gold letters shaded with black on a _scarlet_ or _chocolate ground_. On a rich _blue ground_ shaded with black, look very well. _On a purple_ ground, pink letters shaded with white. Mix ultra-marine and vermilion for a ground color, white letters shaded with grey. _Vermilion ground_, chrome yellow stained and vermilion and lake, for the letters shaded with black.

A substitute for the above colors: Rose-pink and red lead; and for the letters stone yellow, white lead and Venetian red. Mix your colors for writing in boiled oil, and use for dryer gold size. Other good grounds for gold letters are, blues, vermilion, lake and Saxon. When your sign is ready for gilding, follow the directions under the head “_To Gild Letters on Wood_.”

=Gilder’s Size.=--Drying or boiled linseed oil, thickened with yellow ochre, or calcined red ochre, and carefully reduced to the utmost smoothness by grinding. It is thinned with oil of turpentine.

=Staining Wood a Dull Black.=--The work required to be stained should be colored with drop-black and size. When this is thoroughly set it should be papered off and colored again, and then be papered off again. The polish should also be stained with drop black and a little indigo. Next polish to a perfect surface, and let it set. After the wood has absorbed all the polish possible, polish again, and dull it with the finger dipped in fine emery; a fine metallic surface will thus be obtained.

=Staining Floors.=--The best and cheapest and only permanent stain for floors is permanganate of potash. Buy it by the ¹⁄₄ lb., and at a wholesale chemist’s; mix about ¹⁄₄ oz. in a quart of water. Apply freely and quickly to a dry floor with either cloth or brush, the latter if you care for staining your hand. Repeat the process for a very dark oak color; when dry, oil with burnt oil or beeswax and turpentine; you cannot wash this color out. Benson’s stain is only permanganate of potash. At first for a few moments the color is bright magenta, but this at once changes to a dark permanent brown. For fifty cents a whole house may be stained.

=Varnishing Wood.=--After smoothing wood with veneer scraper, brush on thick coat of shellac varnish; then use fine sandpaper, No. 0. Do this three times for close grained woods, such as black cherry, and four times for porous wood, such as chestnut. Have two dishes. Into one put finely ground pumice; into the other raw or boiled oil. Apply a mixture of these with a piece of hair-cloth or broad-cloth. Don’t rub too hard. Finish up with rotten stone, which will remove pumice and oil. Above is a good dead varnish. _Another._--Take encaustic wax, heat, and apply with a cork; rub in well, brush on thin coat shellac varnish, finish with pumice and oil.

=Solvent for Old Putty and Paint.=--Soft soap mixed with a solution of potash or caustic soda, or pearlash and slaked lime mixed with sufficient water to form a paste. Either of these laid on with an old brush or rag, and left for some hours, will render the putty or paint easily removable. _Another._--Slack three pounds of stone quicklime in water, then add one pound of pearlash, and make the whole about the consistence of paint. Apply it to both sides of the glass, and let it remain for twelve hours, when the putty will be so softened that the glass may be easily taken out of the frame. _Another._--Break the putty up in lumps the size of a hen’s egg, add a small portion of raw linseed oil, and water sufficient to cover the putty, boil this in an iron vessel for about ten minutes and stir it when hot. The oil will mix with the putty, then pour the water off and it will be like fresh made. For removing hard putty from a window sash take a piece of square iron, make the same red hot, and run it along the putty till it gets soft. The putty will peel off without injuring the wood work.

=Wash for Outside Work.=--For woodwork slake half a bushel of fresh lime, by pouring over it boiling water sufficient to cover it 4 or 5 inches deep, stirring it until slacked; add 2 lbs. of sulphate of zinc (white vitrol) dissolved in water. Add water enough to bring all to the consistency of thick whitewash; it may be colored by adding powdered ether, Indian red, umber, etc. If lampblack is added to colors, it should first be thoroughly dissolved in alcohol. The sulphate of zinc causes the wash to become hard in a few weeks.

=Another for Brick, Masonry, and Rough-cast.= Slake half a bushel of lime as before; then fill a barrel ²⁄₃ full of water, and add a bushel of hydraulic cement. Add 3 lbs. of sulphate of zinc previously dissolved in water. The whole should be of the thickness of paint. The wash is improved by stirring in a peck of white sand, just before using it. It can be colored as before described.

=French Polish.=--Coat with one or more coats of shellac and rub down smooth; make a rubber by rolling up a piece of flannel about 3 or 4 inches wide until it is about 1¹⁄₂ inches in diameter, and tie it round with cord. Lay the end of the rubber on the mouth of a thin necked bottle and apply the varnish to it, having previously shaken up the contents in the bottle; then enclose the end of the rubber with a piece of soft linen doubled, and moisten the face of the linen with a little raw linseed oil.

Pass the rubber with a quick, light and circular motion over the surface until the varnish becomes dry, or nearly so, and charge the rubber again with varnish until 3 coats have been laid on, when a little oil may be applied to the rubber and two more coats laid on. In the finishing coat wet the inside of the cloth with a little alcohol, and rub quickly and lightly over the whole surface. Lastly wet the linen cloth with a little oil and alcohol without varnish, and rub as before until dry.

The varnish is the usual preparation of shellac. See cabinet maker’s varnish.

=Wood Filling Composition.=--Boiled linseed oil, 1 qt.; turpentine, 3 qts.; corn starch, 5 lbs.; Japan, 1 qt.; calcined magnesia, 2 oz.; mix thoroughly. _Another._--Whitening, 6 oz.; Japan, ¹⁄₂ pt.; boiled linseed oil, ¹⁄₂ pt.; turpentine, ¹⁄₂ pt.; corn starch, 1 oz.; mix well together and apply to the wood. Add coloring if required. _Another._--Linseed oil, 1 qt.; spirits of turpentine, ¹⁄₂ pt.; lime, the size of a base-ball, broken fine. Let the mixture simmer on a stove, covered over, for two or three hours, then strain through a coarse cloth. It is to remain on 24 hours, then rub off with a woolen cloth and polish.

=German Filling.=--Fill the pores with raw tallow and plaster of Paris well amalgamated before a fire in cold weather. Darken, if required, with any coloring to suit. When well rubbed in give a coat of shellac and French polish or varnish.

=Polish for Walnut Wood.=--Mix with two parts of good alcoholic shellac varnish, one part of boiled linseed oil, shake well, and apply with a pad formed of woolen cloth. Rub the furniture briskly with a little of the mixture until the polish appears.

=Rules the Painter Should Observe.=--Never eat or sleep without washing the hands and face and rinsing the mouth. Keep the buckets, brushes, etc., clean, so that they may be handled without smearing the hands. Never sleep in a paint shop nor in a newly painted room. Never allow paint to accumulate on the clothing or finger nails. Never wash the hands in turpentine, as it relaxes the muscles and injures the joints; any animal oil or even linseed oil is better. Never drink water that has stood any length of time in a paint shop or newly painted room. Never use spirituous liquors as it unites with the mineral salts and tends to harden them and causes inflammation of the parts where they concrete. Milk, sweet oil and the like should be used freely, as they tend to soften the accumulated poisons and carry them off. Vinegar and acid fruits used constantly, unite.

PAPER-HANGING.

The art of putting on, or “Hanging” paper is very simple, and is easily learned; but to make a tasteful choice of paper for various situations, is not so easy, hence the following remarks, which may be of service to the workman or others on whom the selection of paper may devolve.

Walls to a room should be regarded only in the light of a frame-work to what the room contains, and should be decorated so as to bring into prominence and not eclipse the other parts of the chamber. Nothing destroys the effect of a room so much as a handsome but staring wall paper, or a wall so profusely ornamented as to strike upon the eye to the exclusion of the rest of the decorations, thus bringing forward what should be the background into the most conspicuous place. A modern drawing room is always difficult to decorate artistically, because of the taste of its builders for heavy cornices, prominent mantelpieces, and rooms too lofty for their size; and as all these misnamed “embellishments” are too costly to remove by tenants, the only plan to pursue is to destroy their effect by exercising both taste and ingenuity. First, with regard to the ceiling, the ornamental plaster boss in its center should be removed, and the ceiling tinted a color that harmonizes with the wall paper, as no harmonies can be hoped for when what produces them is surmounted with the glaring white of an ordinary ceiling. The tint used must be one that softens into the wall paper, not one that contrasts; thus, if the tone of the room is that of a soft grey blue, the ceiling should be a clear flesh pink; or should a grey gre picked out with black be the chosen color, then it should be colored a subdued lemon.

Some people cover their ceilings with a whole colored paper, and border it with a stencilled pattern representing the thin garlands so familiar upon Queen Anne decorations, but this is a more troublesome plan than the simple coloring, which answers all the purpose. The walls, if they are lofty, require a high dado. These high dados give a look of comfort and “home” that is absent from the modern high pitched room papered with one uniform pattern. The dado is divided 3 feet to 4 feet from the ceiling, and the coloring of the lower portion must always be heavier than that used on the upper or a top heavy look will be given to the room. When many pictures are to be hung up the lower part of the dado should be of a whole color, either a whole colored paper or a painted wall, as pictures are only shown off upon such a background. Where a whole tint is used for the lower part of the dado, the upper portion should be decorated with a frieze paper of a good bold pattern, but of subdued coloring and of tint that harmonizes with the lower. Thus, the color used about the frieze should be the same as that on the lower part, but of a lighter shade, intermixed with some other colors that form a harmonious link between the two shades. Contrasts must be carefully avoided, but pale pinks, blue and ambers can be blended together above a subdued grey blue ground. The two portions of the dado should be joined together with a light wooden (black or brown) railing, or with a line of paint.

The dado decoration can be altered by placing the pattern paper upon the lower part and leaving the upper plain-colored with or without a stencilled pattern upon it. This will suit a room where not many pictures are required, or that is already rather dark. Some part of the wall should always be in plain color, as the eye requires rest; and no pattern, however subdued in hue, can give the relief to the mind that a bit of plain coloring affords, and this scarcity of ornament in one part of a room is amply repaid by the effect it gives to such parts as are bright and should be bright. The true theory of effect is to use but one or two bright colors in a room, and to surround them by soft and subdued tints that throw up and do not destroy their brilliancy; a number of bright colors placed together destroy each other, and leave no impression upon the mind but glare and vulgarity. Having settled upon your paper and ceiling, have the woodwork and cornice of the room painted either a shade lighter or darker than the walls, and shroud up the mantelpiece with curtains, etc., of satin sheeting embroidered with crewels, and instead of the usual looking glass over the fire-place, have a mirror surrounded with brackets holding china; or have a black wooden mantelpiece made with squares of looking glass set in. The back-ground of your room being thus completed in a manner really to be a back-ground, your furniture will look twice as well as if it were stared out of countenance by the walls, and one need hardly add that all your friends will delight in a room that throws up and brings out their dresses and faces, instead of killing them by its glaring tints.

=Operations.=--To prepare the walls, make a size of glue and water, then give the walls a coat of a very weak solution of the same. To make a paste, take two pounds of fine flour, put in a pail; add cold water, and stir it up together in a thick paste. Take a piece of alum about the size of a small chestnut, pound it fine and throw it into the paste; mix well. Then provide about six quarts of boiling water and mix while hot with the paste until the whole is brought to a proper consistency. This makes an excellent paste, and fit for use when cold.

=Cleaning Paper-Hangings.=--A very good method to clean paper-hangings is that used oftentimes in cleaning the margins of prints. Cut into eight pieces a quartern loaf two days old, and after having swept all the dust from the paper-hangings, commence from the ceiling downward, and somewhat lightly rub the paper with a downward stroke with one of the pieces of bread. Continue this round the room, and then commence lower down in the same way till the whole of the surface of the paper has been gone over. The bread will from time to time get dirty, and it should be cut off as often as required. Care should be exercised not to rub the paper with a cross or horizontal stroke, only with the perpendicular movement of the hand or the paper may peel off the walls from the joints. With careful manipulation, paper will look almost as good as new.

=Varnishing Paper-hangings.=--When papers are hung in places where there is much passing, they are subject to greater wear than in an ordinary room, and varnishing is resorted to, to make them more durable, as it prevents soiling; they may also be cleaned with a damp cloth, and are not in wear so likely to be damaged by rubbing off the wall. Halls, lobbies, staircases, and offices are sometimes varnished for durability, but as a rule the appearance is not improved. The paper must be sized twice, the first being dry before the next is applied, when the varnish is laid evenly on. It is necessary to size the paper twice, as the first time may not effectually cover it, when the varnish would stain the paper as badly as if oil had been applied. The size necessary for sizing the paper before varnishing should be clean and transparent. Parchment cuttings boiled down in water and strained will make excellent size for this purpose. Before it is cold it should be either strained through calico, or poured off, leaving the bits at the bottom. A patent size is sold for this purpose, but parchment size is the most reliable. Use clean brushes for size and varnish.

=A Paste that will Keep Well.=--A correspondent writes to a journal this formula for a non-poisonous paste that will keep well in hot weather: Wheat flour, 1 ounce; powdered alum, ¹⁄₂ drachm; water, sufficient, or 8 ounces; oil of clove, or wintergreen, 3 or 4 drops. Rub the flour and the alum with the water to the consistency of milk; place this over a moderate fire, and stir constantly, until the paste drops from the wooden paddle in jelly-like flakes, and has the appearance of glycerite of starch. While the mass is still hot, add the essential oil, and pour the paste into an earthenware pot or open jar. In the course of about an hour a crust forms on the top; pour gently on this an inch of water, more or less. When some paste is wanted, decant the water, take out the quantity needed, and put some water again on the remainder, repeating the operation each time. Paste may be kept in this way for months, and will never be troubled with flies.

USEFUL HINTS FOR ESTIMATING COST OF WORK AND MATERIALS.

All surface painting is measured by the superficial yard, girting every part of the work covered, always making allowance for the deep cuttings in mouldings, carved work, railings or other work that is difficult to get at.

Where work is very high and scaffolding or ladders have to be employed, allowances must be made.

The following rules are generally adopted in this country in the measurement of work. Surfaces under six inches in width or girt are called 6 inches; from six to 12 inches, 12 inches; over 12 inches measured superficial. Openings are deducted, but all jambs, reveals or casings are measured girt.

Sashes are measured solid if more than two lights. Doors, shutters and paneling are measured by the girt, running the tape in all quirks, angles or corners. Sash doors measure solid. Glazing in both windows and doors is always extra. The tape should be run close in over the battens, on batten doors, and if the stuff is beaded, add one inch in width for each bead.

Venetian blinds are measured double. Dentels, brackets, medallions, ornamented iron work, balusters, lattice work, palings or turned work should all be measured double. Changing colors on base boards, panels, cornices, or other work, one-fourth extra measurement should be allowed for each tint.

Add five per cent. to regular price for knotting, puttying, cleaning and sand-papering.

For work done above the ground floor charge as follows: Add five per cent. for each story of 12 feet or less, if interior work; if exterior work, add one per cent. for each foot of height above the first 12 feet.

It is impossible to give prices for painting that will be reliable in any one section of this country for more than a month, as the cost of materials and labor is continually varying, but we offer the following hints, which may assist the workman to make a fairly just estimate of work:

For plain colors on wood--

First coat, per yard, $--
2 coats, add ” 4-5
3 coats, ” ” 1¹⁄₂

Now, by this rule, if the first coat was 10 cents, two coats would be 18 cents, and three coats would be 25 cents. This is a simple method and easily understood, and is adapted to any sort of plain painting or graining.

Graining, with one or two coats of good varnish, is worth, at this writing, from 65 cents to $2.00 per yard, and marbling from $1.50 to $2.75 per yard.

Marbling mantels is worth from $5.00 to $20.00, according to style of marble and beauty of finish. All of the above prices are based on the understanding that the workman furnishes all tools and materials.

Transcriber’s Notes

Missing and incorrect punctuation has been fixed.

Due to space restrictions, the data originally in a remarks column in the table has been restructured into footnotes in the text version.

Page 8: “in cold whether” changed to “in cold weather”

Page 29: The 2 sentences beginning with “The materials and tools used” are missing words in this and later editions and have been left as per the original.

Page 52: “wollen cloth” changed to “woolen cloth”