interposition of a glassy layer between the colours
and the eye.

* Vol. vi. p. 97

The name which the inventors have chosen
to give to this imitative art is dependent on
the primary object of imitating the Chinese
or Japanese potiches or jars; but a further
display of skill may enable the workers to
apply the process to glassy imitations of Sèvres
and Dresden porcelain. The eastern products
are usually adorned with figures and plants
and animals; but those of Europe aim at
applications of the historical and landscape
painter's products. The potichomanist (a very
hard word to apply to a lady) selects her glass
vase or jar, cup or plate, pot or dish, and then
sheets of coloured gelatine, such as will produce
the colours of the device to be imitated. With
her sharp-pointed scissors she cuts out the
little bits of gelatine requisite to produce the
device. This is probably the most difficult
part of the whole affair; for not only must
the outlines of the device be carefully
observed, but also the juxtaposition of any two
or more colours which it may comprise.

The coloured gelatine, then, is cut into little
fragments, and the glass is clean and ready,
and the pencils or small brushes are at hand,
and the liquid gum is prepared, and the artist
is in a condition to proceed with the delicate
work. Sheets of gelatine are naturally adhesive
when wetted; but pieces of coloured
paper may occasionally be used which have
no adhesive layer upon them. The
wetting or the gumming, are adopted according
to circumstances; but either must be done
thoroughly, for it is of much importance to
the completeness of the process that the
cementing to the glass should be close and
perfect in every part. A linen pad or cloth
is applied delicately to ensure this closeness
of contact. There must be no bubbles of air
no branches of trees, or detached leaves of
flowers, or wings of insects, must curl up at
the corners and obtrude themselves unduly
upon notice. All must adhere closely to their
glass.

It must be observed, however, that these
gelatine sheets, if used at all, are not
employed by themselves. The gelatine appears to
be simply a film on the front or face of the
picture, which film, if damped, becomes adhesive
without the aid of gum. Our tasteful neighbours
across the Channel supply us with
these, as well as with the original idea
whereby the art has been created. Theirs
is the potichomanie, which we have changed
into potichomania; and theirs are the sheets
of pictures—Chinese ladies, landscapes with
impossible perspective, foliage, flowers, fruit,
birds, butterflies, arabesques, grotesques—
printed in lithography, brilliantly coloured
and sold at six, nine, twelve, eighteen, or any
other number of pence per sheet. Some of
our teachers tell us to use hog's-hair brushes;
some say camel's-hair; but others, more
provident than either, recommend both the
hog and the camel to our notice. The glass
vessels themselves are apparently French,
although we know of no reason why English
glassblowers should not make them. The
potiches en verre, vases, allumette vases,
flower-pot covers, cups, and bowls, are many
of them well and gracefully shaped; but we
would gently whisper, that if the glass were
a little more free from air-bubbles, it would
be better for the object in view; because,
whether we would imitate the bluish tint of
old Sèvres, or the greenish tint of Chinese,
or the nankeen tint of Etruscan, or the tints
of any other famous porcelain or pottery, we
can certainly get on better without bubbles
in the glass, than with them. It is a French
professor, too, who assures us that " the
extraordinary success which this art has
obtained may be easily accounted for, if we
remember that, after an easy, interesting
labour of a few hours, we see a simple glass
vessel transformed into a Chinese, Sèvres,
Dresden, or Japanese vase."

But the materials are only half the matter,
—the processes are the other half; and we
follow our instructions, humbly and diligently,
thus:—

We are especially, in the most energetic
terms, cautioned not to proceed to the next
process until the efficacy of the gum has been
well ascertained; but, this done, we advance
to the varnishing. This varnish is intended
partly to secure the coloured devices in their
place, and partly to shield the gelatine from a
layer of oil colour afterwards applied. The
varnish is applied over the whole interior of
the vase or jar; but being clear and colourless,
it does not produce a disfigurement in
the general appearance. We presume that
the shape of the jar in respect to its mouth
and general proportion, must be such as will
admit of the artist's hand and varnish brush,
and bits of coloured paper. There is a little
vitreous conundrum occasionally to be seen,
consisting of Napoleon Bonaparte or an
English stage coach bottled up in a decanter,
or phial, whose mouth is far smaller than
the lateral dimensions of the great emperor;
and the puzzle is, to find out how Napoleon
could possibly have got into the decanter,
or the Brighton mail into the phial. In
the present case, however, there is to be
no difficulty in putting in or taking out
anything which the jar or vase ought to
contain.

The varnishing being done, the painting
or colouring follows, the object of this is,
to give to the whole of the glass vessel a tint
and an opacity corresponding with the tint
and opacity of the specimen of pottery or
porcelain imitated—an important and
dificult part of the routine of processes; for
the selection of ingredients, and the mode of
application, must each require much care.
The colour-men have prepared an ample list
of tints, to imitate the deadly white and the
delicately white, the creamy white and the
bluish white, the red lacquered, the black