"
Mr. Croyden paused.
"With all this beauty in the body of the porcelain itself, and all
the wonder of the modeling and painting, you must remember that
throughout the period the chemists employed were making great strides
in the use of pigments. No little science was necessary to find colors
that would stand the intense heat necessary for firing this hard
paste. You know of course that most of the mineral pigments used to
decorate china do not look at all the same after they have been
subjected to a high temperature as they look before. Many colors which
fire out to exquisite tones look quite ugly when applied to the
biscuit clay. Both chemists and artists have to be skilled in the
knowledge of how these paints will react under heat. So when I say the
Sevres workers reached a richness and harmony of color never before
known in china-making you can imagine how much patient experimental
labor probably preceded this triumph of art."
Theo's eyes had not left the story-teller's face for an instant.
"It was not as if the painters used only a touch of color here and
there," continued Mr. Croyden. "Much of the ware was designed with a
solid color that covered the body, small spaces being reserved for
medallions in which there were heads or landscapes.
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