MAJOLICA: 1 - The order of filing.
ca: MAJÒLICA: 1 - Fitxer de dades
es: MAYÓLICA: 1 – Fichero de datos
As the majolica method is so long it is split into sections which are filed alphabetically in the dictionary. The history and the process of painting tiles, plates, jars and lids are explained here and are numbered so they fall into the correct order of working. After this come sections which apply to this method with the first word Majolica and with letter so they fall into the order of working.
The sections 5a to 5d covers tiles and the sections 6a to 6f plates, jars and lids and in each section is a synopsis on everything, from their bisque state to being fired and you click on any word in red you go directly into that section.
This section show one of the most important parts of the Majolica method of painting; the brush strokes with the variations and intensities of a color. 
You can make tile designs in two ways; tiles put together to form one picture or each tile a complete illustration and with these you can mix subjects and make up pictures to the size and shape you want. There are three different sizes in tiles 15×15, 20×15 and 20×20cm. 
Stenciling using the Majolica Method These tiles were made for the restoration of a corridor about 100 meters long. The original tiles were produced in the early 1900´s using the Majolica method. The tiles are covered with an opaque glaze-base then the colors were stenciled on. The design consists of 6 different ones; each tile is 20 × 20cm,. 
The tiles were prepared a glaze-base, then the border, which is an integral part of the perimeter of the tiles and the letters were marked on with vegetable-ash. The glaze-base, which formed the letters, was scraped off and the spaces were filled up with a red glaze, leaving a thin line showing the bisque between the white glaze-base and the red. The line was scraped and cleaned to be 1 cm in width. 
There are five pieces of flat relief of four different thicknesses, in refractory clay, It was rolled out to the heights needed, then each piece was cut to the required sizes then shaped by hand so the pieces would fit to together.
It has seven pieces molded in refractory clay. It is in flat except for the anchor and rope round the edge. When the shapes were formed it was all fired at 850ºC and then the anchor and rope were decorated with colors that vitrify at 1280ºC. It was all fired at 1280ºC, even the undecorated pieces, to make sure the shrinking and change of color of the clay would be the same throughout .The picture of the boat was then decorated using the Majolica method and all these pieces were fired again at 980ºC. Overall dimensions are 75 × 90cm.
a) 
Introduction to the process of working: 
The next stages go through the using of colors.
This section has twelve photos of tile designs to show just a few of the many possibilities there are for using the same method in different ways. 
a) 
The following explains the process of marking designs onto a plate, it has two illustrations, the first is the plate painted and fired and the second is a drawing that classifies the different sections of the design. 
The designs have been marked onto the plate and the inside circles are banded. To decorate the plate, balance it against a sturdy object that will not move with its weight or you can make a stand for the plate. Rest the plate on something soft, such as a bit of foam plastic. This does not damage the plate and keeps it from slipping. Sit down to paint, using a bar, to steady your hand, the same as when painting tiles.
This section has twelve photos of tile designs, to show just a few of the many possibilities there are for using the same method in different ways. 
a) 
Albarello jars The photos show just a few of the many possibilities there are in shapes, sizes and designs. In the past, the most common was the drawings of herbs with their Latin name to help the illiterate public. As most lids have been broken it has become fashionable to buy jars without them. Jars are always decorated on a banding wheel; it allows them to be turned without being touched. Jar walls can be straight or curved.
Moving a jar that ha been decorated, can be done in two ways; 
5) Jars can be straight or curved, when curved it makes the designs difficult to mark and worse when they curve both vertically and horizontally, as shown in the illustration. c) 
This section has twelve photos of many jar designs, to show just a few of the possibilities there are for using the same method in different ways. 
Moving a lid that is decorated, you can lift it up with your fingers under the lip if there is enough space or by the knob if it has not been painted, or on a tile-tray if it has, which is good because when the flange has had the base cleaned off, it can be put on a tile-tray and not having to be touched when it is moved from the wheel into the kiln. 
After the lid has been decorated, it has to be moved to be put into the kiln. This is difficult to do without touching the colors, especially if the knob and edge are painted. Some lids are designed so that the flange is high enough to put your fingers under the lip, which enables you to pick it up. If picked up by the knob, the glaze might have to be repaired once it has been put into the kiln. If it has been decorated on top of a tile that is bisque, it can be moved, using the tile like a tray. To do this, you must be quite sure that there was no glaze on the part of the flange touching the tile.
Brushes needed. 
Introduction to using colors: Painting the outlines is drawing with your paintbrush. Use your cut down brushes to paint the outlines and any details you think are necessary. Any strong color can be used for outlines but the following five colors are the main ones. Remember, when I talk about colors, they will have been prepared as explained previously, and also that continuously stirring them helps to make the colors run well. This is very important for painting long, smooth strokes. 
Painting with one color blue is the most used for painting different shades of just one color. However, any color can be used. The following photos show two different colors—blue and brown.
1) Bread Nº12 from a collection of 12 tiles 
2) Farmer and donkey. Officio Nº 32 
3) Collecting olives Nº4, from a collection of twelve tiles .
4) Grapes Wine Nº1, from a collection of welve tiles.
5) Grapes Wine Nº1 
6) Hay Cutting Bread Nº4 
Marking bag, A marking bag has to be made it is to hold a fine powder, either black charcoal to mark on to a light color or white industrial talcum powder for a dark color. To make a bag, cut out a small, square piece of material, lay it out and put the finely ground ash in the center, pull the corners up and join them with a rubber band and you have marking bag. You should use a material that is strong enough not to break too quickly and has a weave that lets the ash pass through; so the lines come out clean and strong enough to see.
Marking a large design: 
Measuring cups are used to measure quantities of liquids and powders.
Measuring jugs are industrially made in plastic or glass and can be used for measuring different substances, liquids, sugar etc. The height of the weight or the quantity of liquid of a product is marked on to the outside. In other words, if ½ a kilo of sugar fills up 8 cm in the jug, this height is marked onto the jug. It can then be used for measuring quickly and roughly. 
Measuring spoons are used to measure small quantities when mixing colors and other ceramic ingredients. A Beam Balance is much more exact. 
In the photo there are two pips, the big one was industrially made and the small one molded from it. They are in front of a pen drive to show how small they are. 
Mold cottle is made out of pliable plastic and can be cut to any size, height and length. It is used to form a circular wall of the size required, round the outside of what is going to be cast.
Building with wood:
Molds of two pieces or more:
a) Cylinder of clay
Take off the wood and separate the two halves of the cylinder and take out the clay; separate and clean the plaster and you have your mold in two pieces. The holes at the corners have made four small protruding legs on the second part, so when the two halves are put together they will fit correctly and be held in place. 
Molds for working in relief are made with a flat back that can be attached to walls and thus be used for architectural decorating. It can be in one or more pieces and at the same or different levels.
Mold frames are four pieces of wood the same size with flat metal hooks at one end, to attach one wall to another and form a square or rectangle. They are used for building up molds and forming clay into squares. 
Mortar is a bowl with a pestle. Used for grinding and breaking down materials. They are now made in china but the best are the old ones, which have a pestle with a wooden handle and its head and the bowl are made of stone.
Mosaics are small, different colored flat stones and tiles that are laid together to form a design. At the time of the Greek and Roman Empire, mosaics were used to decorate floors and wall and to tell stories and historical episodes. Throughout the centuries, Arab countries have used them for architecture, for decorating interiors and exteriors of buildings and in designs forming precise, geometrical decoration for floors, walls and ceilings. Today, Morocco is one of the principal countries for this art. In the 19th century, the Modernistic Catalan architect Gaudi used mosaics to decorate his work, ceilings, columns, statues, etc., using irregular shapes and sizes of every color and pieces of different materials, such as china, glass, bricks or stones. The follow two photos are to show different mosaic styles.
Artist; Cleo Mussi. All her work is made out of pieces of unwanted or broken pottery, plates, jugs, tile, statue, etc.; it is very personal and individual; she creates small designs for private houses and also large installations for public buildings. 
Mottled or spotted referred to colors which were somehow damaged and stained, it was a defect. But since the mid-nineteenth century, ceramics started to be produced, characterized by a mottled brown glaze. Later it was improved by a technique of applying a glaze, sprinkle with spots of oxides to give a mottled effect in blue, brown, black, etc. Today commercial glazes are sold prepared with this effect.
Mug: vessel to drink out of, with straight sides and with or without a handle. This one below is decorated with a Victorian transfer, showing an old steam train that goes right round the mug, also known as a beaker.