pin be covered with leather, this is to a great extent prevented.  The design can be made on tracing paper, and by marking over the tracing paper placed over the clay with a hard point, an impression sufficiently distinct will be left to guide one in doing the actual modelling.  The first thing is to build up the oranges, which can be done by sticking little pellets of clay on to the slab, pressing them down with the fingers, and rounding the oranges roughly into shape.

[Illustration:  Fig. 1.—­A tile.

Our First Experiment.]

Don’t be too particular about this part of the work; be content to get some approximation to the shape, leaving the finishing to be done with the tools.  Build up the stem in like manner, or you might roll out a thin piece of clay and stick this on to the slab.  In sticking clay on to clay, it is always advisable to wet both the clay and the slab to ensure thorough adhesion, and in working the design into shape it is even a good plan to dip the fingers into water, as the extra moisture makes it easier to press the clay into the requisite shape.

The leaves can be modelled separately, and stuck on to the clay slab one by one.  Do as much of the work as you can with the fingers.  In modelling, the fingers are the best tools, after all.  They do their work so much more expeditiously and effectively than the so-called “tools” do, and, depend upon it, the more the preliminary work is done with the fingers the better, as the use of the fingers tends towards boldness of design and vigour of execution.  People, in starting a new employment, are very apt to be finiking owing to timidity, and this must be overcome from the outset—­this tendency to pettiness—­and in the case of modelling, the best way to overcome it is to do all the preliminary work with the fingers.  Build up the design boldly and freely, studying only the principal masses and most important forms.  When this is accomplished, let the clay stand a little time uncovered, as the use of water will have made it very sticky, and the modelling tools cannot be used as efficiently when the clay is in this state as when it is drier.

The modelling tools will enable you to begin to finish up the design, for at present the design exists only in its rough state.  Pick the clay out of the interstices of the design, and begin to refine the different forms by putting in the more delicate curves.  It very much depends upon the nature of the design as to how far in the direction of finish you carry the work, but as your modelled tile will not be exposed to rough usage, you may under-cut it, as modellers say.  Under-cutting is the taking of the clay away from the back of the various forms.  In the leaves, for instance, instead of leaving a solid mass of clay at the back, this should be carefully cut away underneath, or under-cut, so as to give lightness and delicacy to the work.  Of course, it is necessary to leave some clay here and there to attach the various