What techniques did Lenox use to create these art pieces

[FDR]

Hi all,

 

I am very curious how did Lenox make these pieces (the decoration part) because it looks very different from normal ceramics wares I know. 

May be no one could say exactly what they use (because it could be a secret ?) but is there a known technique can create the same effect ?

 

For the blue set, I am thinking custom decal printing can be applied and then fire it on a kiln. For the second one, may be they use Lustres?

 

Many thanks for your inputs !

 

 

 

[liambesaw]

These companies either use pad stamping (look it up on YouTube) or water slide decals.

[Mark C.]

Yes they are fired to luster temps and they are printed first as Liam said .. The 1918 date may help in which technique was used.

[FDR]

So if I have a blank, ready-to-use cup (for consumer) from the market and want to apply the similar decoration on it, is there any technique I can use today at home or ordering, to have a safe, food grade cup ?

[Callie Beller Diesel]

You’d have to order decals and fire them on, but yes, it’s doable. Because of the setup minimums from decal companies for custom work like that, it’s not something you do if you just want one. Bel Decal offers this service. 

[FDR]

@liambesaw, @Mark C.I searched pad stamping, that might be able to explain the blue cup, but for gold cup, it looks like embossed seal, so not sure which technique was used ?

 

Thanks @Callie Beller Diesel for the decal info, I am also looking at https://www.milestonedecalart.com/custom-decal-printing#custom-digital-decal

but not sure if that is really food safe ? Coz there decal seems to require temp at only 800 degree Celcius but I read from one post that with that temp some colour could still be toxic ?  (

By the way, if using sticker and temperature, there is very simple method that they are using to print photo on mug (

it seems very popular but I am not sure how safe is it ? Another thing is this could be easy to apply on mug shape but for tea cup shape, how could we do ? Can we use steam ironing to apply temperature for the sticker ?

 

 

[Mark C.]

Decals are fired very low and usually are on a surface where food is noton them (outside of mug for example) so they would be considered not food safe.

Lusters are the same but many use the gold on cup lips and plate lips.It wears off very easy and should not go in a dishwasher. 

I do not consider decals or lusters as food safe (food safe is a undefined term). 

[Callie Beller Diesel]

@FDR Arg. I had a complete brain sneeze there. I meant to refer you to Milestone originally. 

There’s a few different techniques that people create decals with. The YouTube video you’ve posted is something called a sublimation decal, and it uses different materials than what a decal specifically for pottery that would be fired on in a kiln does. People use them on water bottles or other hard surfaces.  The sublimation print is NOT durable on a ceramic surface over time. It will come off with repeated washings that involve heat and soap, not just water. Also, applying it with an iron is not going to be that easy. I believe Cricut makes a mug press if you want to make sublimation print mugs that would get you better results.

Milestone makes a couple of different kinds of decal. Some involve china paint, some involve metallic lustres, and some can be fired to cone 6 and become incorporated into the glaze itself. If you reach out to them, they’ll be able to tell you more about their durability under use. The low fire decals are best hand washed, but the cone six ones have gone in my dishwasher quite successfully. The cone 6 ones are only monochromatic though.

 

[FDR]

Tks for the clarify Mark and Callie !

So looks like contacting Milestone is the way to go for me ? I think they can print customise decal specifically for pottery and have to fire on in a kiln and I can make the blue model in my sample picture without difficulty; but still not sure how to make the embossed type gold model?

 

[Callie Beller Diesel]

They have a couple of decals in their stock decal selection that combine China paint and metallic lustre. I’m sure they can help you.