For this method of decoration the ware should be in the “green” state. The more moisture it contains the better, and it will be in proper condition if procured as soon as it leaves the hands of the molder, or as soon as it has become sufficiently dry to retain its shape. Pieces can be kept in this state a considerable length of time, by placing them in a box which has been lined with plaster of paris. This lining should be about an inch thick, and if the inside is occasionally sprinkled with water, it will remain moist, and keep the clay in good condition. A box of this kind is really invaluable for all work, where it is necessary to keep clay moist. Within certain limits the clay is improved rather than injured by keeping in this way; the effect upon it being that it becomes tougher and more plastic. If kept too long, it becomes “rotten,” and the plastic quality is lost, but it will keep a reasonable length of time, even two or three months. If the box can not be had, the pieces may be covered by a rubber cloth, which should be kept from touching them by a frame of wood or galvanized iron wire, damp cloths having been placed around them to produce sufficient moisture. It is necessary to exercise this care in keeping the ware moist, in order to prevent the clay, which is applied to the surface in painting, from cracking during the process of drying. It must always be borne in mind that the material made use of in painting is simply clay, which has been artificially colored, and, as clay, becomes subject to the rules which govern all work of this kind, whether it is making pottery, modeling, or painting faience. To produce depth and richness of effect, the painting should have a heavy _impasto_, and the high lights should be laid on in such a manner as almost to present the appearance of modeling in relief. When this is done, there is a tendency in the applied clay to crack in drying, if the conditions are not right. In applying one piece of clay to another, it is requisite that both should be of the same consistency, to ensure equal contraction. In this case, however, the clay is used as paint, and must be of such consistency as will permit its manipulation with the brush. Its application, then, to a body of clay that has lost much of its moisture, is attended with some risk, and the fact that the coating of clay is comparatively thin, alone renders it possible to defy one of the conditions which govern the use of this material. When the piece of ware, upon which this painting is applied, has previously become too dry, the moisture in the coating of clay is very quickly absorbed into the body, and this causes it to shrink unequally with the body, and thus to crack. When the body and the applied clay are more nearly in the same condition, and the former still retains considerable moisture, it does not absorb that of the clay on the surface so rapidly, and they shrink and dry together.