CLICK THE "LEARN MORE ABOUT THIS ITEM" LINK JUST BELOW TO READ THE FULL DESCRIPTION FOR THIS ITEM. ************************************************************* PROMPT REBATE ON ORDERS WITH 3 OR MORE “FreeShip” ITEMS! WANT TO KNOW YOUR TOTAL REBATE BEFORE PURCHASE? CONTACT US! ----> Go here to see other egyptian paste listings: <---- https://www.etsy.com/shop/NorthernWestStuff?ref=hdr_shop_menu&search_query=egyptian+paste Not all quantities are pictured. If you would like to try multiple colors of this but the price seems too high, please note that multiples will be less expensive than you think. See the note about "Free Shipping" at the bottom of this description.
A note to those brand new to ceramics, the dry or wet stuff in glazes before firing often will not be the same color after firing. In this case what you see is not what you get.... (example: Blue Egyptian paste is light pinkish before firing but turns blue when fired).
This is a Chartreuse Egyptian Paste. It is is a dry, formulated, pre-mixed Egyptian Paste (EP), cone 04, for those who would like to try a small amount before buying a pound or more. The colors we carry now are Blue, Copper-Blue, Green, Chartreuse, and Gold. No extra ingredients need to be added to this prepared EP (except water).
Go down to the final sections below the dashed line to skip the following general information and get right to the details on using EP. Egyptian Paste, also known as Egyptian Faience, is a "self-glazing" quartz-based ceramic material, related to glass as much as to ceramics. It contains the glass ingredients silica (sand or quartz) and soda-lime (containing sodium and calcium). It has very low plasticity depending on the base formula (small amounts of bentonite help) and originally had no clay at all, but later formulas (and today's) do contain clays which increase plasticity. EP is very ancient art/process developed in Egypt six to seven thousand years ago usually blue/turquoise/green but can be many other colors, and is often used to make beads and scarabs. Metal oxides (and certain carbonates) in the paste provide the color. Copper carbonate is used for blue-greens, and cobalt carbonate for blues. Soluble salts of sodium, calcium, and others, leach (or "effervesce") to the surface during drying and provide the ingredients needed for a glaze. Egyptian Faience is sometimes confused with "Faience", a low fire earthenware which is glazed white, and over-glazed with brightly colored designs. This ware was primarily made near the Italian town of Faenza, famous for its pottery, and is where the word "faience" comes from. From { https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:jlHlkNty-mUJ:https://www.amywallerpottery.com/faience/+&cd=12&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us} : "It's not known for certain how the ancient ceramic came to be called Egyptian faience, but there are some leading theories. One is that when Europeans came to Egypt in the 19th century, they thought the brightly colored scarabs and other small faience items looked like the pottery of Faenza and so they called these items faience. Another is that at that time the term faience was sometimes used as a generic word for any kind of glazed pottery. Whatever the origin, the word faience has caused much discussion for more than a century and there still is not full agreement on its use. Because Egyptian faience is very different from earthenware pottery, some potters prefer to call it Egyptian paste."
There is a comprehensive article about Egyptian faience on Wikipedia { https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egyptian_faience } : Because there is so much information, only some heading titles are listed: --Relationship with Egyptian glass industry --Typical composition and access to raw materials --Faience working technology --Body binding technology --Body working technology --Glazing technology --Application glazing --Efflorescence glazing --Cementation glazing --Alternative techniques --Recognition of glazing techniques --Classification of body variants --Workshop evidence --Current Use (content quoted here): "A number of ceramists are experimenting with Egyptian faience, though some of the compositions bear only a passing resemblance to the original Egyptian formulae. There has also been a recent interest in the use of Egyptian faience in 3-d printing technology."
If you should want to experiment with modifying the color of this particular EP, you can do so by adding small percentages of other colorants to modify the prepared color. Here's a collection of colorants gathered from different sources, intended to be added to a base that has no colorant. The percentages are dry weights. Since these may be specific to one particular base formula, you may get some disappointments or some pleasant surprises . Use the collection as a guide. Study it to see what direction various colorants and percentages seem to go. Decrease the percentage listed below if you're using one of our pre-mixed EPs, since they already have a colorant (unless you want to try something radical or you're using a base formula with no colorants). Then test your alterations with very small batches making some simple shapes like beads to see what you actually get. Since these are from different sources you'll see some conflicts and contradictions.
0% (nothing added)..............................................white 2% copper carbonate CuCO.................................turquoise 2% cobalt carbonate CoCO3................................blue 1% manganese dioxide MnO2...............................pink 5% manganese dioxide MnO2...............................brown 2% chromium oxide [chrome oxide] Cr2O3..........lime green 5% chromium [chrome oxide] Cr2O3....................dark green 1% red iron oxide Fe2O3.........................................tan 5% red iron oxide Fe2O3........................................brown 4% manganese oxide MnO.....................................purple 2-6% Copper oxide or carbonate Cu2O.................blue/green/turquoise 10% Copper carbonate + 0.5% cobalt.carbonate...persian blue 0.25% cobalt carbonate CoCO3.............................pale blues 0.2% manganese dioxide MnO2.............................pink 2% manganese oxide MnO.....................................deep purple 0.5% chrome oxide Cr2O3......................................yellow 1-2% chrome oxide Cr2O3......................................apple green
We do carry several of the listed colorants. We have: copper carbonate CuCO cobalt carbonate CoCO3 chrome oxide Cr2O3 red iron oxide Fe2O3
This 2 page PDF has among the best information (great presentation, concise, accurate, and understandable), it's from an article on Egyptian Paste by Robin Hopper, published by Ceramic Publication Company, 2010, on uhimik.ru " { http://uhimik.ru/43750/43750.pdf } here are some excerpts: "Invented by the Egyptians some 7,000 years ago, Egyptian paste is a body containing little or no clay, which can be modeled, carved into simple forms, or pressed into molds. Egyptian paste is basically a self-glazing, low-clay modeling material. It has a high silica and high soluble alkaline flux component and an abnormally low clay content. The soluble salts of soda ash, sodium bicarbonate, potassium carbonate, and lithium carbonate migrate to the surface during drying, developing a powdery white scum. This scum melts during firing to form a glazed surface and a highly glassified core structure to the body. Colorants may be mixed into the basic pastes and stains or oxides that produce strong color when used with highly alkaline materials work best. These would be mainly copper, cobalt, manganese, ochre, and rutile, and the mixtures of these colorants. The temperature range for firing Egyptian paste is between cone 012 and cone 04, usually in oxidation. Historically, copper oxide or copper carbonate, which give a beautiful turquoise color, were the colorants typically used [with cobalt carbonate for stronger blues]. At best, Egyptian paste is relatively non-plastic, and the forms made with it are usually simple. Bentonite can be added to partially overcome this difficulty. Mix the Egyptian paste to the consistency of pudding. Dry the paste into a dough-like consistency and roll into coils. Cut the paste into small objects or beads using a thin metal rib. Jewelry or small sculptures made this way may be very beautiful in surface and color. Beads may be fired strung on Kanthal or kiln element wire in the kiln, which will prevent the slight scar that occurs if the bead is placed on a kiln shelf. (Such scars can be minimized if the shelf is dusted lightly with alumina hydrate or calcium carbonate.) Different colors on the same piece may be achieved by inlaying pastes with various coloring oxides. Firing of the self-glazing Egyptian paste should be done on wire stilts (see Supply Room page 10–11) or, in the case of beads, strung on longer lengths of metal wire The wire can be slightly crimped with needle nosed pliers to avoid any shifting of the beads. This loaded wire may be arched, the two ends being stuck into a piece of porous insulating brick and the whole placed in the kiln for firing.
Good information from Walker Ceramics in Australia { http://walkerceramics.com.au/resources/fact-sheets/egyptian-paste/ } with some additional facts: "Things to remember… Egyptian Paste is not like normal plastic clay. As little handling as possible is advised as the salt content is diminished with excess work resulting in no glaze effect when fired. The body that the paste creates is short and open and provides little plasticity, it has little green strength and is therefore easily breakable. Egyptian Paste may be thrown but only for small pieces and water must be used to lubricate the clay. It is normally shaped by hand, rolled with a rolling pin or pressed into moulds. Always allow for complete, slow drying and if possible thread the pieces onto nichrome wire. This makes for ease of handling and firing. Fire the pieces between 850 – 950°C [1560 - 1740 F] and the colours will be vivid and bright. Egyptian Paste has unusual properties that permit the salts to leach to the surface of the clay during drying and firing stages. When fired at low temperatures the salt fuses with the silica in the clay body to create a coloured glaze. You need only the colouring agents, a few lengths of nichrome wire [to hang beads or make stilts for firing], an electric kiln and your own imagination to create an endless collection of beads, buttons, scarabs, pendants and other jewelry."
Here are some tips and "do's and don'ts" from people who have worked with EP (taken with apologies from some forums):
"I mix mine in small batches of about 100 grams and the entire mixture is made in a small sandwich bag. I add the water to the dry mix in the bag using just enough water to make it workable. After that I take it out of the bag and work as fast as possible and then let it dry. I found that if you use a salt shaker with borax in it sprinkled over the wet product that it glazes better."
"...fun stuff, but very hard to work with. They don't recommend it for throwing unless the piece is very small, because of its extreme plasticity. Also, you can't really trim a thrown piece because you would remove the self glazing crystals that form on the exterior - the whole point of the paste. I think traditionally the paste has been used for small hand built pieces."
"The consistency of the paste should be like putty, and is fairly easy to handle. It can be dried on boards without losing soda. The paste may have a tendency to become sticky if it becomes warm through excessive handling, or by leaving it in a warm place."
"Until you become experienced stick to simple small shapes. Work quickly, only handle while plastic. Shapes are usually modelled or press-moulded. Try pressing from LIGHTLY oiled small metal or wooden shapes - cookie moulds in the kitchen? Press quickly, then allow to dry. Use cutters and stamps to make and decorate small tiles. Roll into tiny balls and string on a few inches of kiln element wire and suspend between two small kiln props for drying and firing."
"Avoid rubbing or touching the object when it is drying, as the whitish powder which forms on the exposed parts is the glaze! Allow the air to reach as much of the surface of the body as possible to prevent any patchiness or dry mat surfaces. In some cases drying on stilts and firing on these may be needed. Frit paste beads can be threaded onto heat resistant nichrome element wire before dry and fired on the wire. Remember, the parts of the object which are not exposed to the air when drying will not be glazed. For example the underside of any paste object or pot will not be glazed unless it is dried on three dots, stilts or open wire mesh."
"The paste should be very dry before firing otherwise there is the possibility of flaking and in general it is best to fire as high as possible without destroying the colour, usually to about 940-960'C.(1724-1760'F. Do a series of tests to find the temperature which produces the quality of surface and colour you prefer. In a small kiln you can switch off, extract a sample with tongs, close door and switch on to continue heating. Repeat over a range of about 100'C.or 200'F. Choose the example you prefer and fire to that temperature next time."-
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