Method of decorating a surface of a ceramic article

In a method of decorating a surface of a ceramic body including the steps of:

• applying to at least a portion of the surface to be decorated an adhesive material containing an organic gum, Bentonite, and a frit,
• depositing on said material discrete hard, dry granules of a ceramic composition material including an organic gum;
• firing said ceramic body, adhesive material thereon, and granules on said adhesive material,
• said granules adhering to and interacting during firing and fusing with said adhesive material to control crawling of said ceramic composition material and to maintain some granular identity after firing to provide an irregular three-dimensional surface.

In a method of decorating a ceramic surface on a ceramic body, the steps of:

• supplying a flowable ceramic and organic adhesive material containing an organic gum, Bentonite, and a frit material;
• applying said adhesive material onto to said surface to be decorated in preselected design areas;
• said adhesive material providing a sticky coating at said design areas;
• depositing discrete hard, dry granules of a ceramic composition material including an organic gum on said sticky coating;
• and firing said ceramic body, sticky coating, and said granules wherein interaction of said ceramic body, sticky coating, and granules during firing, fusion thereof, and after firing, inhibits crawling of said granules and maintains and provides a coherent selected design with granular identity to provide an irregular slightly three-dimensional surface.

In a method of decorating a surface of a ceramic body to provide an irregular three-dimensional decorated surface, the steps of:

• providing a flowable ceramic and organic adhesive material including an organic gum, Bentonite, and a frit material;
• depositing said adhesive material onto said surface in a selected pattern to provide adhesive coated and nonadhesive coated areas;
• applying preformed hard discrete dry granules of a size of between -20 and 54 mesh and of selected composition material to said surface for adherence to said adhesive-coated areas;
• said selected granular composition material comprising intermixed materials including organic gums for granulation of the intermixed material and to provide said hardness;
• removing granules from said nonadhesive-coated areas;
• firing said ceramic body with said adhesive material and said discrete granule material thereon;
• and inhibiting crawling of said granules during firing by the organic gum, Bentonite, and frit material in said adhesive material and by the organic gum in said granules, said granules being fused with the ceramic body and adhesive material during firing, whereby integrity of the selected pattern is maintained and after firing some granular identity is retained to provide the irregular three-dimensional decorated surface.

In a method of decorating a surface of a ceramic body by using granules to provide an irregular three-dimensional decorated surface having a selected design, the steps of:

• preparing a granule composition including intermixing selected frits and silica to provide a dry, powderlike mixture,
• adding and mixing a granulating medium including an organic gum to form granules of different size from said mixture,
• separating granules of selected size,
• and drying said selected granules to provide hard, dry discrete granules of selected size resistant to abrasion;
• depositing said granules on the selected design formed by an adhesive composition on a ceramic surface, the adhesive composition including an organic gum, Bentonite, and a frit material;
• firing said ceramic body, granules, and adhesive composition thereon,
• and inhibiting crawling of said granules during firing by the organic gum, Bentonite, and frit material in said adhesive material and by the organic gum in said granules, said granules being fused to the body and adhesive material, whereby integrity of the selected pattern is maintained and after firing some granular identity is retained to provide the irregular three-dimensional decorated surface.