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JAPANESE DESIGNS FOR POTTERY
POTTERY
HOW IT IS MADE
ITS
SHAPE AND DECORATION
PRACTICAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR PAINTING ON PORCELAIN AND
ALL KINDS OF POTTF.RY WITH VITRIFIABLE
AND COMMON OIL COLORS
WITH A FULL
BIBLIOGRAPHY
OF STANDARD WORKS UPON THE CERAMIC ART
AND 42 ILLUSTRATIONS
BY
GEO. WARD NICHOLS
Author of *' Art Education applied to Industry."
NEW YORK
G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS
182 Fifth Avenue
1879
CORNELL
UNIVERSilYjl
L^B-
Copyright by G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1S78.
PREFACE;
It is the object of this Book to show that
the manufacture of Pottery may become one
of the great art industries in the United
States ; to describe the laws which govern the
form and decoration of Pottery; and to give
practical instruction in the art of painting,
either with vitrifiable or common oil colors, up-
on hard or soft porcelain, or upon earthenware.
It is the result of long and careful study, and
is intended not only for the benefit of profes-
sional potters and decorators, but for that
large class of persons who are seeking to ac-
quire this art, either for entertainment or as a
remunerative occupation.
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
I.
PAGE
Introductory Remarks. — Fine Pottery imported into the
United States. — Objects of this Book. — Technical terms used
with regard to Pottery and its Decoration i
11.
Chemical Properties of the Potter's Clay 7
III.
M. Charles Blanc. — ^A Brief History of Pottery. — Pottery
divided into three Grand Classes. — First, Soft Pottery. — Second,
Hard Potteries, opaque, which cannot be scratched by iron. —
Third, Hard Potteries, but translucent. — How Pottery is made at
the present time 10
IV.
Essay of Charles Blanc. — The Forms of Pottery. — Obedience
to the laws of Architecture. — Nomenclature same as the members
of the human body. — Primitive ceramic Forms, cylinder, cone,
sphere, egg. — Geometry generates forms which are sometimes
supposed to have been born of caprice 2^
V.
Decoration of Pottery. — The laws of Proportion, Unity and
Harmony apply to Decoration. — Unity of Form and Decoration.
— Foreign ware best for the use of Amateurs in Decoration. —
Plain white and tinted Ware. — La Croix on the Art of Painting on
Pottery. — Utensils needed. — Design. — Where Colors and other
Materials may be bought. — Baking or Firing the Decoration. —
Coloring Materials. — Vitrifiable Colors. — Colors containing Iron.
— Composition of Palettes. — Nos. i, 2, 3, 4, 5. — Directions for use 32
vi CONTENTS.
VI.
How to paint Flowers, Leaves and Stems, Heads, Draperies,
Landscapes.— Skies. — Second Baking. — Beverly, Chelsea and
Portland Earthenware. — Decoration by the use of oil colors not
vitrifiable. — Painting on Window Glass 55
VII.
Decoration by Printing. — Economy of Printing. — Discourages
Artistic Handwork. — Printing invented in 1752. — Process of
Printing on Pottery 6g
VIII.
Curious and Rai-e Works in Pottery. — Chinese Porcelain. —
Crackle ware. — Painting upon crude paste. — -Singular use of Color
by the Chinese. — Japanese Porcelain 78
IX.
Manufacture of Pottery in the United States. — Statistics of
Exports and Imports of Pottery. — Advantages favorable to the
Manufacture of Pottery in the United States. All the Clays needed
are already found here. — Clay Seams in New Jersey, Indiana,
Ohio, Missouri, Pennsylvania, North Carolina and elsewhere. —
Analysis of Clays in New Jersey. — Analysis of Clays found in
different parts of the United States, in Europe and China. — Pot-
teries in the United States 87
X.
The Future of this great industry in this country. — What may
be learned from the Asiatic nations. — Conclusion gg
APPENDIX.
The Clays and Potteries of England. — M. Arnoux, of the
Minton Manufactory. — Where the clays in England are found. —
Staffordshire. — Cornwall. — Devon. — Grinding of Clays. — The
Potter's Wheel. — The way Pottery is moulded. — Firing of Pot-
tery. — Glazing. — Biscuit. — Parian. — Encaustic Tiles 105
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
1. Japanese Design. Frontispiece.
2. Amphore, Campagna Collection, Mus4e Napoleon 2
3. Salt-cellar, Oiron Faience 3
4. Antique Ornament 6
5. Egyptian Ornament g
6. Greek Vase, by Timogras. Campagna Collection, Musee
Napoleon 12
7. Oiron Faience 14
8. Pitcher decorated by Bernard Palissy 17
9. Arab Urn 19
10. Japanese Phoenix 22
11. Japanese Ornament 23
12. Vase with terras descriptive of the human figure 25
13. Cone and Cone Reversed 26
14. Pitcher showing Proper Position of the Handle 27
15. Minimum Height of the Cylinder in Ceramic Art 27
16. Egg Shape 28
17. Base Equal to the Diameter 28
18. Claviform 29
ig. Canopian Form 29
20. Surahe. Persian Faience 30
21. Ornament 34
22. Mirror-case. Period Henri III 37
23. Vase Ferrara Manufactory 40
24. Persian Coffee-pot 43
S LIST OF ILL USTRA TIONS.
PAGE
25. Japanese Designs for Pottery 45
26.. Japanese Dragon 45
27. Fragments from Japanese Decorations 54
28. Persian Jar 57
29. Corean Jar of Persian Decoration 63
30. Hints for Decoration on Pottery, 68
31. Japanese Ornament 77
32. Japanese Monster . 82
33. Suggestions from Japanese Designs 82
34. Powtai the God of Contentment S3
35. Ornament 86
36. Decorated Valentia Vase 88
37. Leonard Limousin 92
38. Antique Ornament , 95
39. Masks 97
40. Chinese Ornament 102
41. Chinese Inscription ; . . 104
-13. Japanese Design 112
POTTERY.
I.
NEARLY all of the fine pottery and porcelain
used in the United States is imported from
Europe or Asia. Plain pottery can be made and
sold here at a less cost than to import it from abroad ;
but in decorated ware there is scarcely any compe-
tition with foreign countries. We know but little, in
the United States, of the science and art of decora-
tion, either by hand or by printing, and labor is
cheaper abroad than here. Were cheap labor, how-
ever, as easily obtained in this country as in China or
Japan, we should still be unable to succeed in artistic
productions of this kind without art education. Ever
so little instruction would be of great service. We
have potteries which are successful in the manufac-
ture of excellent plain ware. A very little decoration
would increase largely its value. Is it not strange,
then, that those most interested in this production
have not gone to work vigorously and persistently
to find some means of educating designers and deco-
rators as they are required ? In England, France, and
Germany, the education of children in drawing and
POTTERY.
design, both in public and special schools, nas given
superiority to the manufacture of all objects which
require art knowledge in their production. This
education is of great service, if not an actual neces-
Amphora, Campagna Collection, Musee Napoleon.
sity, in the manufacture of pottery and porcelain, and
in their decoration. The manner of making and.
decorating pottery and porcelain is, for the most part,
unknown except to the manufacturers of these things.
Its production is enormous, both for purposes
POTTERY.
of use and ornament. In this service are employed
all the resources of science and art. So far as Eu-
Salt-cellar, Oiron Faience.
ropean potters are concerned, Berlin does not pes-
sess any methods of manufacture which are not
known to Paris, Dresden, or Staffordshire, Although
4 POTTERY.
the wares made at these various manufactories differ
in their composition and appearance in the main, the
superiority of one country over another consists in
its better art instruction or natural good taste.
It is not proposed to relate the history of either
ancient or modern Ceramic Art. The subject covers
a large space — and already has a library of its own.
Within this extensive field there is an opportunity to
choose for discussion something of what is artistic,
curious, and practical, which will be of interest to the
people of the United States.
The inquiry will take the following subjects in
their order :
1. A BRIEF HISTORY OF POTTERY WITH REGARD
TO .THE MATERIALS OF WHICH IT IS COMPOSED,
FROM THE EARLIEST PERIOD TO THE PRESENT.
2. How IT IS MADE AT THE PRESENT TIME.
3. The LAWS which should govern its form.
4. Practical suggestions with regard to
ITS decoration.
5. Chinese and Japanese porcelain. The
.secret of its production.
6. Pottery in the United States.
TECHNICAL TERMS.
The names and expressions used in the Ceramic
Art are not always understood, and are frequently
misapplied.
" Ceramic " comes from the Greek word to/o-'k/.^
POTTERY. 5
which signifies " potters' earth." It is used in Eng-
lish to cover all the productions of the plastic art of
the potter.
" Faience " is a French word which is oftentimes
used for all kinds of pottery. Charles Blanc con-
fines its meaning to pottery covered with enamel
or opaque glazing. The word " faience " is some-
' times thought to have been derived from the town
of Faen'za, in Italy, which was noted for its large
manufactories of pottery. There have been districts
of the same name in Barcelona and Andalusia. The
old word " fayence " is derived from the Latin
" fagus," a beech tree. This term is still used for
beech-wood in the timber-markets of Geneva.
Stoneware, ironware, flintware, etc., are names
generally given by the, trade to different kinds of
earthenware, but not to pure porcelain.
" Crockery " is also a general term given to all
kinds of common earthenware in domestic use, but
not to that which is ornamental.
" Chinaware " was originally used to distinguish
that which was imported from China. It has since
been employed to designate all kinds of ware, but
usually porcelain.
"Pottery" strictly refers to earthenware. It is
also used as a general term for all kinds of ware, in-
cluding porcelain.
" Porcelain." In England and Europe, clay now
occupies a small part of the substance in the manu-
facture of fine pottery, the larger part being made up
of kaolin, felspar and silex; this fine pottery then is a
O POTTERY.
kind of porcelain, being more translucent than earth-
enware. Porcelain is a term sometimes used indis-
criminately, but in its proper sense it applies only to
the finest kinds of ware. The purest porcelain is
made in China and Japan. All porcelain is distin-
guished for the whiteness and translucency of its
paste, and the hardness and unchangeable nature of
its glazing.
" Biscuit " signifies in French twice baked. This
is a misnomer, for the ware has but one firing. Its
characteristic appearance is that it is entirely free
from glazing, and has a soft surface.
" Firing," " baking," " burning," are used to ex-
press the same process, i. e., the method by which
earthenware, paste, glazings, and decorations in color
are fixed or fused by heat in ovens. Strictly speak-
ing, " baking " is what takes place inside the oven,
and " firing" describes the burning of the wood or
coal which are used in heating it.
II.
Chemical Properties of the Potter's Clay.
THE chemical properties of potter's clay have
been described by Mr. Arnoux, of England.
" The potter's clay derives its origin from several fel-
spathic rocks, which under various influences have
been decomposed, and the finest portion washed
away, to be collected in natural depressions of the
soil, where it has formed beds of various thickness.
Chemically speaking, it is a silicate of alumina in com-
bination with, water, wi^h the addition, in small
quantities, of different materials, such as potash, soda,_
lime, or iron, acting as fluxes on the silicate, which
otherwise would give no signs of vitrification. The
iron, which may exist in different states, has a color-
ing effect injurious to the clay, which, to be useful,
must be almost free from it. When this condition
occurs, the excellence of the clay is determined by
the quantity of alumina that it contains. Pure silica,
in the form of quartz, flint, or sand, is a very easy
material to procure when wanted, but as no geologi-
cal formation yields alumina in the pure state, no
other can be got, besides that which already exists
in the clays. It is a common error to say that it is
the silica which renders them refractory. It is true
that pure silica can stand any amount of heat with-
8 POTTERY.
out fusing, but its readiness to combine with alkaline
matter and form vitreous compounds, renders its use
objectionable when heated with metallic oxides. An
excess makes the wares brittle and unable to resist
sudden changes of temperature, while alumina, on
the contrary, gives these qualities, and with them
the plasticity required for the working of the ware.
From it the clays derive the property of absorbing
and retaining a large quantity of water, and such is
its affinity for it, that sometimes a red heat, will
hardly suffice to expel it completely. Alumina is a
light . material — silica a heavy one; and a. potter
ought to know approximatively in testing the dens-
ity of a sample, whether it is rich or poor in either
of the two. The reason, why the clay deposits are
richer in alumina than the rocks from which they
.originated, is explained by the lightness of this ele-
ment, which being kept in suspension in water for a
longer time was consequently carried farther, leaving
the silicious refuse to settle on its way."
Kaolin is the Chinese word given to the clay
from which hard porcelain is made. This material
is found in some granitic rocks in an advanced state
of decomposition, the felspar, their most important
element, having under external influence lost the
greater portion of its alkali, and become converted
into a kind of earth. By agitation in a large quan-
tity of water it dissolves readily ; the refuse com-
posed of quartz, mica, schorl and undecomposed fel-
spar, sinks by its own weight to the bottom of the
tank where the liquid mixture is to run, and the
POTTERY. 9
finest part, which is the kaolin, is carried farther to
large receptacles where it accumulates.
When these receptacles are full the clay is re-
moved and dried for export. In that state it is very
white and though not so plastic as ball clay, contains
a little more alumina and less iron, which accounts
for its resisting much better the action of fire."
III.
A Brief History of Pottery.
THE eminent author M. Charles Blanc, as well
as Jacquemart and Broignart, divides pottery
into three grand classes.
The first, is that of soft pottery, which may be
scratched by iron.
The second, are hard opaque potteries which can-
not be scratched by iron.
The third, are hard potteries but translucent.
In the first range are found the dull potteries,
that is, those without glazing ; they are polished, var-
nished and enamelled potteries, or common faience.
To the second, belong fine faience, and the grey
pottery.
To the third, belong the hard and soft porcelain ,
the last of which, notwithstanding its name, is a pot-
tery of hard paste.
This comprehensive classification leads us through
all the degrees of the rudimentary decoration of cer-
amic vases. The most simple of all are also the most
ancient. Those which Broignart calls lustered —
mud kneaded by the hand and dried in the sun, —
constitute the first vases ever made. But earths
not baked were fragile and subject to crumble in
water. Thus it occurred to the primitive potters
POTTERY. II
to submit them to the action of fire and to increase
their consistency and resistance. But as these clay
earths after baking, remained porous and absorbing,
the potters sought and discovered the secret of
making them impermeable, by a vitreous covering,
or glazing. Thus it was that necessity gave birth to
the first decoration of vases ; elementary decoration,
but delicate, the " lustre." The Greek potteries of
Attica, the Archipelago, Great Greece, Etruria and
those of Roman fabrication were most often seen
clothed in a robe of silica deepened and colored by
a metallic oxide whose composition for a long time
escaped the analysis of the chemists. This envelope
covered the dull nudity of the vase, filled up its pores
and gave it a brilliant surface.
Another kind of glazing, whose application to pot-
tery dates to all appearance only from the thirteenth
century, is a varnish of. Jead, transparent, colored
and thicker than lustre. This unhealthy glazing
covered the common pottery, the utensils which were
used at the domestic hearth.
All this while the clay in the baking took un-
pleasant colors which showed through the transpa-
rence of the leaden glaze. The potters, in order to
neutralize the gross red tone of the baked earth,
wished to make their glaze opaque and white. This
result was attained by calcining lead and tin.
That which was a thin varnish was thus trans-
formed into a real enamel. Pottery which is coated
with this enamel is by the French called Faience.
In Italy it took the name of Majolica because the
12 POTTERY.
methods of its manufacture as used by the Italians
had been imported from the island of that name.
When we speak of faience, we mean enamelled pot-
Greek Vase, by Timogras. Campagna Collection, Musee Napoleon.
tery. This stanniferous enamel which is faience, is
the same substance, vitrified and hardened, with
which Lucca della Robbia covered the sculptures in
terra cotta, which he wished to protect from the ac-
POTTERY. 13
tion of the atmosphere. The same substance was
employed by the Moors in their potteries, long before
Lucca della Robbia had applied it to sculptures in
relief.
But the faience of which we speak is a soft pot-
tery, whose color is concealed under an opaque and
pasty enamel, whose grain is not fine enough to take
those recherche forms and pure outlines which mark
the faience of Rouen and other places. It is rather
like the Majolica whose delicacy and nicety of out-
line need to be restored by the use of tools.
Following this came the invention of a more deli-
cate ceramic production ; fine faience, or pipe clay.
By the introduction of fine ground silex in the plastic
clay it became cleansed and white. But when this
paste became white there was no longer any need to
conceal it under an opaque coating. It was desirable
on the contrary to apply a transparent glazing. Ac-
cordingly a glazing, crystalline and leaden, was sub-
stituted.
The finished vase having been baked in biscuit,
that is having received in the oven the first baking
— one sees how inappropriate is the word ' biscuit,'
twice baked — is then submerged in a liquid which is
clear, vitreous, fusible, and which will be vitrified and
hardened when the object has passed through the
oven a second time. The mixture of powdered silex
with plastic clay has given to this pottery the name
of " flintware " and other such designation. It is a
fine faience. The invention of this ware has been at-
tributed to the celebrated English potters Ashbury
14
POTTERY.
and Wedgewood. But their fine faience, " cream
ware " is no other than the pottery which was manu-
factured in France, at Oiron in Pitou fron* 1525 to
fS68, improperly called " Henri Deux '' ware. It is
between the common pottery and the pipe clay of
Bernard Pallissy.
The paste of faience is hard, impermeable, infusi-
POTTERY. 15
ble, as are those of pipe clays. It is covered with a
stanniferous enamel sometimes hard, opaque, difficult
to scratch with iron, sometimes more transparent,
softer and not without resemblance to the glazings
of fine faience.
Decided improvements have been made within
the last fewyears in fine faience, both in France and
England. The paste was originally of silex and plas-
tic clay. The potters have added kaolin, which
whitens it without making it too brittle, and felspar,
which, while giving to the biscuit a slight tendency
to vitrification, unites the molecules and makes a
closer grain.
The employment of kaolin, felspar and silex in
fine faience has become so developed, that clay now
composes only one-fourth part of the substance.
More than this, by the addition of a little oxide of
cobalt in the paste as well as in the glazing, what
little of yellow color there is remaining is destroyed,
and the pottery becomes whiter than ever.
To the second class of potteries belongs the ' gris
c6rames,' stoneware. This is a plastic clay mixed
with sand and baked at a high temperature. This
paste turns out solid substances, hard and imperme-
able of themselves, that is, they do not need the as-
sistance of glazing. From this can be made objects
of large dimensions whose color varies from pearl
grey to light brown. They usually receive a glazing
of sea'salt. They constitute for domestic use an ex-
cellent pottery. By mixing with the paste of stone-
1 6 POTTERY.
ware materials which enter into the composition of
porcelain, such as kaolin and felspar, a fine ware may
be made which lends itself to the most delicate
modeling, and may be ornamented in any way. By
the nature of its elements this fine stoneware stands
between the English earthenware and hard porcelain.
We now come to the pottery " par excellence,"
that which was invented in China before the Chris-
tian era. This is Porcelain, whose essential and dis-
tinctive qualities are the whiteness and translucence
of its paste, and the hardness and unchangeable
nature of its glazing.
The characteristic feature of porcelain clay is
kaolin. It is a silicate earth, friable and infusible,
which is combined with the fusible rock, felspar. A
first baking of the paste makes it sufficiently firm to
be glazed by immersion. The glazing, or covering, is
made of felspar mixed with quartz and sometimes
with gypsum, but never with either lead or tin.
After the first baking of the paste, it is covered with
the glazing, and then baked again at a temperature
higher than that necessary for the fusion of iron and
other minerals. The glazing unites with the paste, so
that they become almost one transparent substance.
Thus the body of the product is enveloped in an in-
destructible enamel, and one may say that porcelain,
even before receiving those artistic decorations to
which it is susceptible, is one of the marvels of human
industry, and rises indeed to the height of art.
The composition which has been briefly described
is that of hard porcelain only. There is another
POTTERY.
17
porcelain which is called soft, not because the paste
itself is less hard, but by reason of the tenderness of
Pitcher decorated by Bernard Pallissy,
the glazing with which it is covered, which cannot
resist this action of a high temperature, and if sub-
1 8 POTTERY.
mitted to the same degree of heat as the hard porce-
lain, would melt instead of baking.
This beautiful material was invented in France
by those who sought to imitate the hard Chinese
porcelain. Since the year 1695 soft porcelain has
been made at St. Cloud. It is more like glass than
pottery. The paste is principally formed of vitreous
substances and is called " frith." At a high temper-
ature this becomes crystalline, but as only a half vitri-
fication is required for porcelain, a marl is mixed
with this " frith " which renders it ductile and easy
to' shape, while it also retards the fusion of the whole.
The glazing with which this paste is covered is a
leaden substance, easily fusible, and which may be
scratched with metal. It is the soft porcelain, which
at Sevres became so celebrated between the years
1750 and 1804, and which is now so much sought for
under the name of " old S6vres."
The soft porcelain of the English, (they make no
other,) has not altogether the same ingredients as the
French. Formed of nearly the same elements as fine
faience, the calcined bones of cattle are added to it,
which substance makes it able to stand the same de-
gree of heat as the hard porcelain, and the closely
united particles give it at the same time firmness and
translucence. The glazing is crystalline with the
addition of some lead. This porcelain is more solid
than that of the French, and can be ornamented
elaborately. It is plastic and may be modelled in
any way. It is also adapted to the plainest uses.
In his brief history of the manufacture of pottery
POTTERY.
19
M. Blanc does not mention that Bottscher, about
the year 1708, used kaolin in malcing pottery. It is
said that his valet gave him some hair powder.
Noticing its weight he put it into his paste as an ex-
periment and it made porcelain. The kaolin had
been found near Aue in Switzerland. From this ac-
Arab Urn.
cidental discovery was established the Dresden
manufactory. Subsequently kaolin became generally
known and was used in other parts of Europe.
This completes the list of the different kinds of
pottery.
The reader will be prepared, by a knowledge of
20 POTTERY.
them, to understand better what we shall have to say
with regard to decoration. The following is a re-
sum6 of the foregoing description.
The iirst vases of clay were soft and dull in ap-
pearance. They were sometimes glazed with a vit-
reous leaden fluid, transparent and very thin. This
was the lustre, used by the Greeks and Romans.
Afterward, a hard paste was made and covered
with a thick glazing, leaden and transparent. This
was like our common pottery.
Then came harder paste, which was glazed in the
baking with sea-salt. This is stoneware.
When an opaque, stanniferous glazing was used
which hid the color of the paste, it was called enamel.
This characterizes what is known as "faience."
A happy discovery then added to the ceramic
art materials, which, by means of heat, could unite
with a transparent fluid of a similar character, and
become translucent. The result was porcelain and
its glazing.
How Pottery is made at the present Period.
The amateur collector of pottery as well as the
practical potter will be interested to know something
of the actual processes of the most improved meth-
ods of manufacture. Mr. Arnoux, of the Minton
manufactory in England has given a clear and de-
tailed history of the way pottery is produced in Great
Britain. This description will be found at length in
the Appendix. There is very little difference in the
ways of manufacture in any part of Europe. The great
POTTERY. 21
Expositions so frequently held in the old world bring
together all that is curious and peculiar among the
nations, and one soon borrows the inventions of its
neighbor. Until recently however, there has been
very little pottery produced in Europe worthy of imi-
tation. The great nations knew not how to improve
upon the original designs and pure styles of the past,
and had sunk into the feeble and commonplace.
This degeneracy was more especially true of France,
Germany and Italy. But the last twenty years have
seen in England genuine and decided progress. The
form, material and decoration of her pottery have
progressed in advance of her competitors. This
progress is undoubtedly due chiefly to the general
and thorough system of art education which has
been so successfully put in operation since 1853 in
that country.
Japanese Machinery for making Pottery.
The attractiveness of Japanese and Chinese pot-
tery is not so much the result of the use of superior
machinery in its manufacture, as the possession by
these people of a larger variety of materials, a mar-
vellous knowledge in their use and combination, a
distinct originality in design and decoration, and a
sense of the picturesque, so general, that it may be
called one of their prominent national traits.
With the western nations there are many features
in the production of pottery which it is to be earn-
estly hoped the Asiatic will never adopt. Most
prominent among them is the practice of printing
22 POTTEIfY.
which discourages if it does not destroy all inventive
faculty. But the Asiatics could gain great advantage
in the study of the ingenious contrivances and skill-
ful machines of the potteries of France and England.
In Japan the machinery for crushing and powder-
ing stone and clay is of an extremely primitive char-
Japaaese Phoenix.
acter. All the raw material, such as felspar, kaolin
or quartz, is powdered by long balancing horizontal
beams with a perpendicular cross-piece ironshod at
one end. At the other end is a water trough. This
instrument is put up wherever a stream of water can
be utilized. The water running into the trough
raises the powder by overweight and running out at
POTTERY. 23
the Other end in consequence of the incline the pow-
der falls while the crosspiece or hammer drops into
a stone mortar upon the materials placed there, re-
ducing them to powder. These are subsequently
sifted and mixed with water, and decanted. By this
rude incomplete process, at least forty per cent of
the material is thrown away as waste.
In most of the provinces in Japan, the throwing
and heaping of the clay is done upon a lathe of sim-
ple and imperfect construction, where the flying wheel
is at the same time the working disk. There is how-
ever a more complete and complicated instrument
in use in the province of Hizen, in the village of
Arita. from whence come those stately .splendid vases
and those beautiful large bowls known as " Hizen-
ware." Here the common flying wheel is used, with
working disk twelve or fifteen inches above each
other; these are united so as to turn out vases six
and seven feet in height. One skilled workman up-
on these implements makes bowls three feet in diam-
eter or the delicate ware known as the " egg-shell
porcelain." From Vienna the Japanese took home
the knowledge of the use of gypsum in making
moulds. Previously they had used common clay.
IV.
The Form of Pottery.
IN a recent essay on the form of vases, M. Charles
Blanc offers most ingenious and logical reasons
for the principles which should govern the construc-
tion of objects of ceramic art. He declares that the
creations of men are not beautiful in their own eyes
except upon the conditions that they conform to
laws of which the human figure is a living image.
These laws are ; proportion, unity, and harmony.
In the embodiment of these in the edifices he has built
for the needs of life, man has created architecture.
It is by the application of these principles to the clay
of the potter that he has created the ceramic art.
That this correlation of the ceramic art with the
human figure is not fanciful maybe seen by the terms
which designate the different members of a pitcher
or vase. We have the mouth, neck, ears, shoulders
sides, belly, feet. These terms signify that the hu-
man figure has always been present to the minds of
the people who have perfected the form of the vase
and given it a language. There are fixed principles
which may be established with regard to this analogy.
It is not necessary to follow them out at this time.
The first and most important of these is, that all ce-
POTTERY.
25
ramie forms should have one dominant thought, to
which, all others should be subordinate.
It will be found that all of the pottery which is
considered beautiful, and has retained its place in
mouth and lips.
ears or handle
shoulder.
sides— beltv
feet
Terms Describing a Vase.
history and art has its resemblance to architecture,
and has its three orders. These are the simplicity of
the Doric, the grace and delicacy of the Ionic, the
richness and magnificence of the Corinthian.
26
POTTERY.
Primitive ceramic forms are of two kinds, one
having an outline of straight, the other of curved
Hnes.
Those with straight lines are the cylinder, cone
and cone reversed. Those with curved lines ; are
the sphere and the egg.
Ziegler who has written much and wisely upon
Cone.
Cone Reversed.
this subject gives as the proportions of the cylinder,
a height equal to three times its radius, but M.
Blanc thinks that this proportion instead of relieving
its natural heaviness only increases it. ,
In architecture the proportions of a door are at
the least 24x12, or 25x12 or at most 30x12 or five
times half its width. The ceramic art where it fol-
lows architectural lines cannot avoid the laws of
POTTERY.
27
architecture. Another condition of the cylinder is
that it must terminate with a shght moulding, out-
ward or inward. The dominant line must deviate at
one or both extremities of the cylinder in order
properly to finish the form. A cylinder whose pro-
Proper Position of tlie
Handle.
Minimum Heiglit of the Cyl-
inder in Ceramic Art.
portions give an elevation equal to three half diame-
ters would serve for domestic use, but perhaps at
the expense of its beauty. Where an object is made
with the purpose of use, to carry a liquid and to pour
it out, it is necessary that the handle should be
placed, even in appearance, so as to assist in pouring
out, or in its carriage. In the first case, says Ziegler,
the handle ought to be ai'ched, or fixed from one to
another side, as is the handle to a basket. If the
28
POTTERY.
vase or other article is destined to be carried and fot
pouring out, the handle ought to be attached high
and low enough, so that when full, the liquid will not
escape and that it can be emptied without too much
contortion of the hand. In the case of a reversed
Egg Shape.
Base Equal to the Diameter.
cone, the base should be equal to the diameter of the
upper part.
These simple architectural laws are frequently
violated. One often sees table ware, and especially
glass ware which appears to have been made so that
it might be speedily broken. If such is the object
the end is too quickly reached to the dismay of
housekeepers. Wine glasses are often constructed
30 that the slightest touch upsets their gravity. Cups
POTTERY. 29
with so small a base that they cannot with the
slightest motion stand on their own bottom.
Out of the rectilinear lines there have been made
an infinite variety of useful and beautiful forms,
which always, however preserve a certain severity
Canopian Form, ClaTifonn.
and dignity which belong to the Doric order in archi-
tecture.
With the primitive figures, the cylinder and the
cone, whose elevation is in straight lines, there are
two others equally primitive, the sphere and egg.
As the cone reversed gives place to another figure,
so does the egg give the form Ogivoide.
In one and another modification the sphere has
been always used in the manufacture of pottery and
porcelain. Thus the primitive ball flattened at its
upper part and opened in a clavoid gives the vase
30
POTTERY.
called Canopian which was much used in Egypt
where Can ope was adored as the god of the waters.
Surahe. Persian Faience,
From the sphere come many shapes, which are
called after the apple, pear and so on. Such vases
are often without grace and their convexity should
be compensated for by the length of the neck, such
as we find in the Persian Surahe or bv the addition
POTTERY. 31
of two wide handles which are placed obliquely to the
horizon.
M. Blanc, says grace belongs naturally to forms
which are derived from the egg. The egg is not
only a sacred emblem of generation, it is of it also,
the visible, tangible and harmonious image.
The value of the study of geometry in acquiring
the art of design cannot be over estimated. It is in
the laws of this austere science, it is in the principles
of arid geometry, that grace itself and the grace of
ceramic art takes its source. Whether the oval is
formed by a conic section or derived from a sphere,
it is graceful curve. It may be traced simply by the
compass and rule, and in order to compose a vase,
it is necessary only to combine with other forms the
segments of the circle.
Serlio in his first book on architecture gives the
ingenious means of designing with rule and compass,
profiles of vases of forms such as the Ellipse and
Sphere, giving to each every variety of symmetry and
grace.
The examination of Greek pottery, so exquisitely
regular in its contours, will show that the potters
who made it had studied conic sections. Thus
geometry generates forms which have sometimes
been supposed to have been born of caprice.
V.
The Decoration of Pottery.
THE decoration of pottery is of equal importance
with its form. The same laws of proportion,
unity and harmony, which are the laws of form, are
equally those of decoration. There are certain forms
of ornamentation which are identified with the fixed
orders of architecture, such as the Doric, Ionian and
Corinthian, or with nations, as the Egyptian, Greek,
Roman, Byzantine, Chinese and Japanese.
As pottery, from its plastic material, may be
fashioned into every shape, so does it also admit the
widest range of decoration. There is however a
general principle which the Greeks first illustrated in
their architecture — that decoration should be one with
the construction. This principle is directly applicable
to the ceramic art, where the preconceived form,
and the material employed should indicate the ap-
propriate ornament. In works of art the decoration
should be foreseen and commanded by the designer
of the form. This principle should be always present
with the amateur who desires to decorate plain ware.
The impropriety also of associating incongruous styles
of ornamentation on the same object, will at once
be obvious.
The most of the white or plain tinted ware which
POTTERY. 33
is at the disposal of those who desire to decorate, is
of simple shapes and not of decided styles of con-
struction. These will be cups, saucers, plates, pitch-
ers, teapots, vases, bowls, tiles, plaques and the like.
The material of which these objects are composed
varies. They are made in England, France and
Germany. But little of this kind of ware is now pro-
duced in America. For amateurs, who wish to paint
on glazed' ware or biscuit, it is for the present better
to select for this purpose, either foreign ware, or be
certain of the quality of home production, and again
to pay strict heed to the direction given in another
place as to the use of certain colors upon the differ-
ent kinds of ware. Otherwise, when the cup or vase
comes out from the oven they may find their artistic
labor sunken out of sight or otherwise defaced.
It is safe to take for decoration plain white ware,
but unless the surface is nearly covered with the
design, it will frequently be found, that in contrast
with the glazed white ground the colors will be in-
harmonious. Of course this question of harmonious
arrangement of color is artistic and in a great degree
the application of color depends upon the taste and
knowledge of the workman. But there is a great
deal of pottery whose body or surface has delicate
tints of red; yellow, blue, and combinations of those
colors. Where there is a glazed surface these tinted
objects will receive all the colors of the palette, with-
out any perceptible change in firing, except chemical
changes, which take place under any- circumstances.
As an example of this, we have before us a handsome
34
POTTERY.
pitcher of earthen ware of a pale yet firm yellow tint.
It has a decided glaze. It is made at Sarreguemines
in the Rhenish province, and is one of the recent
novel productions of those well managed potteries.
This pitcher has been most charmingly decorated
with arbitrary forms of birds and flowers ingeniously
adapted from Chinese designs in black and white.
Ornament.
The decoration however is in a great variety of colors
brilliant and harmonious. This pitcher went into
the oven where it had a sufficient heat to melt the
glaze which was perfectly fused with the vitreous
color. It came out of the oven with its most deli-
cate tints preserved and with added freshnes.s and
brilliancy.
Plain tiles of many tints of color arc made, and
these can be painted upon without fear of damage
if the. right colors are used, and the directions on this
POTTERY 35
subject are followed. These tiles are made of differ-
ent sizes, some eight and some six inches square.
These again are divided into four by eight and three
by six inches. They are used as hot-water stands,
for flower pots, aquariums, jardinieres, and they of
late form a charming ornamentation, as panels in
cabinets, side boards and other household furniture.
In the objects suitable for decoration there are
besides tiles, a great variety of ornamental pottery
and porcelain, and not least, the multitude of dishes
which are in household use. Any of these may be
prettily and appropriately decorated.
It is to be presumed that those who intend to
decorate pottery have some knowledge of drawing.
If one wishes to paint from nature, to make original
designs or even to copy from other designs knowl-
edge of drawing is necessary. But in the absence of
a knowledge of drawing a patient and skillful person
may accomplish a great deal by Tracing the Design.
The Utensils for Decoration.
The utensils necessary for painting on pottery are
simple. For most plain work there is needed a table
three feet wide, four long, and three high, to hold a
box of colors, palettes, saucers, and other working
material. The professional decorator, or the ama-
teur who makes a serious business of it will require a
table arranged for the purpose, with drawers to hold
brushes, colors, oils, etc. The table should also have
a disk which may be turned either with the hand or
foot. Place the object to be painted upon this disk ;
36 POTTERY.
by holding the brush steadily in your hand you can
make horizontal lines with accuracy. A wooden bar
for resting the hand is useful. It should be two or
three inches wide and high with a foot at each end.
For painting on ware of a fine ' texture, sable
brushes of large and small sizes are needed. On
coarse earthenware, a larger, stronger, brittler brush
may be used. The colors, oils, turpentine and other
materials used in painting, will be found in the boxes
made and prepared for the purpose. With these
come slabs and palettes, some flat, others with little
cavities in them, which may contain oil, turpentine or
color, as the workman chooses. These palettes are
made of chinaware.
It will be well to caution the artist not to squeeze
out much color from the tube ; a very little goes a
long way. It won't do to put color thickly upon
glazed ware. Keep palettes and brushes as clean as
possible. It is sometimes absurdly said that a genius
is too much absorbed in his work to- keep himself
clean. The truth is, the greatest artists are always
the most tidy.
It will be of value to all who have to do with
decoration, to understand something of the nature
of the vitrifiable colors which are used in painting.
Knowledge of the chemical properties of these colors
and a little experience in their use will prevent mis-
takes. Nearly all the professional decorators in
America grind their own colors by hand ; and until
recently, amateurs have used colors in the shape of
powder, but this is a most inconvenient way of work-
POTTERY. 37
ing, involving loss of time and the risk of getting bad
colors. Fortunately exquisite tube vitrifiable colors
MiiTor-case enameled with Precious Stones. Period of Henri III.
Collection of Madame le Baronne Gustave de Rotlischild.
of every tint can be obtained. From personal ex-
38 POTTERY.
perience we can warmly recommend the German col-
ors which may be had from C. Seidel and Son, Dres-
den, Germany. The French colors of A. Lacroix,
Paris, are for sale with Lechertier, Barbe & Co., 60 Re-
gent Street, London, England, and are no doubt as
good as the German. Both may be bought in this
country. The colors referred to in this article in the
palettes made up for painting, are from the latter
house. Either of these establishments will furnish
boxes, with oils, brushes, palette kifiyes, palettes, col-
ors and all the material needed for pottery painting.
m.KiNG OR Firing Pottery.
Before discussing the way of painting upon pot-
tery a few words may be said of the facilities for hav-
ing it baked, after it is decorated. Many persons
would like to do this work for themselves and there
are means of accomplishing such a result. But it is
attended with a great deal of trouble, loss of time
and considerable expense. It will be much more
satisfactory and convenient to go to those who make
a business of decorating and baking pottery. These
men are to be found in several of the large cities.
They are not potters, but decorate and fire pottery.
Some of these persons are not to be relied upon.
They do not properly understand their trade and
they make extravagant charges for their services.
Almost any of the responsible dealers in china-
ware would attend to this business in a satisfactory
way. We have had experience with Mr. E. Lycett.
of New York whom we can commend. His charges
POTTERY. 39
are moderate and his work is entirely satisfactory.
Mr. Lycett is a professsional decorator and has sev-
eral ovens which are in constant use. There may be
those however who are far removed from large cities
where pottery can be baked. These persons will
be glad to know that baking can be done by means
of small ovens. These are made of fire clay. They
are from two to three feet long, eighteen inches
wide and about the same height. The bottom is
flat, the top rounfled, with a hole and chimney in
its centre. It is enclosed on all sides except one
end which may be closed by a door. In this door
is a hole which is used to watch the progress of
heating. This oven should be set up, and en-
closed by a brick house, with a space of six inches
between, on the sides, one end and the top, with a
chimney to allow the flames and smoke to escape,
after encircling the oven. The fire is of course un-
derneath the oven. These portable ovens which go
by the name of " Muffles," can be obtained of Charles
Seidel and Son, Dresden, Germany, and M. Goyard,
No. 112 Rue de- la Folic mericourt, Paris. When
the amateur attempts to bake his own decoration,
he should be sure his oven is dry before using it. If
it has been a long while out of use it, will be neces-
sary to fire it at a greater heat than is necessary in
baking. There are ways of testing the proper,
amount of heat for different kinds of pottery. How-
ever accustomed the eye may be to judging the in-
tensity of the fire, it is still desirable to have a
" test," that is a small piece of china, glass or earth-
40
POTTERY.
enware, according to the quality of the objects about
to be baked, painted (a small patch is enough) with
one or two of the most sensitive colors that have
been used in the object to be fired. When the heating
Vase of the Ferrara Manufactory.
begins, this should be taken out from time to time, so
that the state and development of the colors may be
ascertained, and the fire put out when desirable. For
baking porcelain, carmines are generally used as
tests ; in France the carmine No 2, in England No. i.
POTTERY. 41
For fine earthenware {terre de pipe) the heat for
carmine No. i is preferable.
Coloring MateriaiLs and Fluxes of Vitrifi-
ABLE Colors.
We quote from La Croix's work, "Les Couleurs
Vitrifiable," showing the chemical nature of vitrifiable
colors. All mineral colors which are vitrified by the
action of heat are usually comprised under the gen-
eral head of vitrified colors. Vitrifiable colors are
generally coniposed of two parts, the coloring matter
and the vitreous matter.
1st. The coloring matter, properly so called,
sometimes contains only metal, or metallic coloring
oxide, such as cobalt for blues, copper for water-
greens, iron for reds, etc., etc.
2ndly. The vitreous matter, whose office it is to
fix the coloring matter and make it adhere to the
object painted, is known under the general name of
" flux." These are principally composed of sand
(silica, silex, etc.,) and of lead (red lead, orange lead,
litharge, etc.,) to which borax, or boric acid, is often
added. The flux, at the same time that it fixes the
coloring matter under the action of the fire, ought
to impart the brilliancy and glitter, as well as the
durability of crystal.
When the colors are fired at a very high tem-
perature — hard porcelain fire — the softening of the
glaze is, in certain cases, enough to fix the coloring
matter with a very small quantity of flux, and with the
German colors, without other flux than that in the
color itself
42 POTTERY.
M. Salvdtat, head of the chemical works ,at the
Sfevres manufactory, divides vitrifiable colors for
china-painting into three classes.
1st. The colors for the ordinary oven those of the
usual painting palette.
2d. The colors for medium heat — hard colors.
These colors have the advantage of bearing, after
the first preliminary baking, a second painting in
soft colors (as well as gilding,) without changing in a
second baking, in the common oven.
3d. Colors for greatest heat. These colors burn
in the kiln, with the glaze of the china.
It will be remarked from the chemical analysis
hereafter given that extreme caution is required in
mixing the colors. The workman must bear in mind
that the iron colors, red, flesh tints, red browns, yel-
low browns, ochres, black, iron violets, and greys
(with the exception of platina grey), may be mixed
together, and with other colors containing iron, and
that a steel spatula will not affect them, while the
carmines, carmine purples, blues, and whites, will not
bear the steel knife. It is much better however not
to mix colors but to paint with pure tints.
The greens may be mixed together and with
most of the other colors, but not with the reds ; they
work well with the mixing yellow {jaune a meler) and
jonquil yellow {Jaune Jonquille)ior gx&aXtr brilliancy.
The carmines are very easily affected by the fire,
and are altogether the least easy to manage. They
appear grey in the working, and it is therefore diffi-
cult to judge of the intensity of the tints employed.
POTTERY.
43
VlTRIFIABLE COLORS.
To avoid certain discrepancies which may occur
in baking from the mixture of the different tints
it is useful to know something of their chemical
composition. It will be well to indicate the color-
Persian Coffee-pot
ing oxides of the different groups without describ-
ing the fluxes, whose coloring power is much less
marked.
These hints on vitrifiable colors for the oven
apply more particularly to palette No. i, hereafter
described. We quote from La Croix upon this sub-
ject.
44 POTTERY.
CLASSIFICATION OF THE COLORS WITH
REGARD TO IRON.
Iron plays an important part in the composition
of many of the vitrifiable colors, it is, therefore taken
as a starting point in the classification of them in
three groups.
1ST Group. — Colors without Iron.
1st, the whites; 2d, the blues; 3d, the colors
containing gold. For these colors a horn or ivory
knife should be used, or, better still, a glass pestle.
2D Group. — Colors containing but little Iron.
This group is composed of the yellows and the
greens, of which several contain a little iron.
3D Group. — Colors principally composed of
Iron, or of which it forms part of the
coloring matter.
1st. The reds, flesh tints, red browns, and iron
violets.
2d. The browns, brown yellows, ochres, blacks,
and the greater part of the greys.
FIRST GROUP.
COLORS CONTAINING NO IRON.
I. The Whites. — Whites owe their coloring
almost entirely to tin, or phosphate of lime.
(Mo^-
JAPANKSE DESIGNS
POTTERY. 45
2. The Blues. — ^AU blues, with very few excep-
tions, owe their coloring to cobalt.
Cobalt is used as a coloring matter, in two condi-
tions.
1st, in the condition of silicate it gives dark blue,
which is heightened or subdued by infusion by zinc,
sodium, or potash, and thus may be varied to grey
blue or indigo blue.
2d, in the condition of aluminate, cobalt produces
shades of blue green, ultramarine, and turquoise.
The mixture of cobalt and iron gives, according
to the preparations used, tints varying from light
grey to black. It naturally follows that to insure good
blue tints the use of brushes which may have served
for any of the iron colors, must be carefully avoided,
until they have been thoroughly cleaned.
3. Gold Colors. — The foundation of the paint-
ing colors containing gold, is purple of cassius, which
is made of gold and tin. Alone, it gives tints
which vary from lilac to dark violet ; modified by
silver and different fluxes, it produces carmines and
purples.
All the lilacs, the carmines, red lake, mauve, the
crimsons, ruby, purple carmine, all other purples,
rose colors, and violets, called golden violets, are
classified under the name of gold colors. When the
carmines are baked at a low temperature the silver
predominates, and the tints assume a dirty yellow-
shade. If, on the contrary, the temperature is too
high, the silver coloring is destroyed, and the car-
mine changes to lilac and violet, which explains the
46 POTTERY.
difficulty of burning carmines. Purples are affected
in the same way, but to a much less degree, the
shade being darker, and the cassius in larger propor-
tion.
SECOND GROUP.
COLORS CONTAINING ONLY A SMALL
QUANTITY OF IRON.
1. The Yellows. — Painting- yellows owe their
coloring principally to antimony, to which, according
to the shade required, zinc and iron in different
states of oxidation are added. Two yellows are ex-
ceptions to this rule, those employed in glass and
crystal painting, namely, silver yellow and uranite
yellow. Silver yellow made with silver will not mix
in painting; it must always be used alone. The
yellow only called silver yellow {Jaune d' argent) con-
tains no silver ; it is made of jonquil yellow and
orange yellow. For obtaining bright greens, the
yellows without iron are usually preferred (mixing
yellow, or jonquil yellow) ; to mix with iron colors
on the contrary, the yellows which contain it should
be used.
2. Greens. — All the greens, particularly for the
palette No. i, are made of chromium modified by
cobalt and alumina ; these are often mixed, both at
the manufactory and with the antimonial yellows in
painting.
POTTERY. 47
THIRD GROUP.
COIORS WHOSE BASE IS IRON, AND OF
WHICH IT FORMS PART OF THE COL-
ORING MATTER.
1. Reds. — Flesh tints, brown reds, and iron vio-
lets.
These colors are obtained by means of oxides of
iron more or less calcined.
The flesh reds are so called because they are fre-
quently used for the flesh tints in figures.
2. Browns. — Yellow browns, ochres, blacks, and
a large portion of the greys.
The greater part of the browns owe their tints to
the mixture of cobalt and of iron, in different states
of combination ; they frequently contain zinc also ;
the yellow browns and the ochres are generally pro-
duced by the mixture of iron and zinc. The palette
No. I is composed of these.
The best blacks are usually made of cobalt and
iron, like the browns, only in the former case the
cobalt predominates.
Blacks may also be obtained by adding copper, or
even manganese, to the iron, in order to diminish
the quantity of cobalt ; but these blacks are less in-
tense.
All the greys, with the exception of platina grey
{h, base de platine), are made by mixing the colors of
the different groups — blacks, blues, reds, — according
to the tints required.
48 POTTERY.
COLORS FOR GROUNDS ON CHINA AND
FINE EARTHENWARE.
{Ordinary Heat^
The colors specially adapted to grounds, are not
used in painting, and their composition is, therefore,
of less importance.
They are sometimes formed by mixtures of colors,
and sometimes by the addition of the flux to the
palette colors.
Mention will be made only of the corals and water
greens.
Coral. — Coral color (2d Group) is never used in
painting ; the color is derived from chromate of lead.
Chromate of lead is soon destroyed by heat ; it
is therefore obvious that this color has little perma-
nency, and at a high temperature it often changes
to yellow, or even to green, the natural color of
chromium.
Water Greens. — The water greens are not used
in painting; they are generally made from copper
(ist Group). There are also blue greens made from
chromium (2d Group) ; these are less delicate than
those made from copper, but they have the advan-
tage of being less susceptible to heat, which with
them never produces that greyish black shade which
the copper greens sometimes take.
POTTERY.
49
COLORS FOR COMMON EARTHENWARE.
{Greatest Heat^
These colors are different in their composition
from the vitrifiable colors for ordinary oven heat.
Japanese Dragon.
Thus the violets are usually made from manganese,
the pinks from chromium and tin (chromate of tin),
some of the greens with copper, which, under the in-
fluence of potash and sodium, give beautiful tur-
quoise blue shades.
50 POTTERY.
Composition of Palettes.
No. I Palette, for porcelain and fine earthenware.
{Ordinary Heat^
The distinction made in the above classification,
between porcelain and fine earthenware, refers to the
hard paste made all over Europe and sometimes in
the United States. It has some of the properties
of porcelain, and the fine earthenware, which is hard
in substances and covered with a glaze, which is
manufactured in England, at Creil, Sarreguemines
and other places in France. Painting on hard pastes
or porcelain, requires a greater heat than earthenware,
although both are successfully used in the same oven
in ordinary heat
Colors for Palette No. i.
White, blues, sky, deep and ultramarine, browns,
chestnut, sepia, and dark browns ; carmines, dark and
light greys, yellows, crimson, lake, red, green, vio-
let, purple, black.
Palette, No. 2.
La Croix makes up a palette under the above de-
signation, composed of colors for grounds only. The
amateur will not often wish to cover his vase with a
ground color, but paint directly upon the surface as
it comes from the potter. These ground colors are ;
maize, coffee, Chinese yellow, lilac, salmon, turquoise
blue, turquoise green, coral and others.
pottery. si
Palette for coarse Earthenware.
(Ordinary Heat^
Nearly all the colors mentioned in palettes Nos.
I and 2 can be used upon coarse earthenware, but
those upon finer pottery with a simpler and broader
treatment.
Palette No. 3.
{Greatest Heat^
The following colors can be used both over and
under the glaze of coarse earthen ware. Blue,
brown, yellow, black, pink, red, green, violet.
Palette No. 4, for Biscuit or Soft Paste.
The three palettes which have been described are
for pottery covered with a glaze. Many of these
colors are not adapted for the pottery without glaze.
But there is a sufficient variety which are suitable,
such as white, blue, brown, carmine, crimson yellow,
black, green, violet.
Palette No. 5, for Crystal and Opal Glass.
For painting on glass the following colors can be
used. The heat for firing is at a much less tempera-
ture than for pottery. White, blue, brown, carmine,
yellow, black, purple, red, green, violet.
Directions for Use.
The decorator ought to be able to draw so that
he can place the design upon the vase without arti-
52 POTTERY.
ficial instrumentalities. If he cannot draw and is
impatient to decorate before learning that simple ac-
complishment, he can trace the design. A piece of
tracing paper larger than the design to be copied,
should be placed on it, and carefully traced through
with a pencil. Apiece of red oiled paper must then be
laid upon the surface to be decorated, and the traced
outline placed over it. These should be held securely
in their place, while an agate or ivory pointer follows
each detail of the drawing, which will appear upon
the ware when the paper is removed. The design
will be found suffijiently defined for painting.
It is always well, especially when making original
designs, to sketch in your drawing with lithographic
crayon. It makes a clear, distinct mark on the
smooth glazed surface, which will disappear when the
object goes into the oven.
Color oftentimes will not lie well on glazed ware.
Previous to drawing or painting, the surface should
be washed with soda and then the part to be deco-
rated covered with a thin coating of turpentine.
Then the color will not flow away from the brush,
and the workman will be able to get the most deli-
cate lines.
The first attempts should be made in simple colors,
like red, sepia, or light blue. Squeeze a little of one
of these into the first hole of your palette, mix with
it enough turpentine, upon the flat surface of your
palette, to make the color flow from your brush.
The tube colors seldom need additional oil. Apply
this color carefully to the tile, for a tile is one of the
POTTERY. 53
best things to experiment upon. At a first attempt
you will be sufficiently happy if you can fill in the
whole picture in simple outlines, without achieving
ambitious effects of light and shade. If it is desired
to retouch parts of this painting, it is well to lay it
aside until it dries, when finishing touches may be
applied. With this as with all painting on pottery, the
color must be well dried before the vase is sent to the
oven. If it is to be packed up, soft paper or cotton
wool must be used to prevent rubbing. If the work
becomes injured, or in the baking certain parts are in-
distinct they can be retouched and undergo a second
baking. Color must not at any time be applied
thickly, and especially in repainting, or it will blister.
For painting on biscuit, which it will be remem-
bered has an unglazed surface, it is well to cover it
with a varnish of gum arable, but the preparation
must be pure or it will stain the biscuit. Especial
care must be taken in painting on biscuit, for the
color cannot be removed without stain ; whereas
with glazed pottery turpentine and a bit of cloth
will remove all trace of color. Biscuit can be re-
touched and fired a second time. It is well to work
always from the centre of the object, if it is a tile,
plate, plaque or other flat surface. If it is a vase,
which can be placed on the turning disk, one part
may be painted as soon as another.
The decorator will naturally seek pottery with
pleasing tints of color, upon which to paint his
design. The products of the potteries of Europe
and Asia give variety of color sufficient to satisfy
54 POTTERY.
almost any wish. Yet there will be instances where
a particular tint will be fancied and it is well to know
how to make it, and the following directions apply to
glazed ware as well as to biscuit. There are many pro-
cesses for accomplishing this result. One in use by
professional decorators is to scatter the color in the
form of dust upon a prepared ground. Another way
is to mix a sufficient amount of color of medium con-
sistency. This is laid upon the surface with a broad
flat brush as evenly as possible. Then the whole
surface while it is yet wet is gone over with a brush
that is short and not too fine, which the EngHsh
china painters call a " dabbler." It is similar to the
blender used by painters in larger and more impor-
tant works of art. This tint is of course, fired and
fixed before the chosen design is painted upon it.
^£f
FUAGMF.NTS FROM JAPANESE DECORATIONS
VI.
How TO Paint on Pottery.
THE importance of following these directions
with regard to the mixing and use of colors
cannot be too closely observed by the professional
or amateur decorator. With a full palette, such as
may be obtained from the dealers in color, there will
be but little need for the amateur to mix colors. In
the painting of arbitrary forms, there will be no oc-
casion for the use of other than pure tints. It is not
only hazardous, but the best artistic results are not
obtained in the mixing of tints. Experienced artists
having at hand all the advantages of a knowledge of
colors and how they can be mingled, might do it if
they wished. But it is one of the recommendations
most forcibly put by M. Violet le Due, in his recent
report to the French government upon the Sevres
manufactory, that the artists should use pure tints
in their decorations. This is one of the secrets of
the extraordinary beauty of Japanese and Chinese
pottery. This is why they are so rich in tone, so
brilliant in effect.
It is probable that most amateurs will not find it
necessary to make use of palette No. 2, which is
made up for " grounds," nor will they be apt often
to paint with a view to more than one firing.
$6 POTTERY.
To those who have painted in oil or water colors,
specific directions for the employment of the colors
in copying one or another natural object, are not so
necessary as they will be to beginners ; yet even the
professional painter in oils and water colors, will find
much of his previous knowledge a hinderance rather
than benefit, for it may mislead him to an improper
use of the vitrifiable color.
The best decoration for pottery is that of arbi-
trary forms or of natural objects conventionalized.
The direct imitation of natural objects, like fruit,
flowers, leaves or animals, is not the best decorative
art. The student searching for examples of the differ-
ence between the two styles of imitation, and con-
ventionalized decoration, will find them everywhere
in ancient and modern pottery. The Dresden ware
will show the most perfect as well as unsatisfactory
imitations of fruit and flowers. Other European ware,
and especially Asiatic ware, exhibits that which
is suggestive of natural objects exciting the imagina-
tion, filling the beholder with unceasing pleasure.
It is proposed to assist the student, by describing
plainly the way to decorate ; what is appropriate
upon different kinds of pottery, the colors to use, and
how to apply them.
In order to paint conventionahzed objects it is
necessary to study the art of design. This is taught
in the right way in some of the public schools, like
those in Massachusetts, and in some of the schools
of design like that of the University of Cincinnati.
If the student cannot attend one of these schools,
POTTERY,
57
he can learn a great deal by the study of " Colling's
Art Foliage," " Shaw's Encyclopedia of Ornament,"
and other works. In the effort either to conven-
tionalize natural forms or in trying to imitate them
Persian Jar,
the student ought to have the flower, leaf, or what-
ever it may be, before him, so that he can obtain its
character, its form and color.
The better kinds of white ware called porcelain
made in England, France and Germany, are fit for
painting. Let us try to decorate a set of dessert
plates. The border of the plates gives room for any
3*
58 POTTERY.
one of a thousand patterns, combinations of angles,
circles, or figures of birds, insects, leaves or other ob-
jects. A pleasant combination of colors will be blue
and gold, with a gold band on the outside and in-
side of the rim. In the centre of the plate giving
plenty of room, place a bird, butterfly or a sprig of
leaves or flowers, in the same color as the border.
Similar decoration can be applied in light green, In-
dian red, or brown, resembling sepia. White cups
and saucers, or large dinner plates can be treated in
the same way.
The Mintons of England make large and small
plaques and saltcellars, pitchers and various shaped
dishes, of a creamy white substance, which stand
between porcelain and faience. It is an exquisite
material to work upon, its soft tint furnishing a har-
monious background for almost any color.
Mere imitation, as we have said, is feeble decora-
tion. But even the imitation of flowers may be
made stronger if care is taken not to run one color
into the other. Lay each tint by itself in a broad
and clean way. This practice secures brilliancy.
For painting blue and lilac flowers, the following
colors are required : Deep, sky and other blues, vio-
let, iron violet, purple, yellow.
For White Roses and White Flowers.
Permanent white, Naples yellow, light yellow,
light and dark grey, all the reds, violet. In all white
flowers the white of the object will answer for high
lights. The outlines of the flowers should be sketched
POTTERY. 59
with light yellow. The shadows, with yellow and
grey, with not too much violet for fear of making
them hard and opaque. Always strive to obtain
transparency in shadows. Experience in this, as in
all things, is the best of teachers.
Red Flowers.
All the reds, violets, and yellows. The high
lights will require vermilion and light yellow. The
shadows, violets, with modiiications of red or yel-
low as may be needed.
Green Leaves and Stems.
All the greens, yellows, blues, and browns.
Leaves are of every tint of green, and the artist
must vary the use of greens according to the model.
Light yellow with light green is used for high lights.
The shadows will be made of dark green and brown,
care being taken to neutralize the greens by a little
violet or grey. Stems are sometimes altogether
brown. When they are green the above rules apply.
For Painting Heads.
The writer feels like giving Punch's advice to his
friend about to be married, " Don't." We would
say don't paint heads or any part of the human
figure as decoration of pottery. Even when it is well
done it is inappropriate and when it is not excellent,
it is horrid. The human figure should never be
used in decoration. We give however, the colors for
painting heads. All the reds, yellows, whites, greys,
6o POTTERY.
blacks, browns, greens. Don't mix your reds and
browns together, or you will have ugly purples, not
often seen in the human countenance. If it is
intended to have more than one baking, a good
ground tint may be made by light yellow, and a little
light blue.
Madame Delphine de Cool gives the following
instructions for figure-painting : —
(Colors required, the same as in the preceding.)
Mark in slightly with pure flesh red the nose, the
mouth, and slightly the lachrymals, so as not to Jose
the outline ; then put in the bright lights with yel-
low, adding a little flesh red, mixed with a touch of
yellow brown, for the local tints.
The colors must be laid on quickly and broadly,
so as not to allow of their drying. While still moist,
put in the pink of the cheeks with flesh red alone,
and for the warm tints mix with it a little yellow
ochre, grey, and red, the yellow ochre and red in
such proportion as to keep the flesh tints sufiS-
ciently light. If the color is still tolerably moist,
add the grey tints ; but should it have hardened,
stipple gently — that is, let the stippling brush fall
perpendicularly, so as to melt the color moistened
with turpentine. It is, however, always best in flesh
tints to dispense as much as possible with stippling
at this stage. In copying a very dark-toned picture,
such as those of Rembrandt and Ribiera, the flesh
lights should be made with the same yellow and
capucine red.
Spirits of lavender, or turpentine with the tube
POTTERY. 6 1
Colors, are the best to use for the first wash, so that
the color may dry as soon as p'ossible, and the pupil
should endeavor to acquire certainty of touch, the
least hesitation entailing much loss of time.
It is necessary to paint boldly, and to unite the
colors where they meet. When the first coating of
color is dry the design must be accurately marked
out, the shadows deepened, and the medium tints
harmonized. The painting must be finished as much
as possible with flat tones, laid on lightly, so as not
to soak through the dark ones. For the last touches
of the flesh tints stippling is indispensable.
On the subject of draperies, Madame de Cool
continues :
Draperies are painted more broadly than the
face, and are more easily executed without stippling.
The principal folds should be indicated by a few pen-
cil marks on the white china ; and it is advisable to
begin only as much as can be finished at one time.
First paint in the lights, then the local tints in
the lightest shade ; afterward the darkest parts of the
same tint, and finally depending on the copy, the
medium tints, which are obtained by mixing the
original color with the darker shades.
The draperies should be gone over again, in the
same way as the face, that is, when completely dry,
but with as little retouching and stippling as possible.
Landscape Painting.
There is something of the same objection to
landscape painting upon pottery, that we have
62 POTTERY.
already found with the human figure. It is not the
best subject for decoration. There are sometimes
flat surfaces such as tiles upon which bits of scenery
could be effectively painted, but most pottery
has curved or irregular surfaces. Upon these,
the human figures and landscapes become dis-
torted.
Pretty nearly all the colors used for the figure
are needed in the landscape. The warmer colors,
like browns, reds, yellows and greens, will be
used in the foreground, the middle and extreme dis-
tances require the use of violet and grey in order to
keep them in their proper place. Skies will be
painted with light yellows and light blues, with whites
for high Hghts,, great care should betaken in painting
skies, avoiding some of the cold grey shades which
turn green in baking.
Second Baking.
If you have painted your vase with a view to two
or more bakings, look carefully at the results of the
first attempt. It will be found that all the warm tints
have softened, and the greys have a greenish tinge.
When you have used pure colors, they will be found
to have remained unchanged. Rub the painting
with fine emery paper,. if there are rough places you
wish to remove. In retouching, it will be necessary
not to put the color on too thickly, but you may if
you wish, repaint the whole work, as far. as possible
using pure tints. It is necessary to bake a third
time, only when through too great or too little heat
POTTERY. 63
at the second baking, the objects are obscure or the
Corean Jar of Persian Decoration.
:olor has blistered and not assimilated with the glaze,
64 POTTERY.
Painting in Colors not Vitrifiable.
Nearly all the foregoing directions are for paint-
ing with vitrifiable colors, with a view to their being
fused with the pottery when subjected to heat.
There are other ways of decoration which do not
require the intervention of this agency. All kinds
of pottery can be decorated by either oil or water
colors. These last named materials of course can
only be used for ornamental purposes, as the paint-
ing may easily be destroyed.
In several places in the United States, there
is manufactured from common red and yellow earths,
pottery whose shapes are so good that they are at
once sought for as ornaments. They can be made yet
more valuable by tasteful decoration. The red pot-
tery from Chelsea and Beverly, in Massachusetts,
may be charmingly decorated by delicate use of dark
green and gold, or black and gold. Specimens of
this pottery, which have been decorated at the facto-
ries, have usually not been in very good taste.
From Portland, Maine, comes a yellow pottery.
The shapes are reproductions of fine Greek and
Egyptian forms, beautiful in themselves and capable
of varied decoration.
The Chelsea and Beverly ware may be painted
with ordinary tube colors, in tints of olive green, red
and gold. The Portland ware is a pale buff color,
which will harmonize very prettily with deep blue and
gold, or blue, greens and gold, or vermilion reds,
orange and gold. These vases are mostly classic in
POTTERY. 65
form, but it does not follow that the decorator should
make feeble attempts to place upon them classic
figures of Venus and Apollo, or Greek warriors. The
entire world of arbitrary forms and conventionalized
plant forms, is open to the modern decorator, and
he had better labor in that field. Some writers ad-
vise the artist to decorate these antique vases with
the same designs that ornamented the originals.
Many of these classic designs are used in decoration
with the same value that letters are used in written
language, they are indeed the alphabet of ornamen-
tation. The ornamentation of a vase should follow
the laws and lines of its construction, it may be Greek
or Egyptian, Japanese or Persian or an original con-
ception. These remarks of course apply to painting
upon any kind of pottery.
Painting on Window Glass.
Although painting upon glass does not come
strictly within the purpose of this book, yet it is suffi-
ciently near it to justify the introduction of a few
words of information from that excellent authority,
M. Claudius Lavergne.
The first operation of painting on window glass
necessitates a sketch on cardboard of the same size as
the design about to be executed. The use of this is to
show the places where the lead will be placed, and by
that means the outline of each piece of glass ; this
outline, which must be repeated on a piece of thick
paper and afterwards cut out, gives what is called
" the compass," and is used to facihtate cutting out
66 POTTERY.
the glass in the required shape. It. is also useful in
making the outline, which is done like a tracing, by
laying the glass on the cardboard itself, placed
horizontally.
In placing the pieces of glass on the drawing,
care must be taken to leave between them the space
required for the body of the leads, which space
should Jiave been left in cutting out the paper, so as
to avoid distortions. A moderate sized pointer
should then be taken, and the different lines of the
drawing traced out, giving the necessary delicacy and
variety.
For this purpose a particular grey tint is used of
brown flux. This is for outlining and it must be di-
luted with a little gum arable (two parts vinegar and
one water). The longer this color is prepared be-
forehand, the better.
After this has been done the glass is temporarily
mounted in lead. Some glass painters simply unite
the pieces on sheets of glass with wax ; but this pro-
cess prevents the panels being turned so as to paint
behind them, and frequently occasions accidents.
The panels being mounted in lead and placed before
the windows, the operation of sketching begins. A
grey tint sufficiently diluted with gum water to make
it manageable is spread on the glass over the tracing
(which, if done over night, will not suffer) by means
of a thick, long hogs'-hair brush ; it must be stippled
so as to give a grain varying in fineness, and if it is
desirable to soften it still more, it can be swept over
in different directions with a soft badger brush.
POTTERY. 67
When this flat tint is perfectly dry, the lights are
taken out with dry brtjshes of different thicknesses,
or for delicate toucnes with a steel point. If this
tint is well prepared, neither too thick nor too thin,
and is used with the caution of a sculptor cutting
out from a valuable block, an almost perfect design
may by this means be acquired.
If it should be necessary to mark out any part
more distinctly, or to renew any of the outline, it
may be skilfully retouched, by using, on a glass
palette, a little of the liquid, with which the flat tint
was laid on, mixed with water; but it is far easier to
retouch the design with brown flux and essence. It
is here that the metal tubes are so valuable, as they
furnish different shades of the flux {grisaille), always
ready for use, which can be mixed with capucine red,
browns, black, and in short most of the iron colors.
This process of painting with essence admits of a
considerable amount of work being laid over the first
tint without its being affected, and allows the outline
to be softened and harmonized to as great an amount
as in oil painting; but the artist must be careful to
moisten the part which he is about to paint, with
essence of lavender and a little fat oil. It is fresco
painting in the fullest acceptation of the term, for if
you wait till the coat of essence is dry before paint-
ing, in moistening it, you disturb the grey tint with
which it has united in drying, and thus make a hope-
less mess. It is obvious from the details I have
given, that glass painting requires great care as well
as method ; nor is this all, for in applying the enam-
68 POTTERY.
els on the wrong side of the glass, several simple but
essential chemical rules must be borne in mind. For
instance, no tivo enamels can be mixed whose prop-
erties would subject them to change or disagreement
in firing ; this is one stumbling block, as it would
probably entail a disagreement in the different tints,
were it not that we have the resource of painting
them over each other, which, from their transpa-
rency, produces the same effect; this is the saving
clause, always supposing that the necessary rules are
fully understood.
If the enamels are to be laid over each other, the
most fusible one must be put under; thus placed, it
serves as an adhesive between the glass and the
upper enamel ; placed differently, it would penetrate
and eat up the less fusible enamel, and the worst
results would ensue in firing. Nothing is pleasanter
than retouching a window which has been colored
according to rule, and has gone through the first
firing.
The temporary lead frame is more than. ever re-
quired at this stage for properly effecting the retouch-
ing. Before painting, the cleanhness of the fired
pieces must be ascertained, and any of the enamel
which may unfortunately be rough, .should be lightly
rubbed over and polished with a pumice stone and
water. It should then be fired again, and should
there be any doubt as to the appearance of the glass,
it must be again framed, to be touched up once
more, and those parts which require it be fired a
third time.
It
f ^"SW
r^^-^
HINTS FOR DECORATION ON POTTERY
FROM JAPANESE DESIGNS
VII.
Decoration by Printing.
F*OR a moment it will be necessary to turn aside
from what may be termed artistic decoration
by hand, to describe the process which is so exten-
sively used in the trade in pottery, and which is
known as printing. Printing upon pottery is a mod-
ern invention. It may be made a beautiful decora-
tion. In the large pottery manufactories where all
of the ware is printed, every attempt is made to pro-
duce original and graceful designs for its decoration
as well as for its shape. Therefore, even in printed
ware, artistic faculty and knowledge are a necessity.
The advantage of printed ware is the exceeding
cheapness of production. A beautiful vase decorated
in harmonious colors and symmetrical in form, can be
sold for one-half or one-fifth the price, as the case may
be, that it would bring if the same design were the
work of the hand. The difference between the two
however would be, that the printed design loses in
delicacy of shape and color, and its repetition robs
it of that most delightful charm, originality.
There is the same difference, although relative,
between the freedom of handling, the boldness of
touch, the justness of tone, and the marks of individ-
uality, of a painting by Vandyke, and a chromo lithe-
70 POTTERY.
graph of it, that there is between a Dresden plate
executed by hand, and a copy of it, printed. This
superiority may be seen in any chinaware shop
where there is the opportunity for comparison be-
tween the hand-made and printed decoration. At
the same time, the art of printing on pottery is a val-
uable invention, for it gives to thousands of people
the opportunity to enjoy the charm of graceful sug-
gestive form and pretty color, in place of the mean-
ingless white, or plain tinted ware. On the other
hand, like many another labor-saving discovery, me-
chanical skill has for the moment supplanted artistic
invention.
Little more than a century ago all pottery was
decorated by hand. To-day in the great manufac-
tories in Europe, nearly everything that is for use,
and even much that is executed for purely artistic or
ornamental purposes, is printed. Necessarily, the
facility and cheapness of printing prevents the em-
ployment of handwork. The proprietors are satis-
fied to employ at a high salary some man of genius
who takes the place of superintendent or head de-
signer. Some of these men so favored by nature
and education, become wealthy by the exercise of
these special faculties. This is the proper apprecia-
tion of skilled labor and artistic genius. We do not
expect any system of labor or of education to pro-
duce such artists as Gihberti, Benevenuto Cellini,
and Flaxman. But artistic education and the op-
portunity to exercise inventive powers, are far more
likely to develop men of genius, than those methods
POTTERY. 71
of labor which do not permit liberty of expression
and the play of the imagination. The exclusive prac-
tice of printing upon pottery is an injury to ceramic
art. No expert is more capable of testifying to the
advantages of hand painting than Mr. Arnoux.
Speaking of the Staffordshire potteries, he says :
" What amount of artistic work might we not do if
we had some hundreds of artisans trained from their
early years to that style of painting."
Liverpool and Worcester claim the priority for
this invention of printing on pottery. It occurred
about the year 1752. It is a fact, that shortly after
that date, Staffordshire potters used to send their
wares to Messrs. Sadler & Guy-Green of Liverpool,
to be printed, and there is every reason to believe
that about the same time it was introduced at the
Worcester works, then under the management of Dr.
Wall, by an engraver named Hancock.
The process of printing on pottery does not differ
very materially from that used for transferring to
paper a design from an ordinary copper-plate.
There are, however, these differences, that a metallic
color is used instead of lamp-black, and that a fine
tissue-paper is made for that purpose. When that
paper with the pattern printed on it, is laid on the
ware, face downwards, the colors adhere strongly to
the " biscuit," which being porous and aluminous,
has a great affinity for the oil with which they have
been mixed. After rubbing the back of the print
with a roll of flannel, to secure the adhesion of every
portion of the pattern, the biscuit piece is plunged
72 POTTERY.
in water, and the paper comes off quite freely, the
whole of the color sticking fast to the ware.
Previous to glazing, the printed ware must be
brought to a red heat, for the sole object of burning
the oil mixed with the colors. This is done in kilns,
called hardening-on kilns.
The colors in use for printing under the glaze are
not many ; a few only of the preparations made with
metallic oxides can, when brought to a red heat,
stand the action of the glazes under which they are
laid. Most of them in this case will be dissolved and
considerably weakened, if they do not even complete-
ly disappear. Cobalt, and the preparations made
from chromates, are the most resisting, and when
well prepared, the glaze in melting over them will
bring out the color with increased beauty.
From the directions herein given of the ways of
printing as well as of hand decoration, the amateur
can acquire a satisfactory knowledge of the art, while
it may be of use to those who make of it a business.
Architectural Decoration.
The subject of architectural decoration demands
separate discussion, and at greater length than
the space to which this book has been limited will
allow. We will briefly discuss the use of color in
terra cotta. The most of our private and public
buildings, when not constructed of wood or brick, are
colorless. When the materials of construction are
brick or wood, they are pretty certain to be painted
in crude and inharmonious colors. Brick ought
POTTERY, 73
never to be painted, for, whether bricks are deep or
light red, or yellow like the Milwaukee brick, they
can be made pleasing by the use of black, brown or
yellow mortar. Black, red, yellow, or other colored
brick, in tasteful proportions, employed as a part of
architectural construction, are very beautiful. In
Europe and notably in Holland and north Germany,
bricks of blue, red and yellow, with glazed tiles of
many colors, are used in public edifices, as well as in
dwelling houses. We have in the United States be-
gun to use tiles, both glazed and unglazed, associated
with brick and stone in buildings. But these tiles
are mainly imported from England, and are very ex-
pensive, so that they are sparingly applied, and are
looked upon as a luxury. There is every reason wh}'
the production of these tiles, and other manufac-
tures of terra cotta, should be carried on to an un-
limited extent in this country. We have the neces-
sary clays. They are to be found east and west.
Skilled labor will come with the demand for it. Per-
haps no other art industry has received so great an
impetus from the splendid exposition of the works
of all nations at Philadelphia, as that of pottery.
Tiles and other forms of terra cotta can be manu-
factured at low cost, and will be extensively used as
building material. The use of terra cotta is to
be commended because of its indestructibility from
extreme heat or cold, and from the chemical agen-
cies which attack other materials. In its condition as
clay it is easily modeled and moulded to any shape,
and would serve a graceful purpose for cornices, caps
4
74 POTTERY.
for windows and doors, string courses and so on.
But its adaptability to effects of color commands our
special attention. In this respect it offers limitless
opportunities for artistic expression. Color, once
fixed by heat in the plastic clay, endures forever.
Color is the grand objective of all the arts and
industries.
Our public are not accustomed to see polychro-
matic decoration employed upon the exterior of
buildings, and even if it were harmonious and artistic
it will at first meet with opposing criticism. But
there is no reason why the fagade of a dwelling-house
or public edifice should not be decorated in color, as
are the walls and ceilings of a church, music hall or
dining room. There is this difference however, when
bad taste is exhibited in the library of a private resi-
dence, or even upon the interior of a church, criti-
cism is limited to a few persons, whereas decoration
upon the exterior of a building challenges the atten-
tion of every passer by. Therefore it is a work not
lightly to be undertaken. In cities, color in archi-
tecture must be considered not only with regard to
the effect of one tint in juxtaposition with other tints
upon the object itself, but with relation of the
whole to its' surroundings. In American cities, more
than in European, contiguous lots of ground are
owned by different persons, and every man exercises
the utmost independence in the size and shape of
the structure he erects, and when he paints it, in the
choice of color. The consequences are architectural
enormities and the most painful dissonances of color.
POTTERY. 75
In the country the conditions are changed. In
the presence of the varied tints of green of the foHage,
the browns and yellows of the earth, the brilliant blue
of the sky and its clouds of white and grey, polychro-
matic ornamentations in construction may be used
with harmonious effect. But whether we build in
the city or country, we must look for the most desir-
able effects of color through the employment of terra
cotta. He will achieve renown who has the courage
and good judgment first to show the people of this
country how burnt earth may be adapted to the
varied conditions of our climate, and he will become
a benefactor who demonstrates its practical character
and its infinite artistic capabilities.
The sites of ancient cities and great edifices are
known by the imperishable debris of tiles, bricks and
other terra cotta. Nineveh, the tombs of the Egyp-
tian kings, Greek cities which have no other history,
the Etruscan tombs, all are full of these evidences of
the civilization of the past. India furnishes us vari-
ous and beautiful examples of the art of enamelled
terra cotta.
The terra cotta in the monuments of the Orient
and Persia is remarkable for its beauty of color, while
our neighbor Mexico, in that part of its civilization
which precedes that of the United States, produced
rare specimens of this useful art.
Italy and Spain possess superb monuments illus-
trating the beauty of polychromatic decoration in
terra cotta. Milan is rich in decorated edifices, while
in Bologna, Ferrara, Florence and other cities will be
76 POTTERY.
found the works in colored terra cotta, of Bramante,
Delia Robbia and other distinguished artists of their
time, constituting the only material in the construc-
tion of entire chapels.
Spain also has splendid examples of this art.
Seville, Grenada, Toledo are distinguished for their
work in terra cotta. These and numerous other ex-
amples of its use offer admirable opportunities for
study.
While we call attention to the evidences of early
culture in the production of terra cotta, we have
magnificent illustration of its employment in exterior
decoration in England. The same rich profusion of
terra cotta, decorated with brilliant glowing colors,
which was displayed by the English at the Centen-
nial Exhibition, may be seen as architectural adorn-
ment on public buildings in London and other cities
of Great Britain. The facade of the South Kensing-
ton Museum is a striking evidence of the effective
use of terra cotta. It is entirely constructed of burnt
earth which has been modelled into artistic shapes,
and covered with emblematic adornments. The
main part of the building is red brick, the decorative
columns, capitals and other members are a fine cream
color.
The employment of terra cotta in various colors
in architectural decoration should be governed by
certain important conditions.
The design should be very simple ; plain colors
ought to be used in preference to mixed tints ;
These colors should be three in number, at the
POTTERY. 77
maximum ; besides white and black, which are not
counted in this category, as colors.
Terra cotta may be used for decorative purposes
in connection with granite, sandstone, marble, iron
or wood. It is more effective, however, when em-
ployed in masses and not isolated. When enriched
with sculptural designs it finds harmonious relations
with plain terra cotta in the form of brick.
One color should predominate, the other colors
act a subordinate part, as a frame, or decoration
to the principal tone. The Egyptians and Etruscans
in their decorations, combined black, red and yellow,
with red or black as the dominant. The Persians
and Arabs with a fine sense of beauty and harmony,
present the richest and most complicated designs,
but one tone, blue, yellow or green, subordinates all
the others.
With the brief statement of these few rules, which
should govern the employment of terra cotta as a
material for architectural construction, we pass from
this subject.
VIII.
Curious and Rare Works in Pottery.
THE potters in the United States who are mak-
ing and decorating earthenware and porcelain,
will be ambitious to understand the profoundest
secrets of the art. It would be of great interest to
know them as practiced in manufactories like those
of S6vres, Berlin, Dresden and England. And it
will be yet more desirable to obtain information from
China and Japan, where science and art have pro-
duced marvellous variety and perfection, in form and
material, with harmony and brilliancy of color.
Asiatic art is to-day the mystery and despair of west-
ern Europe.
The amateurs, and those engaged in the manu-
facture of pottery among the western nations, have
for many years admired the skill of the Chinese and
Japanese in the ceramic art. But the infinite variety
and beauty of their pottery, especially that of Japan,
was not suspected until the Vienna Exhibition of
1873, and it was fully realized only at the Philadel-
phia Centennial Exposition of 1876. The produc-
tion of Asiatic pottery is an exhaustless theme, the
discussion of which will not be attempted in this
work. But it will be profitable to call attention to
POTTERY. 79
certain extraordinary characteristics which the Eu-
ropean potters are seeking to imitate.
In the use of color and pastes worked into and
applied to the body of their vases, the Chinese and
Japanese display infinite invention, artistic taste, and
an audacity in the adoption of expedients, which
astonish and mystify the beholder. When we
study the thousands of kinds of Chinese porcelain,
and the wonderful examples of porcelain and earth-
enware from Hizen, Arita, Satsuma and Kioto, in
Japan, we begin to realize that we stand only upon
the borders of acquaintance with this beautiful
art. Upon the same vase, we see different colored
pastes, raised upon the surface, representing among
many objects, birds, beasts, flowers, trees, shells and
human beings, all finely modelled. Sometimes these
are closely imitated from nature, but the Asiatic com-
prehends the laws of the best decoration ; and for
the most part he conventionalizes natural objects, so
that they appear not as portraits of the originals, but
merely as suggestions of them.
To obtain effects of color by chemical agencies,
they resort to singular expedients. They introduce
into the oven while the vase is baking, currents of
air charged with vapors, which produce the most un-
expected and beautiful results.
A style of ornamentation peculiar to the Chinese
is that known as " Crackle," which is a yet further
illustration of the combination of color with the ma-
terial of the object decorated.
Although this kind of ware is among the most
8o POTTERY.
ancient of Chinese manufactures, dating far back
before the Christian era, yet the way it is made is to
this day not perfectly known, away from the place
of its production. The smaller objects of crackle
ware show very fine and countless cracks which
cover the surface in every direction, and without reg-
ularity. In larger objects, these cracks are more
open, and have fantastic shapes, and in some instances
the cracks themselves show in one or another color.
These vases are almost invariably decorated with
bi-rds, animals or flowers, always of an extremely ar-
i)itrary pattern.
The crackle cannot of course be produced by any
hand work. Its appearance shows in some cases that
the enamel surface when heated has been suddenly
cooled. As Jacquemart says, crackle is a defect,
where the heart of the vase or cup is more sensitive
to the change of temperature than the outer coating.
That which originally was an imperfection became an
art, until the ingenious artisan could produce at will
most delicious and beautiful effects of crackle. The
Chinese finally came to be so sure of their practice
that they produced any kind and form of crackle.
By varying the substance of the body of the vase
and its glaze or outer covering, the artisan produces
any effect he desires.
The colors in the cracks are obtained, either by
painting the original object, the core, just before it
has its two linings, or by rubbing them in, before the
final glazing. These processes we are in some de-
gree left to conjecture. No more have we discovered
POTTERY. 8 1
the secret of the way the Chinese produce a great
many tints of color. There are shades of violet, pur-
ple, rose, blue and yellow and above all a blue and
red known to the French as " bleu et rouge flamme,"
which the European manufacturers in vain attempt
to imitate. Another secret of Chinese art is their
painting upon crude paste with cobalt blue, and cop-
per red, without absorption or spreading over the
paste.
In a paper written a short time ago, and just be-
fore his death, by the distinguished author Albert
Jacquemart, this same question is raised. He also
suggests numerous other inquiries. There exist, in
China, vases entirely red which are designated " Beefs
blood." Are these colored under or with the surface ?
Is this the color which in his translation of the His-
tory and Fabrication of Chinese porcelain, Stanislaus
Julien calls " Red of the flower of the Pear tree."
Another red which goes by the name of " precious
stone " is the oxide of iron.
The Chinese have a great many curious methods
in their use of the oxides of iron and copper.
One of the employments of the oxides of copper,
altogether unknown in Europe, consists in the modi-
fication of the surface of the object, after it has been
placed in the oven, by some physical manipulation.
In France this surface is called flamb6. In China it
is designated " transmutation," yaopien. During the
firing, they introduce into the oven, currents of air and
smoke which modify the oxidation of the metal, and
thus variegate it with red, sky blue and pale green.
4*
82 POTTERY.
There exists also a surface enamel of a golden
Y&ViQ^—Ktn-hoang. According to Julien the Kin-
hoang owes its color to a peculiar method of firing.
The question is raised whether this surface is placed
Japanese Monster.
upon the ordinary paste which requires great heat, or
is applied to biscuit and fired at half heat.
The public are familiar with the Cloissonnfe enamel
of China and Japan which has become so celebrated
for its elaborate workmanship, its symmetrical de-
signs and its rich yet sober effects of color. The
SUGGESTIONS FOK PAINTING ON -POTTERY
FROM JAPANESE DESIGNS
POTTERY.
83
Powta!, the God of the Contentment.
84 POTTERY.
ateliers of the celebrated Barbedienne and Elking-
ton, have produced imitations of this ware. These
are veritable works of art, yet in the genuine Japan-
ese and Chinese Cloissonnd there is a depth of tone
and harmonious juxtaposition of tints which in the
imitation becomes crude and garish.
Besides the work which we have described, the
Asiatic nations, and especially the Japanese, have pro-
duced a kind of Cloissonne porcelain ornamented with
filagree work sunk in the exterior glazed surface.
The spaces between the filagree are filled with opaque
enamel which produces most exquisite combinations
of colors, reniinding one of the genuine Cloissonn^
enamelled bronze. This is now one of the most
dainty and beautiful examples of Japanese art.
That part of the ceramic art which is known
as firing or baking has already been described.
The Chinese and Japanese have many secrets of fir-
ing which European adepts vainly attempt to dis-
cover.
The question of color in medium heat is one of
these secrets. The Chinese apply to biscuit deep tur-
quoise blue and various shades of violet, and fire at
medium temperature. Is the biscuit thus employed
that of the ordinary paste ? Neither the Dresden
nor Sevres manufactories have ever been able to
develop these deep colors upon artificial porcelain,
or what is known as " soft paste." The question
which follows is : Have the Chinese who have always
had the natural elements of true porcelain or kaolin,
had occasion to make an artificial paste ? At Sevres
POTTERY. 8$
they are also trying to discover the methods by
which the Chinese obtain the violet color of the stone
Mei Konei, the color of the prune, met, mei tsing and
other shades of blue and violet.
The suggestions of M. Jacquemart in the article
referred to, and the report subsequently made by M.
Violet le Due on the part of the commissioners for
the perfection of S6vres ware, are of the highest sig-
nificance. They are excellent evidence that the
French at least, are looking to these great nations in
the far east, for knowledge and inspiration in the art
of manufacture and decoration of porcelain.
More than two hundred and fifty years ago,
d'Entrecolles, a priest of the order of Jesuits, and a
century later, Father Ly, of the Vincent St. Paul
Mission, both of whom were missionaries in China,
sent back to Europe reports upon the technical
methods of the manufacture of porcelain. Strange
as it may appear, although the commercial inter-
course between China and the western nations since
those dates has been continuous and increasing,
we to-day do not know the way the Chinese and
Japanese produce many kinds of the porcelain, which
may be seen in almost every good ceramic collection.
In view of this fact, it has been surprising that some
of the great pottery producing nations, like England
or France, have not long ago sent out to China and
Japan, expert agents to obtain a knowledge of the
secrets of the manufacture of the Celestials.
It is only within a recent period that France has
taken up this investigation. The Bureau of Fine
86 POTTERY.
Arts of the French government has commissioned
Mr. Billequin, Professor of Chemistry in the Toungwen
College at Pekin, to investigate this subject. This
gentleman has already made a valuable report, and
has sent home a curious collection of pottery. This
report throws light upon several unsettled questions
of the manufacture of Chinese porcelain, but these
explanations are not of great value, and the most
important secrets of our masters, the Chinese and
Japanese ceramists, yet remain in deep obscurity.
The slight sketch which has been given of the
efforts of the French to imitate the methods of work-
ing of the Chinese, brings us to the consideration of
the opportunity for the introduction of this beautiful
art industry in the United States.
IX.
The Manufacture ok Pottery in thr
United States.
THE advantages of the establishment of the
manufacture of pottery and porcelain and the
cultivation of the art of decoration in the United
States are manifold and manifest. From a commer-
cial point of view they would be of great importance.
During the fiscal year ending in June, 1874, we im-
ported of earthen, stone, China and glass-ware,
$6,592,360.
In the same year we did not export an ounce
of China ware, and of earthen and stoneware only
$59,494, and of glass and glass-ware $63 1,827. A large
proportion of the last item was in plain glass which
does not enter at all in the table of imports. In the
year 1873, these imports were more than $8,000,000,
while the exports were much less than in 1874. In
the further development of the natural resources of
the land this art industry presents a feature of fasci-
nating possibihties. Fuel is one of the most expen-
sive parts of the manufacture of pottery, as it is of
iron and other articles in which we are making suc-
cessful competition with the old world. Of fuel we
have abundance. Until very recently the English
stone and earthenware had possession of the Ameri-
88 POTTERY.
can market. We made but little of it ourselves.
Labor, fuel, the clays and the methods of working
were cheaper in England than on the continent.
But within two or three years that has changed to a
marked extent. Labor and fuel cost more now than
ri.cATENMTrirrr
Decorated Valencia Vase.
then in Staffordshire, while at Sarreguemines, Sarre-
louis, Mettlach, Maaestricht and other places in the
Rhenish provinces where labor is cheap, and the pro-
prietors share in each other's business, there is suc-
cessful competition with English work. There is
competition also from Italy and Germany. But the
competition which all the European manufacturers
POTTERY. Sg
will find to be most irresistible, so far as the
United States is concerned, will be in this coun-
try itself.
Manufactories of earthenware are springing up in
different parts of the country, and there are satis-
factory reasons for the belief that this is to be one of
the most important and profitable industries in th«
land.
But first let us clearly establish the fact that we
have in various parts of the United States all the clays
needed for the production of common earthenware, and
other pottery and even of the finest porcelain.
We do not need to go to Cornwall in England,
St. Yerix in France, to Germany, Italy or China,
for materials required in manufacture, for we have in
our own countr)', within easy and cheap means of
transportation, all the clays and abundance of fuel for
the largest production of pottery.
It is only within a {&^' years that these facts have
been at all known, and to-day, even those in the
trade ,have but a limited knowledge of the discov-
eries of deposits of valuable clays. For a great
deal that has been done in these discoveries we are
indebted to the State Geologists who^re in office in
many of the States-^Amor^e the results of their
scientific investigations, none nave been more inter-
esting and valuable than those which have brought
to light the potter's clays. We will now proceed to
describe some of these clays, and where they have
been found.
Those in New Jersey are by far the most impor-
90 POTTERY.
tant, because they have been largely used and are a
means of extensive commerce. Geo. H. Cook, in his
geological report says, that "the geological position
of these deposits of clay is in the Cretaceous forma-
tion, and they constitute the lowest member in New
Jersey. They are found in a belt of country which
stretches across the State from north-east to south-
west, its north-east end being in Staten Island and
Raritan Bay. Its south-west end is in Gloucester
County. On its north-east edge it joins the red
sandstone from Woodbridge to Trenton, where for
five or six miles it borders on the gneiss rock, and
from there to near its south-western end it follows
along or near the Delaware River. Its southern end
descends beneath the clay marshes, i. e., the clay con-
taining green sand and marl. White clay, sufficiently
pure to make fire brick and some variety of pottery
is found the whole length of this belt ; but the finest
quality of clay has been got almost entirely from the
eastern end of the belt, comprising that part which
lies in the break or opening between the trap ridge
which extends along the west bank of the Hudson
river and across a part of Staten Island, and that
ridge of trap which begins about six miles west of
Raritan and under the name of Rock Hill, extends
on for many miles to the south-west."
A clear idea of the chemical composition of these
clays may be had from the following analysis of those
from Woodbridge, from Stourbridge in England and
Coblentz in Germany. The last two named are
celebrated clays.
POTTERY.
91
ANALYSES OF CLAYS IN
NEW JERSEY.
Alumina
Silicic Acid, combined,
Silicic acid, free..
Silica, Quartz Sand ... .
Peroxide of Iron ,
Magnesia
PoUsh
Titanic Acid
Water, combined
Total
M 0}
CO
^2
30.23
z.io
29.00
t.26
.08
Trace.
'•93
9-63
CO
•a
40.14
41.67
Z.21
.50
•5!
.41
13-59
my
39-94
42.33
Z.23
-7'
.41
-47
1.63
13-44
Ot3
w
3S.11
39.67
I. II
27-73
1. 91
■37
•44
1.06
10.36
^■3
16.33
17.99
1. 10
55.30
1. 16
.29
.66
1.25
5.84
l°°.35
99.45
100.04
100.76
99.9s
The best known of the kaolin clays in this de-
posit are those in the vicinity of Woodbridge, Perth
Amboy, South Amboy, Middlesex County. The
number of tons annually mined is estimated at two
hundred and sixty-five thousand. The price of clay
varies from $1.50 to $13.00 per ton according to its
quality. The average value is placed at $3.50, which
would give an aggregate of sales of $927,500. This
was the estimate in 1874. Since that time new kilns
have gone up, new potteries have been established,
and the yield is much larger. There are some ninety
kilns in operation in Trenton alone. These employ
more than one thousand men and women, and a
much larger number of boys and girls. The trade
now amounts to some $2,000,000 annually. The
92
POTTERY.
most of the ware made is a white ware, similar to the
Engh'sh " ironware," yet some of the potters are
making a finer class of goods and are decorating them
Leonard Limousin,
both by printing, and painting by hand. Thus far
this decoration has been upon the glaze and not
under it. ,
At Huron, Lawrence County, Indiana, a bed of
kaolin clay has been discovered which is likely to be
POTTERY. 93
of great value in the manufacture of the finer kinds
of earthenware if not of porcelain. This bed of clay
is from five to six feet thick. About one-third of
this thickness is pure white, and the remainder is
more or less stained with manganese and iron. This
clay lies immediately beneath the millstone grit or
pebbly conglomerate of the coal measures. In his
analysis of this clay, Mr. Cox, the State Geologist
of Indiana, says : " though it is similar in its chemical
composition to kaolin, this clay dififers physically, and
owes its origin to an entirely distinct set of causes
and effects. While the former is derived from the
decomposition of the felspar of felspathic rocks, such
as granite, porphyry, etc., the clay in Lawrence
County has resulted from the decomposition by
chemical waters of a bed of limestone and the mu-
tual interchange of molecules in the solution brought
about by chemical precipitation and affinity." . ,
In this same bed of clay is found the mineral
Alphane, whose analysis is, water 40 per cent. ; silica
20 per cent. ; alumina 40 per cent.
Mr. Cox has no doubt of the high value of this
clay. " It has the advantage at the mine of being
free from" particles of decomposed rock and sand or
of containing uncombined silica."
The following table gives the analysis of the clays
of Indiana, Cornwall, China, Sevres, Stourbridge,
New Jersey, Golconda, Illinois and Missouri.
94
POTTERY.
CO
H
<
Q
H
12;
<
H
O
o
o
CO
CO
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<
<
O
pa
H
iz;
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o
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« in m ^o
N V> M to
fo V) in -^
t?■*w^o^o6ocJ
■^■cowwndwM
-raniuojuT2
M IH
-Epos ^ qsE;oj
o> "t
•ijSBjoa;
CO CO
1 d M
d d
-EisauS^jH
f^ *-l
d d
d
-amji
d
d
d M
-sssuvSuEp^
'S I
•uoji JO apixQ
s
■*^0 0«> r«»»nin^
»ot-.fnM rj nco tor
n d"M.w w d M M t
f
-■Buiuintv
-EOiiJS
:J5:5:g.£'!Jsa,'i-°iiSS
<
c
h
g
c
J
s
5
u
n
1
d
1—
i
1
eg
1
1—
;?
c
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. 1
1
I
- t
I
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u
><
■5
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.1
g
t
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■ s
u
01
■I
■1
'
POTTERY. 95
For purity of composition and perfect whiteness,
it is claimed that this Indiana clay is not excelled, if
equalled by the kaolins of Europe or the other kaolins
of America. To a certain extent it has been tested.
Several hundred tons of clay have been shipped to
several potteries, and it has been used in the manufac-
ture of iron stoneware. The clay was exhibited at the
Centennial Exhibition. It is very white in appearance,
Antique Ornament.
has no grit, and has an unctuous feel. There is no
doubt but what it has the chemical properties of the
finest kaolin, and it only needs an intelligent experi-
ment to test the question whether or not it will make
porcelain. Mr. Edward Orton, President of the Ohio
agricultural and mechanical College, and assistant
geologist for the State of Ohio, under date of Feb-
ruary 23, 1876, writes, "that there has not been
found in Ohio any felspathic rocks except in the
drift, and consequently no kaolin is to be looked for
in the State."
At East Liverpool on the Ohio River, a few miles
above Steubenville, there is a very large seam of clay
g6 POTTERY.
which underlies Cove No. 3. There has not at the
present writing (1877) been published any chemical
analysis of this clay. The manufacture of pottery is
however, very large. East Liverpool does a business
of $1,500,000 in pottery. This is chiefly in yellow
ware, althpugh white ware is made at this place. At
Sciotoville on the Ohio River, eight miles above
Portsmouth, there is found a seam of clay, from two
to ten feet in thickness. This is an admirable clay
for all kinds of fire brick. It furnishes the building
material for the furnaces at different places on the
river. From this clay is also made the saggers used
in the potteries at Cincinnati and Sciotoville.
The ball clay of Missouri is mined eight miles
west of De Soto, Missouri. It has a large percentage
of kaolin. The Golconda ball clay comes from Pope
County, Illinois. It owes its origin to the same causes
as that mined in Lawrence County, Indiana, and has
the same value in the making of fine earthenware.
There is no published statement of a chemical
analysis of the clay found at Bath, South Carolina,
but it is not relied upon as a silicious clay.
Glen Cove, Long Island, New York, furnishes a
clay whose principal value is the silica it contains.
Opposite Grand Tower, there is a mine of silica
in a very pure state. At Hartford, Connecticut, is
the main Source of supply for felspar.,
Chester County, Pennsylvania, furnishes a valu-
able article of kaolin clay.
At Baltimore, Maryland, and Syracuse, New
York, there are kaolin clays.
POTTERY.
97
At Zanesville, Ohio, a clay has been found which
Is used in potteries for the manufacture of encaustic
tiles. The work of these potteries is very good.
It is difiScult to arrive at accurate estimates of the
Masks.
relative cost of the production of pottery in different
parts of the United States.
Estimates, at least may be given of the cost of
materials in one of the most successful manufactories
of earthenware in the United States. It is situated
5
98 POTTERY.
at Cincinnati, has been in operation eleven years, and
is the first established west of the Alleghanies. The
fire clay of which so much is used in the making of
saggers, comes from Sciotoville, Ohio. It is brought
to Cincinnati by the Ohio River in barges. It costs
$5.00 per ton at the wharf. Silica in a pure state,
and without a trace of iron, is mined near Grand
Tower, Missouri. It was formerly shipped to Cin-
cinnati by rail, when it cost $1 1 per ton. Now it
comes by river, in barges, and costs only $6 per ton.
Felspar comes from Hartford, Connecticut, by rail,
and costs about $16 per ton. The kaolin comes from
a mine in Huron, Indiana. The clay costs about
$10 per ton at the pottery.
This kaolin answers the purpose of the potter, yet
for certain work he sometimes uses that which comes
from Chester County, Pennsylvania, which costs
about $15 per ton at the mine. The cost in Cincin-
nati includes freight. The soft coal only is used for
manufacturing purposes at Cincinnati. It averages a
cost of about $3.25 per ton. The anthracite about
$7.00 per ton.
In addition to the great difference of cost between
the soft coal and the anthracite, it is estimated
there is a saving of at least seven per cent, in
favor of the soft coal, by reason of the rapidity with
which heat can be raised from it. It is also preferred
because its high flames equalize the heat in the kiln.
The labor in the pottery to which we refer is alto-
gether by the piece. It employs a large number of
boys and girls as well as men and women ; their
earnings average $2.50 per day.
POTTERY. 99
X.
The Brilliant Future open to this Indus-
try IN THE United States.
It will be seen by the highly important facts
which have been set forth, that this industry promises
to become of great value in the United States.
There are many questions to be considered with re-
gard to superiority and economy of production. It
is probable that the potteries will seek parts of the
country where fuel is cheapest, and which at the
same time are not too far from the clays needed in
manufacture.
Staffordshire is a curious example of the wisdom
of such selection. The clays necessary to make
fine ware are at the present time brought from the
counties of Dorset, Devon and the Duchy of Corn-
wall, where they are a profitable branch of commerce.
The soil of Staffordshire has a variety of clays used
for common ware. One of the most important is
that called marl, which is fire clay from beds of the
coal measures. It is used for making the " saggers "
or clay boxes in which the ware is placed before it
goes to the ovens. A large amount of this is needed,
and it is important it should be good, cheap, and
easily procured, but the greatest expense in the man-
ufacture of pottery is that of fuel. For baking pot-
tery a large quantity is required. Besides what is
used in the ovens and kilns, there should be taken
lOO POTTERY.
into account what is absorbed by the furnaces for
steam engines, preparing materials and heating the
shops. It has been estimated at Staffordshire, that
for every ton of manufactured goods at least three
tons of coal are wanted, and for decorated goods, it
will take more than twice that quantity. It is well
then for those who are establishing potteries in this
country, carefully to consider the question of locality.
It will be observed that the three principal elements
in the cost of production at Cincinnati, fuel, fire
clay, and kaolin, are at a very cheap rate. One man-
ufacturer there says that kaolin clay takes up 45 per
cent of the amount of material used by him in the
manufacture of plain ware. We have already seen
the great cost of coal in the manufacture of pottery.
We have no details of the cost of the production of
plain ware at the Trenton potteries.
The evidence which has been given with regard
to the presence in this country, of all the clays neces-
sary for the manufacture of all kinds of pottery is
clear and conclusive. Having all the materials, the
next step is to obtain skilled superintendents. In
order to make the soft porcelain of France, the hard
porcelain of China, and the various biscuit and porce-
lain of England, Germany and Italy, we must have
the presence of those who have been instructed how-
to mix the clays into pastes, and how to combine the
materials which make glazings and enamels for the
different potteries. Already we hear that the Doultons
intend establishing a pottery here. More of this
kind of skilled labor must be brought here, and it
POTTERY.
lOI
will not be long before our own people will be in-
structed, so that they themselves may become
Chinese Ornament.
master workmen. As this new and important in-
I02 POTTERY.
dustry develops in this country, there will inevitably
be active competition among ourselves. That strug-
gle for superiority which marks all commerce, every-
where will stimulate each proprietor to produce bet-
ter work at cheaper prices than his neighbor. As the
business now stands, we are mainly producing com-
mon ware, which, although it requires skilled labor,
does not enlist the artistic element. We do not
attempt, except in a small way, the manufacture
of porcelain, or of those plastic pastes, out of which
are made works of ornament and art. In the culture
and refinement of the people, the production of
pottery and porcelain and its ornamentation, have no
equal among all the decorative arts. This industry
will stimulate art instruction, and in its turn art in-
struction will furnish the skilled hand, the trained eye
and the brain fruitful with design.
There is yet another more powerful reason why
this exquisite employment can be planted and nour-
ished upon our soil. In other places, care has been
taken to show how much of the potter's art in Euro-
pean ateliers, has been obtained from the Chinese,
and how seriously and eagerly the Western nations
seek yet further to get possession of the mysterious
methods which to-day place Asiatic pottery at the
height of ceramic art.
The question cannot fail' to have been raised in
the mind of every reader, why have not S6vres and
Dresden and Staffordshire imported Chinese and
Japanese artists to their own workshops ? — It is prob-
able that the Asiatics will not admit foreigners into
POTTERY. -103
their laboratories, and could strangers obtain such an
opportunity, it would be difficult to put into success-
ful operation in France or elsewhere the secrets of
their labor. It is not easy to carry away what
may in some respects, be the result of sleight of
hand.
It is evident that these Eastern nations have a
certain knowledge which cannot be conveyed by
word of mouth or in written language, but which
may be a legacy of genius passed down from one
to another generation. Is it not possible however
that this treasure of knowledge which has been
denied to Europe may fall to America, whose west
boundaries stand so much nearer the Asiatic
shore ?
In the tenth century a few Greeks carried the art of
enameling to the city of Limoges, whose art products
subsequently filled all Europe. Japanese arts and
industries and even the Japanese people are seen in
all our large cities. Our great Pacific State of Cali-
fornia is yearly receiving a vast immigration of Chinese
people. This multitude of Asiatics may surely be
induced to bring with them all that appertains to
ceramic industry. They will know what is needed
for every branch of its manufacture. They will bring
abundant material, and not least their wonderful
palette of colors. They also will find the artists
who have learned to combine with delicacy and
harmony all tints and tones upon objects of ornament
and daily use. There is no reason why the ceramic
art as it has been developed in China and Japan, may
I04 POTTERY.
not be speedily established in the United States.
Its presence here will be a source of wealth and taste.
It will add to our commercial importance, while it
will help to place us among the art-producing nations
of the world.
APPENDIX.
THE CLAYS AND POTTERIES OF ENGLAND.
HOW pottery is made in England has recently
been clearly set forth by Mr. L. Arnoux of
the Minton Manufactory at Stoke-upon-Trent. We
quote his interesting description at length :
For earthenware of China, the English use two
kinds of clay — the ball clay, called also blue clay, and
the kaolin. For porcelain kaolin only is used, for
earthenware, both. The ball clay comes from Teign-
mouth and Poole, and is one of the lower tertiary
clays of Devon and Dorsetshire, and is unusually
plastic. The quantity of iron in it is small.
The clay from Poole is considered the finest.
More than 75,000 tons of it are annually sent to
English potteries alone, besides smaller quantities
to the continent.
The clay containing kaolin is called in England
China or Cornish clay. It is principally obtained at
St. Stephens and St. Austell, in Cornwall; Lee
Moor, near Dartmoor, in Devon, and a few other
places ; the whole of them sending to the potteries
about 130,000 tons annually.
From the same districts comes another granite, in
a less advanced state of decomposition, called Corn-
5*
I06 APPENDIX.
ish stone, which is used fresh from the mine without
further preparation. In it the felspar retains its
alkaline element, so that it can be easily melted, and
is found a useful and cheap flux for the vitrification
of the various mixtures. The composition of these
rocks varies considerably, so that it requires constant
experiments to determine in what proportion the
quartz and the fusible parts stand to each other.
Flints are also largely used in the manufacture of
earthenware. They are found abundantly in the
chalk districts, the brown sort being considered the
best. Under a moderate red heat they become white
and opaque, and may be easily crushed between iron
rollers. In that state they are placed in pans of
water and ground by large stones of chert, till they
become sufficiently divided to remain in suspension
in the liquid without sinking and hardening at the
bottom of the tanks, which, by the way, are called
" arks." Flints are comparatively a cheap material,
and their carriage to Staffordshire represents a large
portion of their cost.
Such are the four materials essential for making
earthenware. The respective quantities in which
they are used varies in each manufactory, but the
principle is always the same : the ball clay being the
foundation, and flint the whitening material ; but as
an excess of this would make the body difficult to
work, Cornish clay assists in making it whiter and
less liable to break under a heavy weight or sudden
changes of temperature. The Cornish stone is used
in a small quantity as a. flux, to render the ware more
APPENDIX. 107
compact and of a closer texture. When the mixture
of these materials is completed, the color taken by-
earthenware when fired would not be a perfect white ;
the quantity of oxide of iron existing in the clays,
however small, would be still sufficient to impart a
yellowish tint, particularly after the glazing of the
ware. This is counteracted by the addition of a
small quantity of oxide of cobalt, the power of which
over the iron, as a staining material, is such as to
neutralize it completely ; the result, in fact, being the
same as that obtained by washerwomen, who use
blue to the linen with the object of making it look
white.
From the moment that the materials are extracted
to the lime when the goods are perfected, the
number of distinct operations to perform is so great,
that there can be given only a summary description
of those most important. The grinding of those
materials which are not already in a fine state of
division is one of the most essential, for upon it
depends the soundness of the ware, and without it
the difficulties of workmanship would be greatly in-
creased. It must be so perfect, that when the dif-
ferent components are put together in the slip state,
they should mix readily and form a homogeneous
compound. , The grinding for the use of potters is a
trade of itself ; but good quality is of such import-
ance that the manufacturers who can afford it prefer
having mills of their own. In these the different
materials are ground in water in separate pans, till
they can pass freely through fine silk lawn, and are
Io8 APPENDIX.
afterwards stored in distinct reservoirs, and the ex-
cess of water removed, so that a quart measure of
each should weigh a determined number of ounces.
As the potter knows beforehand the proportion of
solid matter contained in each liquid measure, it
only remains for him to count the number of quarts
or gallons which must be introduced into the body
of the ware. This being done, the liquid mass must
be deprived of its superabundance of water. Till
lately it was the custom to effect this by running the
slip ten or twelve inches thick over the surface of
long kilns, paved with bricks and provided with flues
underneath. The heat which was maintained in these,
assisted by the porous nature of the bricks, was suf-
ficent to bring it to the proper state of toughness ;
but the kilns could not be filled more than once a
day, and required besides a large quantity of fuel,
much of which was wasted in the form of dense
smoke. Now, thanks to the new apparatus of
Messrs. Needham and Kyte, the same result is ob-
tained with great saving in space, time, and fuel.
The process is simple, and easy to manage. As
soon as the final mixture is sifted, the slip is directed
to a well, whence it is raised by a hydraulic pump
and sent to the presses, which are composed of a
variable number of large wooden frames. These are
closely ribbed on both faces, and when placed side
by side in a vertical position, they leave in the mid-
dle an interval of about three-quarters of an inch in
thickness. Each of these hollow compartments is
lined with a sheet of strong cotton stuff", folded in
APPENDIX. 109
such a way as to form a bag, in the middle of which
a small metal fitting passes through the upper part
of the frames, and forms the spring by which the slip
can be ' admitted into the interior. When the bags
are tied together, the slip is admitted into their in-
terior and submitted to such pressure from the pump
that the water filters through the interstices of the
stuff, and escapes by the small intervals left between
the ribs of the frames. After allowing a sufficient
time for the action of the pump, the presses are dis-
mounted, and the solid clay is found in the middle
of the bags, ready for use in the various departments.
The processes for shaping the different articles
are many. For the more expeditious preparation
of the wares, it was necessary that each workman
should devote the whole of his time to a special
branch of his art. For this reason there are several
classes of potters called according to their avocation :
throwers, turners, handlers, hollow and flat ware
pressers, figure and ornament makers, tile modellers,
mould and sagger makers, besides those who are em-
ployed in the decoration of the goods. Of all these
various branches, the. most attractive for those who
are witnessing it for the first time, is the throwing;
and it is a source of amazement for them to see how
quickly, in the hands of the potter, the same lump
of clay can be transformed in a variety of ways.
The potter's wheel is of great antiquity. In
some Egyptian hieroglyphics from the tombs of
Beni-Hassan, known to have been made during the
twelfth dynasty, the different occupations of the pot-
1 10 APFEiVDIX.
ter are painted with great distinctness. In one of
these, two potters are using the wheel for making
their vessels — implying that this contrivance has been
in use for something like four thousand years. The
forms and proportions of the wheels may be varied
without altering the principle. A spindle, finished
at its lower end in the form of a pointed pivot, is
placed on a hard substance on which it can easily
revolve. The upper end is furnished with a wooden
head or small platform, on which the lump of clay is
to be placed, and between this head and pivot is
fixed a horizontal wooden disc of large diameter,
which acts as a fly-wheel and keeps the spindle in
motion for a certain length of time. The motion
may be given by the hand, the foot, or mechanical
power, which causes the spindle to revolve with great
velocity. A good thrower requires a great deal of
practice, as he is expected to throw several hundred
pieces a day, although the art is far from being what
it was in the olden times. In consequence of the
new plan of pressing all large pieces in plaster moulds
the thrower has but small or moderate size pieces to
work, and these he finishes only in the inside, leav-
ing the outside to be done by the turner, when the
pieces are in a more advanced state of dryness.
This division of work, brought about by the exigen-
cies of the trade, is very much to be regretted, for
the old thrower was really an artist who could impress
his feeling on the work which was entrusted to him
from beginning to end. He has not now the same
opportunity of showing his skill, and cannot take in
APPENDIX. 1 1 1
his work the pride and interest which he would have
felt if circumstances had not been altered. The
same may be said of the turner, who finishes the
outside on a lathe like that used for turning wood.
The thrower prepares the pieces of a thicker bulk
than is required, and it is the turner's business to
bring them to a proper thickness by removing the
excess of material and giving to the exterior a smooth
and highly finished surface. /If the handles are orna-
mented, they are pressed in plaster moulds ; if plain,
they are squeezed from a brass cylinder, filled with
clay, with a small aperture at the bottom, from
which it escapes under the pressure in long ribbons.
These are placed side by side on a board, cut across
at the required length, and bent in the form of han-
dles when they get sufficiently hard. They are after-
wards fitted, and made to adhere to the pieces by
means of a little water or slip dropped from the
point of a brush.
Flat pieces, such as plates, dishes, saucers; and
the like, are made in plaster moulds, on which a bat
of soft clay is tightly compressed by a hand tool,
called a polisher. The process is very expeditious,
although the presser is obliged to repeat the opera-
tion twice, to give more pressure and finish. For
this kind of ware the potter's wheel, called a jigger,
is simplified so far, that the iron spindle resting on its
point and fixed to a bench, is provided only with a
round plaster head on which the moulds are placed.
The presser keeps this in motion with his left hand
while with the right he guides the polisher.
112 APPENDIX.
In those manufactories which have adopted the
latest improvements, the jiggers are worked by steam
power, and the stoves in which the pieces are sent
to dry are heated by steam pipes. These are con-
structed on a new principle, consisting in a number
of shelves which revolve round a central spindle, so
that by a gentle push of the hand, each section is
successively brought in front of the door, giving the
opportunity of removing or putting in the moulds.
This simple contrivance does away with the necessity
for the assistant boy entering the stove, and feeling
the bad effects of the heat.
When the pieces are not exactly round and can-
not be thrown or pressed on jiggers, it is the custom
to have them made in plaster moulds, which have
been cast on models prepared for the purpose. As
long as the clay keeps soft, it takes the shape of any
hard substance against which it is pressed, and for
that reason, plaster, which has the property of ab-
sorbing moisture readily, is preferred. The use of
plaster for moulds is comparatively recent, and
although its properties were known in early times,
there is no evidence that it was ever employed for
that object. Greeks, Etruscans, and Romans, had
their moulds made of fired clay ; the Chinese, in raw
clay thoroughly dried. In Staffordshire, before the
use of plaster, they were made of fired clay or metal ;
but plaster is more economical than any of these,
although moulds made of this material do not last
long, and require constant renewing.
The making of moulds, well adapted for pressing
JAPANESE DESIGNS
APPENDIX. 113
the various shapes, is a very important part of the
potter's business. They must allow of a certain
amount of contraction, and, at the same time, must
easily dislocate without pulling away any part of the
piece, which is still sufficiently soft to be distorted
by careless handling. Some pieces will require
moulds made in one or two parts ; others, a large
quantity of them, the various fragments being in
that case pressed separately, and carefully put to-
gether afterwards. The pressing is done in this
way : the potter begins to flatten a lump of clay in
the form of a bat, and transfers it to the inside of
the mould ; then, by the repeated blows of a sponge
in his right hand, he compels the soft material to
take the exact form of the mould, and, of course, of
any ornamentation which may be on its inner surface.
A good presser ought to be systematic in his work,
and not to apply more pressure to one part than to
another, otherwise the different portions of the
pieces would not contract alike, and would be liable
to show an irregular surface, or even crack in the
drying or firing processes.
For several reasons there are pieces which can-
not be pressed : they may be required very thin, or
their shape is such that the potter cannot reach all
the parts to take the impression conveniently. In
this case he must adopt the following plan. The
mould is tied up and filled with liquid clay through
an opening left in the top. The plaster rapidly ab-
sorbs the water and a deposit of solid clay adheres
to the surface. This soon increases in thickness ;
1 14 APPENDIX.
and when the potter thinks it is sufficient, he pours
out the slip which is in excess. The piece soon
hardens, and when it begins to contract, it is then
time to remove it from the mould. This process
has the advantage of giving a uniform thickness, and
as there is no other pressure than that caused by the
absorption of the plaster surface, there is a better
chance for the piece to contract equally, and on this
account this method (called casting) is preferred for
articles which require a neat execution. In some
cases it is cheaper than ordinary pressing ; but the
drawback is the excessive contraction or diminution
of bulk, of which the ware thus made is subjected.
An irregular contraction is the source of most
of the defects attending the ceramic manufacture,
and it is worth explaining the causes, of which
there are three. It has already been men-
tioned that natural clays, which have remained in a
damp soil for ages, contain materials in a hydrous
state, i. e. combined with water, which sometimes in-
creases their bulk considerably. These are unstable
compdunds, and may be destroyed by thoroughly
drying them. Some other materials used in pot-
ting may be artificially combined with water, as would
be the case if ground in it for an unnecessary length
of time. The second reason is the interposition of
the uncombined water between the solid particles of
the clay, and as this cannot be worked without it,
this cause of shrinking cannot be avoided. It will
be easily understood that when the water in the
mixture evaporates, the solid particles, under atmos-
APPENDIX. 115
pheric pressure, will move to take its place, and this
effect will continue as long as they find enough
moisture to assist in their free motion. The conse-
quence is, that the mass shrinks more and more, till
the contraction is stopped by the inability of the
particles to move farther ; and this happens before
the pieces are completely dry. From that .state to
complete dryness, the evaporation of the remaining
water will leave small holes, which will make the
texture of the ware porous, and prone to absorb any
liquid with which it may come in contact.
The shrinkage in the raw state then is mechani-
cal, and distinct from that which takes place in the
oven under the influence of heat. Under this agency
the particles enter into combination, and if the pro-
cess is carried far enough, the ware may become par-
tially vitrified and acquire a certain amount of trans-
parency. The more perfect the vitrification, the
closer will be the contact of the particles, and
consequently the greater the diminution of bulk.
From these causes, the total contraction may
vary from one-sixteenth to one-fifth of the original
model. The least will belong to ware pressed with
stiff clay gently fired ; the greatest to that cast with
liquid slip and brought to the vitrified state. In
these last the shrinkage is greater in height than in
width, a fact explained by the weight of the upper
portions acting vertically to assist the closer contact
of the particles in the under-structure, when the same
opposes their free action in a horizontal direction.
In making the models, care should be taken to bring
Il6 APPENDIX.
the contraction to a common centre, or if there are
several, to strengthen sufficiently the connecting
parts.
After the drying of the ware, the next operation
consists in placing it in saggers, which, as has been
said, are made of common fire-clay, and of a form
and size to suit the different articles which they are
intended to hold. A certain thickness of flint or
sand is placed at their bottom for the purpose of giv-
ing them a firm bed, and as it is the interest of the
manufacturer to make the same firing answer for the
greatest quantity of goods, care is taken to fill the
saggers as far as is safe. The placing of the ware is
done at the outside of the ovens, and when these are
to be filled, the saggers are quickly arranged one
over the other in columns, called " bungs," each
sagger forming the cover for the one immediately
underneath. A small roll of soft clay placed between
makes them stand better, and at the same time pre-
vents the ashes carried by the draught from finding
their way into the interior, and damaging the con-
tents.
The firing must be conducted very slowly at
first, to prevent a too sudden evaporation of the
damp, which would cause the splitting of the goods.
This being done, the heat is raised gradually, care
being taken to feed the mouths with fuel as quickly
as it is consumed. It requires an experienced fire-
man to see that one part of the oven does not get in
advance of the other. He manages this by throwing
in a certain quantity of air through small openings
APPENDIX. WJ
in the brickwork, which are shut or left open accord-
ing to circumstances. Whatever may be the con-
struction of the oven, the quantity of air mixed with
the gas produced by the combustion of fuel causes
the atmosphere to be reductive of oxidizing ; which
means that the different materials submitted to the
heat would, in consequence of an abundance of car-
bon, have a tendency to be deprived of their oxygen
and return to a metallic state, or that by firing in
presence of an excess of air or carbonic acid, they
would be kept in a high state of oxidation. It is
fortunate that all classes of English pottery, without
exception, require, or are njt injured by, an oxidiz-
ing fire, which is the most economical way of firing,
since by it all the gases are completely burnt inside
the oven without any waste of fuel. By a better
application of this principle, Messrs. Minton have
introduced a new oven, in which the fuel is so com-
pletely utilized, that it requires only one half of the
usual quantity of coals, besides doing away with the
dense smoke which is the annoyance of the district.
By the first fire to which it is exposed, the ware
is converted into what is termed, from the French,
biscuit. Some classes of pottery do not require more
than a single firing, as, for instance, the common
terra cotta and stoneware. However, for all English
ware it is not necessary to have two fires, for the fol-
lowing reasons: First, the necessity for getting a
denser texture of the ware by submitting it to a
strong heat, lest the glazes which are to be melted
on their surface, and which thereby become very
Il8 APPENDIX.
dense and most contractible, should not agree with
the more open texture of the body, and should crack
or craze when exposed to changes of temperature.
Secondly, that for coating the ware with the glaze,
it is necessary to dip the article in the vitreous mix-
ture finely ground, and kept in suspension in water ;
consequently, if it were in the raw state when this
was done, the adhesion of the particles would be so
small that they would readily dissolve in the liquid.
It is customary, therefore, to expose the goods first
to a hard fire, which, according to the size of the
ovens and the quality of the ware, may last from
forty to fifty hours.
From the biscuit oven, the goods, if they are to
be left white, may be sent to be glazed ; but if they
are to be decorated with a printed pattern, they must
be forwarded to the printing department.
The necessity for covering the biscuit with glaze
to stop the absorption of liquids or greasy substances,
which would find their way into its interior and
would stain it, is so obvious, that it is not neces-
sary to dwell on the importance of this operation. It
was used by the Egyptians and Assyrians, who knew
most of the saline mixtures by which white and col-
ored glazes could be obtained.
During the nine hundred years which may be
counted between the revival of pottery by the Arabs
and the introduction of well-made glazes by Stafford-
shire potters, the last glaze in existence was that ob-
tained by the grinding or pounding of the natural
sulphide of lead, called galena. It is with this single
APPENDIX. 119
material, stained with metallic oxides, that the Arabs
glazed their rich looking pottery, and the same was
used afterwards for our encaustic tiles and our com-
mon pottery, from the time of Elizabeth down to the
middle of the last century. Lately, however, the
science of making glazes has considerably improved,
and a variety of new substances has been introduced.
To prepare a glaze is one of the most delicate opera-
tions possible, and failures are attended with most
serious consequences. The conditions to be fulfilled
are many. It must not be too fusible nor too hard,
either of which conditions would make it dull or apt
to craze ; and it must be transparent, otherwise the
colors underneath would not be clear. It may hap-
pen that a glaze which apparently seems good when
it comes out from the oven, will craze when a few
months, or perhaps years, have elapsed. Generally,
the less alumina that there is in the biscuit, the
easier is the adaptation of the glaze, and this ac-
counts for the soft porcelains being easier to manage
in this respect than ordinary earthenwares.
The materials used for the foundation of glazes
are in principle the same as those for the body, viz.,
silica, in the form of flint, or sand and felspar, pure
or mixed with other components in the granitic
rocks. These are the hard materials to be vitrified
by the fluxes, which are carbonate or oxide of lead,
boracic acid or borax, potash or soda, carbonate of
lime or barytes. There is no definite receipt for
mixing, and they may be combined in a variety of
ways. Every manufacturer has receipts of his own,
I20 APPENDIX.
and some make their glazes a great deal better than
others. They are rather expensive, chiefly owing to
the increased price of borax, a material of compara-
tively modern use, which, being apt to promote the
brilliancy of the wares and the beauty of the various
colors, is now extensively used. When the compo-
nents of the glazes are not soluble in water, it may be
sufficient to have them finely ground in water. But
if any soluble salt, such as borax, nitre, or soda is
employed, it is necessary to render them insoluble
by vitrifying them together with other substances.
This may be effected in crucibles, or, still better, in
reverberatory furnaces, where a large quantity may
be melted more conveniently. In this case, when
the mass is well liquefied by the intensity of the
heat, it is run into cold water, which, cooling it sud-
denly, causes it to break into small fragments. This
is called & fritt ; and when it is sent to the mill, any
other insoluble material may be added to it if neces-
sary. To lay a thin coat of glaze on the surface of
earthenware is a most expeditious process. Advan-
tage is taken of the porous nature of the biscuit, which,
being dipped in the liquid slip, rapidly absorbs the
water while the solid particles of the glaze, which,
however fine, could not follow the water to its in-
terior, are found coating the surface. As the pieces
are removed from this Bath before the pores of the
clay are saturated with water, they are seen to dry
almost directly.
After this, the last operation consists in firing the
pieces a second time, to give them that neat and
APPENDIX. 121
finished look which belongs to glazed substances.
The saggers, ovens, and the mode of conducting the
fire do not differ in this case from those used for
making biscuit. The ovens are, however, smaller,
and the saggers cannot be packed so closely with the
different articles, as every piece has to be isolated,
otherwise the glaze in melting would cause them to
stick together. To provide against this, small imple-
ments made of clay cut in different forms are used,
and, not to disfigure the ware, are contrived in such
a way that the points of contact between them and
the pieces should be as small as possible. This sec
ond firing does not take more than fifteen or eigh-
teen hours, and this completes the series of operations
by which ordinary earthenware may be produced.
The various porcelain biscuits known under the
name of Parian or statuary biscuit, are specially used
for statuettes, busts, and other articles for which it is
desirable to get the appearance of white marble.
This is a kind of hard porcelain made from a mixture
of kaolin and felspar, in which the degree of hard-
ness or fusibility is regulated by the proportion of
one material towards the other. Of course, similar
biscuits m.ay be made by more complicated receipts,
but the principle is always the same, viz., the taking
advantage of the fusibility of felspar or Cornish stone,
to secure the required amount of transparency. The
light being allowed to penetrate to some depth be-
low the surface, imparts to these biscuits a softness
which is wanting in the similar productions of Sfevres,
Germany, and Denmark.
6
122 APPENDIX.
In noticing the bluish-white color of the foreign
article as compared with the cream'tint of the Eng-
Ush, it must be explained that this difference lie's in
the management of the fire, since in none of them
are stain or color introduced to procure any such
result. As the reader must now understand, there
is in all clays, pure as they may be, a certain amount
of oxide of iron, which during the firing process forms
silicate of protoxide or peroxide, according to the
chemical composition of the atmosphere of the oven
in which they stand. On the Continent, to make
hard porcelain successfully, the fire must be reduc-
tive ; in England, on the contrary, it is oxidizing ;
and it is to the formation of a small quantity of sili-
cate of peroxide of iron disseminated in the mass,
that the creamy color of Parian is due. Parian is
generally cast, which accounts for the great contrac-
tion it undergoes when fired, and much care is re-
quired for propping or supporting the various articles,
as neglect or miscalculation in this respect would
inevitably ruin them. Otherwise, as this biscuit is
made from few materials and takes one single firing,
the simplicity of the manufacture has induced many
small makers to undertake it — a fact that we should
regret, if we were to take a purely artistic view of this
subject. Parian, which was originally sold in biscuit
state, has since been glazed, for the purpose of mak-
ing pieces of decoration. The manufactory at Wor-
cester, several years ago, made a great many colored
and gilt ornaments in the Cinque-cento style, to
APPENDIX. 123
which it has lately added a highly artistic imitation
of the Japanese lacquered ivories.
Plain and encaustic tiles form an important
branch of ceramic trade, and with which the name
of Herbert Minton is closely associated. The pro-
cess of making tiles is new and peculiar. The plain
tiles are made from dry clay reduced to dust, which,
being submitted in metallic moulds to a pressure of
several hundred pounds to the inch, becomes so
compact, that further contraction is almost sup-
pressed, and they can be handled without risk of
breaking. Encaustic tiles are made from plastic
clay in which the different portions of the design are
sunk below the surface, so as to form recesses in
which slips of different colors are poured according
to a set pattern. When these become as hard as the
body of the tiles, the surface is made smooth and
level with a steel scraper, which removes all the
superfluous material, till the colors are shown stand-
ing neatly side by side with the greatest precision.
It is a pretty process and interesting to witness.
Besides the flooring tiles, there are many sorts made
for lining walls and fireplaces, varying considerably
in style and material.
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Hugh Owen. Portrait, plates and almost 150 wood-cuts.
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Darcel (A.) Recueil des faiences Italiennes des XV,
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Davillier (J. C.) Histoire des faiences et porcelaines
de Moustiers et autres fabriques mSridionales. iSmo.
144 pages, Paris, 1863. 4 fr.
Delange (Henri.) Letter i M. B. Fillon a propos de
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De La Beche (Sir Henry) and Reeks (Trenham)
Catalogue of Specimens illustrative of the Composition
and Manufacture of British Pottery and Porcelain from
the occupation of Britain by the Romans to the Present
Time. 150 Woodcuts, (Museum of Practical Geology)
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Designs and Instructions for Decorating Pottery in
imitation of Greek, Roman, Egyptian and other styles of
Vases. With an Illustrated and Descriptive list of sub-
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Demmin (Auguste). Guide de I'amateur de faiences et
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in the South Kensington Museum. Royal 8vo. London,
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Fortnum (C. D. E.) Maiolica. Being a reprint of the
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London, 1875. 2s. 6d.
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Descrizione di un insigne raccolta di majoliche poss-
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Gallick (T. J.) and Timbs (John) Painting Popularly
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Main, i860.
Shaw (Simeon). History of the Staffordshire potteries
and the rise and progress of the manufacture of pottery
and porcelain, and notices of eminent potters. i2mo.,
Hanley, 1829.
Snell (Henry J.) Practical instructions in enamel
BIBLIOGRAPH Y. 1 3 7
painting on glass, china, tiles, etc., to which are added full
instructions for the manufacture of the various pigments re-
quired. Twelve pages of illustrations. 8vo. Lond. 3J.
Sparkes (John C. L.) A Hand-book to the Practice
of Pottery Painting. i6mo. Lond. 1877. is.
This is republished in Boston, under the title : Sparkes
(John C. L.) Hints to China and Tile Decorators. Ed-
ited and Revised by an American Decorator. i6rao. Bos-
ton, 1877. .50
Sybel (Johann Karl). Nachrichten von dem Stadtchen
Plauen an der Havel, besonders von der dort angelegten
Porzellan Manufaktur. 8vo. Berlin, Nicolai, 1812.
Tiffin (W. F.) Chronograph of the Bow, Chelsea and
Derby Porcelain Manufacturers. 8vo. Lond. 1875. ''■^•
Tilton (S. W. & Co.) Designs and Instructions for
Decorating Pottery. Boston, 1877.
Tomlinson (C.) Pottery and Porcelain, in " His-
tory of Processes of Manufacture.'' izmo. New York,
1864.
Treadwell (John H.) A Manual of Pottery and Porce-
lain for American Collectors. i2mo. N. Y. 1873. 2.75.
Weber (J. F.) Die Kunst, das achte Porzellan zu ver-
fertigen. Mit 8 Kpft. 8vo. Hanover, Hahn, 1798.
Waring (J. B.) Ceramic Art in Remote Ages. 4tp.
London, 1875. 84J.
Wedgwood and his Works, A Selection of his choicest
Plaques, Medallions, Cameos, Vases, and ornamental ob-
jects, from designs by Flaxman and others, reproduced in
permanent photography, with a sketch of the life of Wedg-
wood, and of the progress of his Art manufacture, by Eliza
Meteyard. Imp. 4to. Lond. 1872. 63^-.
1 3 8 BIBLIOGRAPHY.
Wedgwood Hand-book. A Manual for Collectors:
treating of the Marks, Monograms, and other tests of the
old period of manufacture ; also including the catalogues
with prices obtained at various sales, together with a glos-
sary of terms. By Eliza Meteyard. i2mo. Lond.
1875. loj. 6d.
Wedgwood, (J.) Life, with a Sketch of the art of Pot-
tery in England, by Eliza Meteyard. Portraits and numer-
ous illustrations. Two vols. 8vo. Lond. 1865-6.
Wedgwood manufactures, A catalogue of, with illustra-
tions. Edited by Eliza Meteyard. 8vo. Lond. los. bd.
Whiteford (S. T.) A Guide to Porcelain Painting.
iSmo. Lond. is.
ZiEGLER (J.) Etudes C^ramiques, Recherche des prin-
cipes du Beau dans 1 'architecture, I'art ceramique, et la
forme en ge'neral. Theorie de la coloration des reliefs.
Svo. atlas fol. Paris, 1850.
INDEX.
Araoux Lm Superintendent of Minton Potteries in England^ 7-90; describes
how pottery is made in England, 105-123 . on printing, 71.
Art Education* necessary for success in the production of pottery, 1, a.
Ashberry, M., did not invent cream ware, 14.
Ane, Switzerland ; kaolin discovered there, 19.
B.
Billequin M., A^ent to China, appointed by French Government to investi-
gate about manufacture of pottery, 86.
Biscuit, meaning of the word, 6.
Blanc Charles, describes pottery, 10-19 J architecture of pottery, 24.
Bottscher. German potter not mentioned by Blanc, iq.
Broignart M., describes pottery, 10.
C.
Ceramic, ipieaning of the word, 4.
Chemica}.!properties of potter's clay, 7, 8, 9.
Chester County, Pa., has kaolin, 96.
China-wa^e, meaning of the word, 5.
Clays, for pottery in New Jersey, 90, gx, 94 ; Indiana, 92 ; Missouri, New
York, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Maryland, 96 ; Ohio, 97 : Teign-
mouth and Poole, Cornwall, Leemoor, in Devon, England. How clays are
treated in English manufacture, 106-109 ; table of analysis of clays in Eu-
rope and America, 94.
Cloissonne on porcelain, how made, 83, 83, 84,
Colors, vitrifiable, where sold, 38, 39; how made, 41 ; coloring materials and
fluxtis of vitrifiable colors, 41, 43 ; their chemical composition, 43-47 ; for
common earthenware, 49 ; composition of palettes, 50, 51 ; directions for
use, 51-54 ; not vitrifiable, 64 ; on window glass, 65 ; in terra cotta, 72-77.
CoUings. Art foliage, 57.
Cox, Mr., State Geologist, Indiana, 93.
Crackleware. How it is made, 79, 8a.
Crockery, meaning of the word, 5.
I40 INDEX.
r).
Decoratior of pottery identified with the orders of architecture, 32; practical
suggestions about it, 31, 37, 55-62 ; the utensils for decoration, 35, 36, 37 ;
use of colors in decoration, 48, 54 ; not vitrifiable, 64 ; by printing, 69-72 ;
in architecture for exteriors, use of terra cotta, 72-77,
De Cool Delphine. Describes figure painting, 60.
D'EntrecolIes. Jesuit missionary in Chinas 17th century who wrote about
pottery.
Dresden manufactory, how it was established, 19.
East Liverpool, Ohio, potteries, 96.
IP-
Faience, meaning of the word, 5 j fine faience. 10-14.
Firing. What is firing or baking, 6, 63 j how the English bake their potteries,
116, 117, 118.
GJ--
Glazing' pottery. Described by M. Arnoux, 117-120.
Glen.Cove, Long Island, N. Y., has a mine of pilica clay, ofi.
Golconda, ball clay found in Pope County, Illinois.
Goyard M., Paris, potter, 39.
Hartford, Conn., has felspar mines, 76.
Henry Deux, ware, 14.
I.
Illinois, and Lawrence County, Indiana, 96.
Jacquemart M. A., on Chinese porcelain, 84, 83.
Japan. Machinery for making pottery, 21.
Julien Stanislaus. His history of Chinese porcelain, 81.
Kaolin. A Chinese word for the clay which makes porcelain, 8.
L.
La Croix, A., Paris, maker of colors, 3S-41.
Lavergne, Charles, describes painting on glass, 65-68.
Lechertier, Barbe & Co., London, dealers in color, 38.
INDEX. 141
Limoges, City of. How the Greeks carried there the art of enamelling, 103.
Lucca della Robbia. Enamel used by him, 12, 13.
Ly. Father^ one of the missionaries of the Order of Vincent St. Paul in China,
350 years ago, wrote about pottery m China.
Lycett, E., New York Baker of pottery, 38, 39.
:ivi,
Maaestricht, Rhenish provinces, potteries there, 88.
Majolica, whence its name, 11, 12.
Mettlach, Rhenish provinces, potteries there, 88.
Orton, Edmund, Ohio, president of agricultural college, gs.
Ovens, portable for uses of amateurs, 39.
Parian ware, how it is made, X2i, 133.
Pallissey Bernard, 14.
Philadelphia Centennial Exposition. Exhibition of Chinese and Japanese
pottery, 78.
Pottery, its production, 2, 3 ; meaning of the word, 5 ; a brief history of how
it has been made in the past, 10-15 ; how it is made at the present time, 20,
21, 105-123 ; Japanese machinery for making 1121-33 J degeneracy of mod-
ern European manufacture, 21 ; its architectural construction, 24-31 ;
terms correspond to the members of the human figure, 34 ; its decoration,
32, 55-63 ; baking or firing, 38, 39, 40 ; curious and rare works in pottery,
78 ; mystery of Chinese and Japanese manufacture, 79-85 ; " crackle,"
how it is made, 79-80 ; Cloissonne porcelain, 84 ; manufacture in the
United States ; statistics of exports and imports, 87 ; facilities for making
it here, 89 : clays to be found here, 89-98 j clays in New Jersey, go, 91 ;
Indiana, 93 ; Missouri, New York, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Mary-
land, 96 ; Ohio, 97 ; what it cost to make it in Cincinnati, 98 ; brilliant
future for this industry in the United States ; 99-103 ; how Parian ware is
made, 132 ; encaustic tiles how made, 123.
Porcelain, meaning of the word, 5 ; what is hard porcelain, 16, 27 ; what is
soft porcelain, 17, 18 ; English porcelain, 18.
Printing on pottery, history of, 6g, 72.
Saggers, described, 120, 121.
Salvetat M , superintendent Sevres manufactory, 42.
Sarreguemines, France, pottery made there, 34.
Sarrelouis, Rhenish Provinces, pottery made there, 88.
Sciotoville, Ohio, its potteries, 96.
Serlio, Italian writer on architecture, 31.
Shaw's Encyclopedia of Ornament, 37.
Siedel & Son, Dresden, Germany, makes colors, 38, 39.
142 INDEX.
South Kensington Museum^ its facade in terra cotta. nt
Stoneware, meaning of the term, 5, 15.
O?.
Technical terms used in the ceramic art, 4-6.
Terra cotta, how used in exterior decoration, 71-77-
Trenton, N. J., potteries there, lOO.
Tiles encaustic, bow made, 123.
TJ.
United States, facilities here for the manufacture of pottery, qq-ioi.
"V.
Violet Le Due, Report on SSvres manufactory, 55.
~W.
Wedgwood, His creamware not his original invention, 14.
Zanesville, Ohio, potters for encaustic tiles, i£67,
Zeig]er, M., on the form of pottery, 37.
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