POTTERY.

BY L. ARNOUX, Art Director and Superintendent of Minton's Factory.

Without entering into an elaborate dissertation on the antiquity of

the Art of Pottery, which would be out of place in so short an article

as this, I will briefly state that the practice of making vessels from

plastic clays, for holding liquids and provisions, first resulted from

the exertions made by man to emerge from his primary condition. It is

a well known fact that vessels of clay, only partially baked, have

been found, together with stone implements belonging to prehistoric

times, and that those vessels, unfinished as they were, had peculiar

characteristics. But supposing that this was not so, it must strike

everybody that, after providing himself with those rude instruments

wherewith to obtain his food and protect his life, man must have taken

advantage of his power of observation to notice the property of

plastic clay to retain water, and to find out to what useful purpose

it might be brought for making vessels better suited to his wants,

than the skins of animals or pieces of wood roughly hollowed out. If

not probable, it is however not impossible, that the first man, taking

in his hand a lump of soft clay, should have tried to give it a

defined shape, in which case the art of pottery would be as ancient as

the human race. It may have been anterior to the use of fire, for a

sound and useful pottery may be made with clay hardened in the sun, as

still practised in Egypt and India. At all events, it existed previous

to the working of the first metal, as one can hardly understand how

bronze could have been melted, without the assistance of vessels made

of fired clay carefully selected. Consequently it is admitted by

everybody, that this is one of the earliest of human inventions, and

that the material has proved most durable. This durability, secured by

the application of heat, is a very remarkable phenomenon; for while

many other materials, apparently very hard, have been found unable to

stand the atmospheric changes or the continuous contact with a damp

soil, it was sufficient to submit this one to a very moderate heat, to

be enabled to resist these various agencies for several thousands of

years. This is particularly noticeable in the black Greek pottery,

which, while possessing all its former appearance, can, however, be

scratched by the nail or broken by a gentle pressure between the

fingers. It is thus that we are indebted to the art of pottery for

innumerable works of art, many of which have proved most useful in

elucidating historical facts, and making us acquainted with the

habits, dresses, and ceremonies of ancient peoples.

One can understand how difficult it is to decide who were the earliest

potters. It is a question that archA|ologists have often tried to

answer, but which is not likely to be ever solved. Pottery was created

to meet a special want of the human race, and we find early pottery

existing in almost every part of the world, in unknown America, as

well as in Europe or Asia. It is, however, easier to decide which

people first excelled in it, and in this respect we must give equal

credit to the Egyptians and the Chinese. It is mentioned in sacred

history that more than 2000 years B.C. the Egyptian potters

were celebrated for their skill, and if we can believe Chinese

tradition, the manufacturers in China were at this same time under the

control of a superintendent appointed by the government.

Unfortunately, we have very little information respecting the history

of the art in China, previous to the sixteenth century; and although

we have a notion of what they did and how they did it, it is wiser,

with our imperfect knowledge, to abstain from speculating as to when

the different sorts of Chinese ware were produced. But as regards the

Egyptians, there is no uncertainty; some of their ceramic relics bear

their own inscriptions, and others have been found associated with

objects or monuments whose dates have been carefully ascertained. We

may well believe in their skill, when we know that they were

acquainted with the most difficult processes for making the bodies and

glazes, and that they used the same metallic oxides for colouring

their ornaments that we are now using, though often, let us

acknowledge, with less success. During a period of at least eleven

hundred years, from the eighteenth to the twenty-fourth dynasty, they

displayed considerable ingenuity in the production of small figures,

jewellery ornaments, and hieroglyphic tablets, in which several sorts

of pottery mixtures and differently coloured glazes were most cleverly

associated. It is from Egypt that sound principles of pottery making

seem to have spread to the different nations; first to the

Phoenicians, who in their turn became famous for their knowledge in

the art of vitrifying mineral substances; and then to the Assyrians,

who seem to have applied pottery more specially to the ornamentation

of their buildings.

Greece, who shortly after received her first notions of art from the

two former nations, did not devote her energies so much to improvement

of material and richness of colour, as to the refined beauty of the

shape and the excellence of the painting.

In pottery, the material is of little value, and it is only by the art

displayed in shaping and decorating it, that its price can be

increased. In this respect the Greeks proved to what enormous value it

could be raised, by making it the groundwork of their art, since sums

equivalent to several thousand pounds of our money were readily paid

by Roman patricians for a single Corinthian vase. In this, as in the

other branches of art, the recognized taste of the Greeks will never

be surpassed; and if at the present time little attention is paid by

collectors to their ceramic productions, it is probably owing as much

to the versatility of our tastes and fancies, as to our inability of

showing the articles to their advantage.

The Greeks seem to have monopolized the ceramic production of these

fine works for seven or eight centuries at the least; for although

vessels of the same description were largely produced in Italy, it was

invariably by the Greeks, following closely the traditions and mode of

decorations of their own country. It was only about a century B.C.

that the Romans began to create a pottery on which they impressed

their stamp, a pottery really their own; I mean that which is so

improperly called Samian, and so easily known by its reddish colour

and the embossed ornaments by which it is profusely covered. It is,

however, genuine and characteristic, neatly executed, and possessing

some standing qualities which did not belong to the Greek. On the

other hand, the refinement is deficient; the forms are derived from

the circle instead of the ellipse; the plain surfaces are replaced by

embossments, and the painting is absent. For four centuries, the

Romans seem to have made this class of pottery in several of their

European settlements, chiefly in Italy and in the provinces adjoining

the Rhine. In the operation they seem to have required some special

material, which imparted to its bright red surface a semi-shining

lustre or glaze, and which has proved remarkably durable. After this,

the art of pottery experienced a time of darkness, when all the

refined processes seem to have been neglected, and primitive vessels,

like those produced by the Saxons, Gauls, and Celts, ranked amongst

the best examples. The decorations, if any, are rudimentary; not only

is the painting reduced in a few instances to some lines or spots made

of a different clay, but even the embossed ornaments are replaced by

lumps of clay or impressed lines in a kind of geometrical disposition.

Art was not quite dead, but it scarcely breathed. However, these

specimens are not altogether uninteresting, for they were the first

efforts of our forefathers, and there is always a certain pleasure in

witnessing the feeblest attempts made in the research of art.

But the time came when pottery was to accomplish another revolution,

no less remarkable than the first. Strangely enough, it was again from

the East, in nearly the same province in which it originally took its

rise, that it was revived, and it is not unlikely that some faint

tradition of the old processes was the source whence sprung the new

ceramic era, which was to extend to our own time.

The precise date of this revival is not positively ascertained; but it

was probably contemporary with the establishment of Islamism amongst

the Arabs. The energy displayed by this people in improving and

adapting the different fabrics to the requirements of their new

religion, was no doubt beneficial to the art of pottery, and with

their fanaticism and spirit of proselytism, they carried their new

ideas to every country which they conquered. Syria became a great

industrial centre, and some of its towns, such as Damascus, were soon

famous for the perfection of their wares. To reach Europe, however,

this new movement did not take its course through Greece and Italy, as

in the first instance; it was through Egypt and the North of Africa

that, at the beginning of the eighth century, it made its way to

Spain, where it became firmly established. As regards pottery, nowhere

were better specimens produced than in the towns of Malaga, Grenada,

Cordova, and others, going northwards as far as Valencia and Toledo.

The newest feature of the Arabian or Saracenic pottery (called

Hispano-Moresco ware, when made in Spain) was the introduction of the

oxide of tin in the glaze, to render it opaque. Previous to this

innovation, when white was required for a design executed on a clay

which did not take that colour in firing, these parts had to be

covered with a silicious mixture, and subsequently coated over with a

transparent glaze. This was the Assyrian and Persian process. To find

a white opaque enamel, which could be applied direct on a coloured

clay and adhere firmly to it, was a great discovery.

Everyone now knows how successfully these people used pottery for the

ornamentation of their buildings, and how ingeniously they mixed

transparent and opaque enamels to obtain an unprecedented harmony of

effect. Not only did they use this tin enamel in parts, but also all

over the ware, making it more or less opaque as they wished; and this

was the origin of the pottery called _majolica_, which, according to

tradition, was imported from Majorca to Italy, at the beginning of the

fifteenth century, and for the introduction of which credit is given

to Lucca Della Robia. _Terra in-vitriata_ was the first name given by

this sculptor to his works, when they were coated with this opaque

mixture. There was at that time such an earnest desire to find

suitable materials for art decorations, that the new enamels soon

ceased to be exclusively applied to architectural purposes. Under the

beneficial influence of the revival of taste for ancient art, and the

encouragements with which it met from the princes at that time ruling

the Italian Republics, majolica attained its beauty, though its

external appearance reminded us but little of its Spanish or Oriental

origin. During the course of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries,

the most famous in the history of modern art, the influence of the

great painters of that period was soon felt by those whom we may call

the artists of pottery, for the name of potters could hardly do them

justice; and several of them applied their talents to the reproduction,

on that ware, of their most celebrated paintings. It was reported that

Perugino, Michael Angelo, Raphael, and many others painted majolica

ware, probably on account of their cartoons being often reproduced;

and it is sufficient to say that such talented men as Francisco Xanto

da Rovigo, Orazia Fontana, and Georgio Andreoli, devoted their

energies to the improvement of this branch of art. Most of the Italian

towns had their manufactory, each of them possessing a style of its

own. Beginning at Caffagiolo and Deruta, they extended rapidly to

Gubbio, Ferrara, and Ravenna, to be continued to Casteldurante,

Rimini, Urbino, Florence, Venice, and many other places.

After the sixteenth century, majolica soon degenerated in appearance

and quality, the producers being more anxious to supply the market,

than to devote to their ware the care and attention bestowed on it by

their predecessors. In increasing the quantity of tin in their enamel,

to make it look more like porcelain, they impoverished their colours,

and this alteration, however prejudicial to majolica, assisted greatly

in the new transformation which it was subsequently to undergo. It was

under the name of faA-ence that it continued to be known, and France

and Holland became the principal centres of its manufacture. At

Nevers, it still resembled slightly the Italian ware, though at Delft,

in Holland, it was principally made to imitate the blue and white ware

of the Chinese, in which attempt the makers were often remarkably

successful. At Rouen, the blue ornamentation was relieved with touches

of red, green, and yellow; at Moustiers, the monochrome designs were

light and uncommonly elegant; at Paris, Marseilles, and many other

places, the flower decoration of the old SA"vres and Dresden ware was

imitated with a freedom of touch and a freshness of colour which is

really charming. This pottery, which was a great favourite in the

seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, declined rapidly soon after our

present earthenware made its appearance; the chief inducement for the

change, on the part of the manufacturers, being the excessive price of

tin, which is the principal ingredient of enamel.

Except in the provinces contiguous to France, Germany was never a

producer of majolica. It created, however, a pottery entirely of its

own, full of originality in its general appearance, and which, by the

peculiarity of the process, was really a very distinct type. I am

alluding to the Flemish and German stoneware. There is a tradition,

that the first pieces were made in Holland at the very beginning of

the fifteenth century. The principal centre of its production was,

however, in Germany, at Nuremberg, Ratisbon, Bayreuth, Mansfeld, and

other places; but the best were made in the neighbourhood of the Lower

Rhine, where the clays most fitted for that class of pottery were

easily to be found. Here we find, for the first time in Europe, the

body of the ware partly vitrified by the high temperature to which it

was submitted, and also the remarkable peculiarity, that it was glazed

by the volatilization of common salt, thrown into the oven when the

temperature had reached its climax. The combination of these two

processes had never been effected before, and it would be difficult on

that account to find any connection between stoneware and some of the

Egyptian potteries. This stoneware varied in colour: some were almost

white, some brown, others of a light grey, the last being the most

valuable when the effect was increased by blue or purple grounds,

harmonizing admirably with the foundation colour of the ware. The

shapes are generally elaborate, with a great many mouldings, enriched

with embossed ornaments in good taste, some of which were designed by

no less an artist than T. Hopfer. The decline of this stoneware began

with the seventeenth century, and from that time to the present, this

material was only used for wares of the commonest kind. It is only

very lately, that it was revived successfully by Messrs. Doulton and

Co., of Lambeth.

France, which had not as yet any ideas about the process for imitating

the Italian majolica, created towards the same time two new sorts of

pottery, one of which is the Palissy ware, the other the faA-ence

d'Oiron. Palissy, a very inquisitive and intelligent man, is said to

have been possessed by a strong desire to reproduce some Italian ware,

which he had the opportunity of seeing; whether it was a piece of

majolica or of graffito, is not known. Left to his own resources--for

there was nobody to instruct him--he succeeded by perseverance and

industry in finding out the process for making the different coloured

glazes that the Moors had used long before him. There was no discovery

in this, but the talent which he displayed in the mixing and blending

of these vitreous colours, combined with the incontestable originality

of his compositions, have made this ware very difficult to imitate.

The time of its production was limited to the life of Palissy, for

there is not really a single good piece which can be traced to his

successors. In the faA-ence d'Oiron, incorrectly called Henri Deux

ware, we find a real cream-coloured earthenware taking precedence of

two hundred years over our own. It was made between the years 1524 and

1567, and we have now every proof that three persons co-operated in

this invention: HelA(C)ne de Hangest, who had been formerly entrusted by

FranASec.ois I. with the education of his son, afterwards Henry II.; her

potter at Oiron, named FranASec.ois Charpentier; and her secretary Jehan

Bernart. The charming pieces resulting from the combination of these

three intellects were few, and only intended to be offered as presents

to the friends of the noble lady at court. This sufficiently explains

the monograms and devices, which are found associated with the

elaborate ornaments profusely spread over their surface. No ware was

ever made before or after this, which required more care and delicate

manipulation, and this explains why the highest prices paid in our

generation for an article of pottery have been freely given for

several of these curiosities. Their principal feature consists in

inlaying differently coloured clays one into the other, a process not

quite new, as it had been extensively used in mediA|val times for

making encaustic tiles for the flooring of our churches, but they were

so minutely and neatly executed, and the designs so well distributed,

that they are justly considered as marvels of workmanship. In speaking

of these faA-ences d'Oiron, we can hardly admire sufficiently the

variety in the productions of this period of the Renaissance; and if

we select four of these specimens, such as a piece of Faenza ware, one

of stoneware, one of Palissy, and another of Oiron, they may fairly

stand as good illustrations of the ingenuity of man.

The progress realized in these times seems to have undergone a sort of

lull, and if we accept the French and Delft faA-ences, which were a

transformation of majolica, we find that the greatest portion of the

seventeenth century was not marked by any new discovery or decided

improvement. Towards its close, however, we begin to notice in Germany

and the western countries of Europe several attempts at making a ware,

possessing the three standard qualities of whiteness, hardness, and

transparency of the Chinese, and these were the precursors of the

great movement which occupied the whole of the eighteenth century. As

might be expected, inquiries made in different countries by persons

unacquainted with each other, brought different results; and if they

failed in so much, that a porcelain identical to the Oriental was not

reproduced, all of them succeeded in making a white ware of their own,

adapted to the materials which they had at their disposal. And thus

arose in each country the source of a prosperous trade.

It is only at that period, that England began to take her position

amongst the producers of pottery, at least in a manner deserving of

that name. Up to that time, if we were to judge by the quality of her

work, she did not seem fitted for it, no more than for any sort of

manufacture which required taste or a certain knowledge of the arts of

design. In fact, it is easy to notice in looking at our collections of

art manufactures, that the English samples are deficient in many

respects; they may be gaudy without harmony of colour, or elaborate

without refinement, exhibiting a certain amount of roughness in

execution, when placed side by side with Italian, French, or German

specimens of the same class. It is likely, with certain exceptions,

that the Anglo-Saxon race did not feel much the want of all those

niceties, and did not make great exertion to excel in the practice of

those arts, for the appreciation of which its mind was not yet

sufficiently cultivated. It has been remarked, that as the progress of

art was constantly from East to West, the geographical position of

England might account in some respects for her backwardness. However,

like children of slow growth whose understanding does not seem quick

or acute, but who afterwards derive the benefit of their reserved

strength, England, coming almost the last in the production of

pottery, seems as though she did so for maturing her capabilities. In

this, as in the practice of other arts, she is slow, and her first

steps are clumsy. Experimenting for some time, with mixed or

indifferent success, she seems to hesitate, till she begins to feel

that she holds the thing in her grasp, and then the day soon comes

when she teaches the world what she can make of it. We can scarcely

give her credit in the preceding review for some Staffordshire pottery

made with the yellow or red marl, thickly glazed with the galena

extracted from the Derbyshire mines, the decoration of these pieces

being effected by pouring the light clay on the dark one in a

symmetrical manner. This pottery was in use from the time of Queen

Elizabeth down to the year 1775, the date of the latest specimen that

I have seen. Some pieces preserved in the British Museum, in the

Museum of Geology, and in M. Solon's collection, are to be noticed for

their quaintness.

Up to the eighteenth century, no other clays than those extracted from

the coal measures seem to have been used in Staffordshire; and the

advantages derived from an abundant supply of both clay and fuel must

have powerfully contributed to the settlement of this industry in that

county. In Shaw's 'History of the Staffordshire Potteries,' which with

Plot's 'History of Staffordshire,' are the only books to afford

information on the then state of this trade, and whose most

interesting extracts have been given by Sir Henry de la Beche in his

excellent catalogue of the pottery exhibited in the Museum of

Practical Geology, we gather this fact, that so far back as 1661, an

Act of Parliament regulated the dimensions and quality of earthen

vessels manufactured at Burslem, for holding the butter brought to the

markets.

Towards 1680, a radical change seems to have taken place in the way of

making the ware, by substituting common salt for the galena in the

glazing process. This new production was called _crouch ware_, and

there is every probability that the substitution was first made by a

person acquainted with the manufacture of the German and Flemish

stoneware, which at a former period had been tried in England. At that

time Burslem possessed twenty-two ovens, and Shaw says, that when

these were at work, the vapours emanating from the salt were such as

to produce a dense fog in the town. These assertions leave no doubt as

to the date of the commencement of this manufacture in Staffordshire,

and that Burslem was its first seat.

Two German brothers, of the name of Elers, who settled near this town

in 1688, seem to have been the first to try to produce pottery of a

better class than the crouch ware. Their first attempt resulted in the

production of a well finished red stoneware, which probably resembled

the red ware made in Saxony by Bottger at the same time. Those who

have left any written information about it, say that for general

appearance and careful execution, it was quite equal to any similar

article made by the Chinese; but I must confess, that the specimens

that I had the opportunity of seeing are rather porous and far from

being highly baked. These foreigners paid also great attention to the

improvement of the white ware, and they were the first to employ the

plastic clay from Dorsetshire for the purpose of whitening the cane

marl of the locality. Their ware was generally light and well-shaped,

and though the plaster moulds were wholly unknown at the time, and

were only introduced fifty years later, the impressions taken from

metal moulds are neat, and show the ornaments standing sharply out

from the surface. This, combined with the peculiar appearance given to

the surface by the sublimation of the salt, and its light colour, are

the principal feature of the Burslem ware, which continued in

existence till 1780, although before that date more perfected articles

had found their way to the market. The brothers Elers used to make a

great secret of their mixtures, and left the district as soon as the

other manufacturers became acquainted with them. Astbury, who had been

instrumental in robbing them of their processes, was one of the most

intelligent amongst these potters, and it was he who, in 1720,

introduced the flint, calcined and ground, for whitening the body of

the ware, one of the greatest improvements in the making of

earthenware. He seems to have been a thoughtful and persevering man,

and it is said that the idea of this new material was suggested to

him, by seeing a shoeing smith calcining a flint, for the purpose of

blowing the dust into the eyes of his horse, suddenly afflicted with a

kind of blindness. This is probably only a fiction, as the idea must

have originated from witnessing the change undergone by flint when

brought to a red heat.

As the pottery trade was taking root in the district, it is no wonder

that we find many intelligent manufacturers doing their best to

improve it and make it profitable. Eminent amongst them was Josiah

Wedgwood, whose name as a potter is never likely to perish. For

particulars concerning his private life, trade, and manufacture, there

are two excellent books, by Miss Meteyard and Mr. Llewellyn Jewitt, in

which every matter of interest about him has been carefully entered.

Born at Burslem, in 1730, of a family of potters, he began by serving

his apprenticeship as a thrower under his brother, and must have

settled in business very early, as he had had already two partners

when he set up on his own account, in 1759, being then only

twenty-nine years of age. His first attempts seem to have been

directed to making a green ware, that is, a white ware covered with a

glaze of that colour, which he succeeded in getting particularly

bright; and also to the tortoiseshell, which had its surface mottled

with glazes differently stained, and which, by their blending when

they are fused in the oven, present some analogy with the works of

Palissy.

One of Wedgwood's decided successes was, perfecting the white

cream-colour ware, which was so superior to anything done before, that

it commanded at once a great sale at home and abroad. Queen Charlotte

admired it much, and, in consequence of her patronage, it took the

name of Queen's ware, under which it was known for a long time. It is

light, of a pleasing colour, elegantly shaped, and in the hands of

artists has proved an admirable material to paint upon.

It would take too long to enumerate all the improvements which

Wedgwood effected in his trade in the second half of the last century,

but I must mention as prominent amongst his works, the black Egyptian

and jasper wares, in making which he had no assistance whatever, and

which constitute two new and perfect types in pottery. From Wedgwood's

origin and early labours, it is easy to guess that his instruction

must have been limited; but he was a clear-minded and inquiring man,

possessing that sort of intuition by which he could easily understand

things, which in other people would have required preliminary studies;

besides, he had a natural taste for art and a systematic way of going

through his experiments, which were sure to bring them to a successful

issue. It was his good fortune to be assisted by two men of superior

intelligence, viz. Flaxman, the sculptor, who designed many of his

shapes, and modelled for him an almost innumerable number of subjects

for slabs and cameos; and Thomas Bentley, a distinguished scholar,

with whom he was commercially connected, and whose knowledge of art he

found of great utility.

When Wedgwood died, in 1795, the ceramic manufacture had extensively

developed, and had extended from Burslem to the small towns in the

neighbourhood. From all this it must appear that, although Wedgwood

was the most brilliant type amongst the English potters of that

period, the trade was already well established when he entered the

business, and there was every probability, that it would become one of

the staple industries of this country. To give all the credit to him

would be an injustice to several men, who, like the two Josiah Spodes,

effected great improvements, or brought into play new and useful

materials.

When I speak of the china manufacture, it will be seen that, besides

the Staffordshire potters, several very clever men at Bow, Chelsea,

Plymouth, Worcester, Derby, and other places, were at work to

establish the manufacture of the soft and hard porcelain, proving

beyond a doubt, that most energetic efforts were being made to raise

the pottery trade of England to the same level as that of France or

Germany. If we did not then succeed in making soft china like that of

SA"vres, or hard porcelain as good as the Dresden, we soon became the

masters of the market as regards earthenware--a position that we are

not likely to lose for many years to come. Amongst the circumstances

which combine to make our position particularly strong, it is enough

to mention our independence as regards the supply of the raw

materials, and the abundance of our clays and fuel, of a better

quality than those at the disposal of our competitors. Besides, the

localization of this manufacture in Staffordshire has caused the

concentration in this spot of an intelligent population, acquainted

with the traditions, from which the different branches of the trade

can be easily fed.

The soil of Staffordshire produces a variety of clays which are used

for common ware; but the most important is the one called _marl_,

which is fire-clay from the beds of the coal measures, used for making

the "saggers," or clay boxes, in which the ware is placed before it is

sent to the ovens. The quantity required for this purpose is very

large, and it was of the utmost importance that such material should

be good, cheap, and easily procured.

At present, however, the clays necessary to make china or earthenware

are not found in Staffordshire, but are sent from the counties of

Dorset, Devon, and the Duchy of Cornwall, where they constitute an

important branch of commerce. It is a common occurrence to hear

people, visiting Staffordshire for the first time, wonder at the

apparently abnormal fact of an industry settling in a district where

none of the requisite materials are to be found. I have mentioned in

the preceding pages how it happened that the trade first settled in

Burslem; and a short explanation will show that, although more perfect

clays from distant counties had to be used, there was no need to

change.

For baking pottery, the quantity of fuel required is comparatively

large. When, independently of the ovens and kilns, we take into

account what is absorbed by the steam-engines, preparation of

materials, and warming of the shops, we find that for every ton of

manufactured goods, at least three tons of coals are wanted, and that

for decorated goods, it will take twice that quantity, and even more.

As the districts from which the clays are sent have no coals, the

advantage of paying the carriage on the smallest number of tons to be

brought to the works becomes evident.

The potter's clay derives its origin from several felspathic 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 combination with water, with

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 colouring 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 geological 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 without fusing, but its readiness to combine with

alkaline matter, and to 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 density 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 element, which, being kept in

suspension in water for a longer time, was consequently carried

farther, leaving the silicious refuse to settle on its way.

For earthenware or china, the English potters use only two sorts of

clays: the ball clay, also called blue clay, and the kaolin. For

porcelain the last only is used; for earthenware, both. The ball clay,

exported from Teignmouth and Poole, comes from the lower tertiary

clays of Devon and Dorset, and is remarkably good and plastic, the

quantity of iron being comparatively very small. The ball clay from

Poole is dug in the neighbourhood of Wareham, by Mr. Pike. It is of a

very superior kind, and more than 70,000 tons are sent from that

harbour alone to the potteries, besides smaller quantities to the

Continent. As it possesses a little more alumina than those from

Teignmouth, which are dug at Teigngrace and Whiteway, near Bovey

Heathfield, they ought to have a little superiority over these,

although in practice the difference is not always perceptible.

Kaolin is the Chinese word given to the clay from which hard porcelain

is made, though here it is generally called China or Cornish clay.

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 greatest portion of its alkali, and become

converted into a kind of earth. By agitation in a large quantity of

water it dissolves readily; the refuse, composed of quartz, mica,

schorl, and undecomposed felspar, sinks by its own weight to the

bottom of the tank where the liquid mixture is to run; and the finest

part, which is the kaolin, is carried farther to large receptacles,

where it accumulates. When these are full, the clay is removed and

dried for export. In that state it is very white, and although not so

plastic as the ball clay, contains a little more alumina and less

iron, which accounts for its resisting much better the action of fire.

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 Cornish 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 different 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 vary 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 compact and of a closer texture.

When the mixture of these materials is completed, the colour 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 time when the

goods are perfected, the number of distinct operations to perform is

so great, that I can only give a summary description of the 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 increased. It must be so perfect, that

when the different 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

importance, 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 afterwards stored in distinct reservoirs, and the excess

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 10 or 12 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 sufficient 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 obtained

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 an 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 middle 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 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 interior 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 dismounted, 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 we have several classes of potters, called

according to their avocation: throwers, turners, handlers, hollow and

flat ware pressers, figure and ornament makers, tile makers,

modellers, mould and sagger makers, besides those who are employed 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 potter

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 an 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, leaving 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 exigencies 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 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

ornamented, 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 handles when they get

sufficiently hard. They are afterwards 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 operation, 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, whilst with the right he guides the polisher.

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 constructed on a

new principle, consisting of 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 cannot 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 absorbing 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 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 together 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 cannot 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 absorbs the water, and a deposit of solid clay adheres

to the surface. This soon increases in thickness; 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 to 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. I have already

mentioned 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 increases their bulk considerably. These are unstable

compounds, and may be destroyed by thoroughly drying them. Some other

materials used in pottery 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 atmospheric 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 consequence 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 mechanical, 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 process

is carried far enough, the ware may become partially vitrified and

acquire a certain amount of transparency. 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 an horizontal direction. In making the models, care should

be taken to bring 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 I have 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 giving 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

prevents the ashes carried by the draught from finding their way into

the interior, and damaging the contents.

In ancient times, the ovens, intended to hold few pieces, were very

small; but as the potters became more experienced, the sizes were

gradually increased, and now-a-days some of them are not less than 19

feet in diameter. The quality of fuel had, of course, a great deal to

do with their mode of construction. Now, however, that coals are

acknowledged to contain more heat, and to be cheaper than wood, the

ovens are generally built in a cylindrical form, with several mouths

or feeders disposed at equal distances on the outer circumference, the

upper part being covered by a semi-spherical dome or vault, to keep

the heat inside and reverberate it downwards. This construction is

very simple, the only complication being in the arrangement of flues

under the bottom of the oven, so as to throw into that part a portion

of the heat, which otherwise would be liable to accumulate towards the

top.

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 fireman, 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 in the brick-work, which are

shut or left open according to circumstances. Whatever may be the

construction 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 carbon,

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 not injured by, an oxidizing 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 completely 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_--an incorrect name, as it

seems to imply that it has already been fired twice, when, in fact, it

has been only fired once. Some classes of pottery do not require more

than a single firing, as, for instance, the common terra cotta and

stoneware. However, for all our English ware it is necessary to have

two fires, for the following 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 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 mixture

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. Printing

on pottery is comparatively a modern invention, its chief advantage

being the cheap rate of production. Up to the last century, the goods

were always painted by hand: a slow, but it must be confessed, a more

artistic process, as the work executed in this way, even of an

inferior kind, will exhibit a freedom of touch and facility of

execution, which will make it attractive and preferable to the

formality of a printed pattern, however rich or complicated it may be.

This superiority is sufficiently illustrated by comparing monochrome

patterns of Italian majolica, Delft, and Chinese, with the modern

printed ware of the same colour.

Public taste has so wonderfully improved lately, that, for my part, I

have no doubt that we shall soon have a special class of artists

trained to execute, by hand, cheap and simple decorations for those

purchasers who are not satisfied with printed decoration.

To what extent the introduction of printing on pottery has hindered

the progress of art education in Staffordshire, is a question on which

people may entertain different opinions; but we might ask, what amount

of artistic work we might not do, if at the present time we had some

hundreds of artisans trained from their early years to that style of

painting? However that may be, the process of transferring printed

patterns to biscuit ware was considered a great step, and one which

contributed largely to the extension of the earthenware trade.

Liverpool and Worcester claim the priority for this invention, towards

the year 1752. It is a fact that shortly after that date,

Staffordshire potters used to send their wares to Messrs. Sadler and

Guy-Green, of Liverpool, to be printed; and there is also 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

colour is used instead of lampblack, and that a fine tissue paper is

specially made for that purpose. When that paper, with the pattern

printed upon it, is laid on the ware, face downwards, the colours

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

in water, and the paper comes off quite freely, the whole of the

colour 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 colour. This is

done in kilns, called _hardening-on kilns_.

The colours in use for printing under the glaze are not many; as 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 completely 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

colour with increased beauty.

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 I do not

think it necessary to dwell on the importance of this operation. I

have stated already that it was used by the Egyptians and Assyrians,

who knew most of the saline mixtures by which white and coloured

glazes could be obtained; but these, which for the greatest part were

alkaline silicates, could not have resisted the action of time as they

have done, if a certain amount of silicate of lead had not made them

permanent. They found this material in the sulphide of lead, which by

the silica it contains, or that which it meets on the body of the

ware, gives a glaze, which stands exposure to damp better than any

other. That this mineral was used in remote antiquity, proofs are

numerous. I recollect, amongst others, some small shalti, or

sepulchral figures, made in Egypt more than two thousand years ago, of

which the red parts, such as the faces and hands, have been glazed in

this way. My opinion is, that it was used by the Greeks, in connection

with the black oxide of iron, to produce the black colour used in the

decoration of their vases, and it might some day prove that it was an

indispensable material in the preparation of the red smear, which is

the characteristic feature of the Samian ware. At all events it is

with this single 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 common 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 have been introduced. To prepare a glaze is

one of the most delicate operations 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 colours underneath would not be clear. It

may happen 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 accounts 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, called Cornish stone. 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, and I must say

that 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 comparatively modern use, which, being apt to promote the

brilliancy of the wares and the beauty of the various colours, is now

extensively used. When the components 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

suddenly, causes it to break into small fragments. This is called a

_fritt_; and when it is sent to the mill, any other insoluble

material may be added to it if necessary. To lay a thin coat of glaze

on the surface of earthenware, is a most expeditious process.

Advantage 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 interior, 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 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 implements 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 second firing does not take more than

fifteen or eighteen hours, and this completes the series of

operations, by which ordinary earthenware sold in the white or printed

state may be produced. The reader must understand that the majority of

these processes are also applicable to the manufacture of china, or

any other glazed pottery, with some modifications which I shall take

the opportunity of noticing, when speaking of these varieties.

Pottery may be decorated in a great number of ways, and the operations

are so varied that I cannot describe them all intelligibly, should I

attempt to do so in my limited space. I shall consequently speak only

of the paintings executed on the surface. This necessitates the use of

colours specially prepared and made from two distinct materials; the

bases and the fluxes. The bases are generally metallic oxides or

highly oxidized compounds; the fluxes are vitreous substances, similar

to the glazes, but softer, whose function is, to fix the colours

permanently on the ware. When both, after being intimately ground

together, are fired at a moderate heat on the article, the fluxes will

cause the colour of the bases to look more vigorous and brighter, the

effect being rather similar to that of an oil or transparent varnish

on ordinary body colour. For this object, they must have very little

chemical action, and be sufficiently soft to act in a moderate

quantity. If, by carelessness or accident, the temperature is raised

to a degree higher than the one exactly required, new compounds are

formed, and the alteration of the colour is the consequence. There are

some instances in which no fluxes are required; this is the case, when

the ware has been coated with a glaze sufficiently fusible to allow

the bases to sink in it, as soon as it begins to soften under the

influence of heat. By this process more force and effect are obtained.

It is, however, seldom used, for this reason, that from the care and

attention which it requires in the superintendence of the firing, the

manufacturer would run greater risks, and, being unable to use large

ovens, would not turn out the same quantity of ware. Altogether it is

a very expensive process.

Modern chemistry has placed at the disposal of colour makers new

compounds which have made the preparation of fluxes comparatively

easy. At the present time two classes are required: those in which the

oxides of lead predominate, and those chiefly made with borax, which

on account of its great purity is used in almost every flux, and is of

great service for those colours which, like the pinks and purples,

would suffer from the presence of lead.

The preparation of painting colours is a little more complicated, and

each requires a different treatment. The number of those found in the

trade is rather large, and each artist has his favourite maker. In

this, as in any other kind of painting, beginners are apt to think

that they will be assisted by the use of a great variety of tints,

when they will learn by more experience, that a very limited number is

sufficient. I cannot undertake to give any receipts for those who

might wish to prepare these themselves; I only mention the name of the

substances necessary to secure each of the essential colours.

White is not a colour, but when wanted on a coloured body, it is

procured by an enamel prepared with the oxide of tin. Light yellow

requires the oxides of lead and antimony. Orange will require the

same, with an addition of deutoxide of iron. The hydrate of peroxide

of the same metal will give a golden buff. The subchromate of lead

gives a very bright red, but it is very unsafe and mixes badly; the

reds made by calcining the common sulphate of iron are preferred. From

this, according to the degree of fire, all shades of red may be got,

from an orange red to a deep purple brown. The pinks, purples, and

crimsons are made from the precipitate of cassius; this is obtained by

pouring a weak solution of tin in the chloride of gold. The dark blue

is a triple silicate of cobalt, which, by the admixture of the white

oxide of zinc, may be converted into a brighter blue. The green oxide

of chrome is the base of all greens, the tint of which is modified by

cobalt for the blue greens, and antimony for the yellow greens. The

chromate of iron, a mineral coming in large quantities from South

America, is the base of all browns. The black may be got from the

mixture of various oxides, but the best is that made from the oxide of

iridium. Besides the above, there is another class of colours in which

the oxides are thoroughly combined with the fluxes, such as the greens

made from copper and the transparent blues, which are ground colours,

and must be classified with the glazes. When painting colours are

fired with their respective fluxes, they are very permanent, and will

not only resist ordinary atmospheric influences, but also the action

of every gas or mineral acid (the fluoric excepted). This seems an

advantage in favour of painting on pottery, and one which ought to

give them an additional value; in reality, however, artistic merit

ranks above all other considerations, and unless the work is original,

connoisseurs in pottery will hardly take this into account.

Several oils possessing drying properties, such as those of lavender,

aniseed, or turpentine, are mixed with the colours, which, from the

fact of containing vitreous substances, would work badly; even with

their assistance, it requires a certain amount of skill to master the

process. We must not make too much, however, of this difficulty,

generally exaggerated by the ignorance of apprentices in what

constitutes the very principles of their profession. When parents, in

perfect ignorance of the abilities of their son, have decided, after

putting their heads together, that he shall be a painter, sometimes

for no other consideration than that they can get him admission into a

porcelain manufactory, or that this is the nearest to their home, the

boy has not the least notion of what is before him, and hardly knows

that he will have to learn that very difficult thing, drawing. No

wonder then, if his deficiency in this will not allow him to produce,

we will not say good, but saleable paintings, unless he has spent a

dozen years on his trial. On the contrary, to one well prepared by the

study of art--one who, before he sets to his work, has a clear

conception of the effect which he wishes to produce--the process will

not stand in the way, and he will master it in the course of a few

weeks.

To induce talented men to devote their time to the decoration of

pottery, is perhaps the greatest difficulty met with by our leading

manufacturers. As long as the making of the ware only was concerned,

they had to call for the assistance of practical men, such as potters,

chemists, or engineers, the number of whom is fortunately great in

England, and whose services can be secured by money. The same thing is

not so easy in the matter of art. Up to a recent date, painting on

pottery was not considered as the high road to fortune, and artists

preferred to try their chance in oil or water-colour painting, fully

aware that they would have to fight against an army of competitors,

and to be satisfied with very small incomes, unless, by their, then

problematic, genius, they could cut their way to the front. Since,

however, the rage (there is no other word for it) for well decorated

pottery has spread in almost every class of society, the prices paid

for good work are more remunerative, and artists like Solon, Mussill,

and Coleman, can make artistic pottery their special business.

Royal Academicians like Poynter and Marks have thought it not beneath

them to prepare cartoons for Minton, and it is probable that others

would follow in the same path if, with the assistance of our chief

potters, they could be initiated into some of the mysteries of the

craft. No doubt they would find the study attractive, and there is no

fear that, having once begun, they would not keep faithfully to it.

For myself, I know of no such example.

In addition to the painting colours, there are a few metals which are

used to enrich pottery; unfortunately, the number of those which can

undergo exposure to a red heat without oxidizing is very limited.

There are only three, viz. gold, silver, and platinum, which can stand

it, and, among these, silver is of little use, on account of its

proneness to tarnish under the action of sulphurous gases. Gold, on

the contrary, affords to the decorator one of his greatest resources.

We cannot say when the Chinese began to use it; we only know that in

Europe it was thought a great discovery, when, in the sixteenth

century, it was used in the Italian majolica. From that time to the

introduction of hard and soft porcelain in Europe, it was rarely and

sparingly used; and it was at Meyssen, soon followed by the other

continental and English manufactories, that they began to use it

extensively. At the present time, its annual consumption by our

Staffordshire potters alone represents a very large sum of money.

There are several ways of preparing gold for pottery purposes; the

oldest consists in grinding gold leaves on a slab, adding to it gum

water, honey, or any other mucilaginous liquid. This laborious process

surpasses all others; it has a very artistic effect when used thin, in

the Chinese fashion, and, when laid thick, as we find it in the Old

SA"vres ware, it answers beautifully for chasing; the only drawback is

the expense. The most usual way is to have it amalgamated with

mercury, and afterwards ground in turpentine; it has then the

appearance of a blackish substance, which will regain its colour, as

soon as the mercury is volatilized by the application of a gentle

heat. When it comes out of the kiln, the gold is dull, and requires to

be burnished with agate and bloodstone tools, to be in possession of

all its brightness.

There is another decorated pottery, called lustre ware, now out of

fashion, but most successfully executed at one time by the Moors, the

Persians, and the Italians on their respective majolicas; the glaze of

this ware being more favourable than any other for the display of the

process. It simply consisted in painting over the fired ware with the

protoxide of some metal, such as that of copper, taking care that from

the moment the kiln began to get to the red heat, a constant supply of

thick smoke should be kept up. The partial reduction of the metal

which adheres to the surface has a very pleasing effect, as may be

noticed in the large Hispano-Moresco dishes, considered the finest

specimens of this class. Those produced in Italy by Georgio Andreoli

fetch, however, a higher price, on account of the redness of their

colour; the process is fully described in the celebrated manuscript of

Piccolo Passo, now in the library of the South Kensington Museum.

Lessore, the French painter, lately dead, and M. de Morgan, in London,

have succeeded in producing very fair specimens of that kind. Some of

our Staffordshire potters can make another lustre by mixing chloride

of gold with lavender oil, sulphur, resin, and other carburated

ingredients, and laying this mixture very thinly on the surface of the

glazed ware; the iridescent pinkish colour which it takes when it is

fired in an ordinary kiln is rather peculiar. This has no connection

with the old process, and is only used for the commonest kind of

goods.

The kilns in use for firing the painted or gilt ware, are called

muffles or enamelling kilns; they are in the form of a D, laid on its

straight side, and of a length proportionate to the size and number of

pieces which they are to hold. The fireplaces are arranged on one of

the sides, and the flues contrived in such a manner, that the flame

should travel round the whole of the outer surface, great care being

taken that it should not have access to the interior through any

cracks or joints which might exist in the brick-work. For ordinary

goods one firing may suffice; for those highly decorated, as many as

five or six may be necessary.

Let me now say a few words respecting the various wares produced by

our English potters.

The first earthenware made after the time of Wedgwood and Josiah Spode

was far from being so good as that made at present, and several

attempts were made to bring out a pottery which should be intermediate

between earthenware and porcelain. The most successful was that made

by Mr. Mason, of Fenton, who, in 1813, took out a patent for an

ironstone china, the body of which was fluxed by the scoriA| of

ironstone and the ordinary Cornish stone. But eventually this last was

found sufficient for that purpose. The name of ironstone remained to

that class of pottery which is strong and resistive. Since then,

however, earthenware has so much improved, that ironstone has gone out

of fashion; the nearest to it is the ware called _white granite_,

made for the American market, which is richly glazed, and made thick

to compete with the French hard porcelain, which is also exported to

the United States for the same class of customers. About fifty

manufactories are specially engaged in producing this ware; and those

in the occupation of Messrs. Meakin, Shaw, Bishop and Powell, and G.

Jones, may be considered the largest. The best earthenware is made for

the home market, some of which is so perfect that, if it were not

opaque, it might be mistaken for porcelain. When it is richly

decorated and gilt, like that made by Messrs. Minton, Wedgwood,

Furnival, Copeland, Brown-Westhead, Brownfields, and several other

leaders of the trade, very high prices are obtained for it.

Some of these makers do not devote all their attention to earthenware,

but produce other classes of pottery. Amongst the sorts which are most

connected with earthenware are majolica, Palissy, Persian ware, and

flooring and wall tiles. I have given the name of majolica to that

class of ornament, whose surface is covered with opaque enamels of a

great variety of colours. It is only connected with the Italian or

Moorish in this respect, that the opacity of the enamels is produced

by the oxide of tin; but as we have not in England the calcareous clay

for making the real article, we have been obliged to adapt, as well as

we could, the old processes to the materials at our disposal.

At present, English majolica is very popular, and without a rival for

garden decoration, as it stands exposure to the weather better than

ordinary earthenware, besides the impossibility of the latter

receiving the opaque enamels without crazing or chipping.

Majolica was produced for the first time by Messrs. Minton, in 1850,

and they have been for many years the only producers of this article.

It is only five or six years ago that Messrs. Maw, of Broseley, in

Shropshire (and very lately the Worcester manufactory), have made a

pottery of the same kind. The name of majolica is now applied

indiscriminately to all fancy articles of coloured pottery. When,

however, it is decorated by means of coloured glazes, if these are

transparent, it ought to be called Palissy ware, from the name of the

great artist who used these for his beautiful works. Messrs. Wedgwood,

George Jones, and a few other makers of less importance, are

reproducing it more or less successfully. To Messrs. Minton, however,

we owe the revival of the ware, which, in connection with their

majolica, created such a sensation in the French International

Exhibition of 1855; and credit must be given to those gentlemen, for

being on that occasion the promoters of that demand for artistic

pottery, which has so largely developed of late. It is to satisfy this

craving for novelties, that they have undertaken the imitation of the

faA-ence d'Oiron, better known by the name of Henri Deux ware, a rare

and costly one, which can only be produced in small quantities; and

also their most recent improvement, the reproduction of the Persian

wares.

In the old Persian pottery we find a real earthenware taking a

precedence of several centuries over our own. There is little doubt

that it can be connected with the early Arabian, Assyrian, and

Egyptian, by the similitude of the processes common to all. I have no

room to explain how it is that, being an earthenware, it is so much

richer in colour than the modern ware made on this side of Europe. I

can only mention that the body of the Persian ware may be converted

into a transparent porcelain by firing it hard, which shows that the

sandy clays from which these are made are sufficiently saline to

become vitreous. To this they owe the property of receiving, without

crazing, glazes of the softest kind, and consequently of exhibiting

those colours which can only stand at a low temperature, such as the

Persian red, the turquoise, and that purple or violet which makes so

valuable the specimens on which it is laid. If we had in England sandy

clays like those which abound in Persia, the reproduction of Persian

ware would have been an easy undertaking; but in trying to

reconstitute it by synthesis, there were several obstacles. Within the

last three years, however, Messrs. Minton have sold a great many

specimens of the ware, some of them of very large size. They may be

recognized by the depth of the turquoise, which is sometimes as rich

as SA"vres pieces of the best period. Their only competitors for this

class of pottery are the manufactories of Worcester and of Messrs. Maw

and Co.

I cannot leave earthenware without mentioning the plain and encaustic

tiles, articles of comparatively recent manufacture in England, but

whose consumption is increasing so fast, that it may be expected in

time to afford a most valuable compensation, should circumstances

restrict the production of some other branch of the trade. There is no

need to dwell on the advantages offered by the use of tiles. They are

clean, invaluable in a sanitary point of view, free from further

deterioration and expense for maintenance, and susceptible of a

variety of treatment which makes them admirably fitted for decorative

purposes. To the Eastern nations we owe the idea of using ornamental

tiles, and it is likely that it is from the numerous buildings

existing in Western Asia and the north of Africa, at the time of the

Crusades, that our forefathers took the notion of introducing in

Europe the encaustic tiles; their ceramic knowledge being too limited

to undertake the making of painted or enamelled tiles, an essentially

Saracenic and Moorish production, whose specimens nearest to us are

those to be seen in the Alhambra, or in the Alcazar at Seville. An

inspection of those made afterwards in Spain, in the time of Charles

V., or in Italy for the Vatican, and some of the palaces in Genoa,

would prove that they were made exactly in the same way. From the

contrast between the opaque and transparent enamels, these tiles have

a very forcible and harmonious effect, not to be met in others (the

Persian excepted, though these, exclusively decorated on a cool scale

of colours, cannot answer so well the requirements of modern

architecture). The majolica and Delft tiles, chiefly the last, have

been almost exclusively used during the seventeenth and eighteenth

centuries, and it is only within the last forty years, that we began

to make them in earthenware. With the revival of this manufacture, and

of almost any other sort of tiles, the name of Herbert Minton is

closely associated. It was during his time, and with the assistance of

Mr. Michael Daintry Hollins, that this great undertaking was carried

out with such success, that hardly a new church or public building is

erected where these tiles are not introduced. The making of plain

tiles is new and peculiar. They 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 suppressed, 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 colours 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 colours are shown

standing neatly side by side with the greatest precision. It is a

pretty process and interesting to witness. Besides the flooring tiles,

there are many other sorts made for lining walls and fireplaces,

varying considerably in style and material. There are two very

extensive and perfected tile works at Stoke, viz. those belonging to

Mr. Hollins and the Campbell Brick and Tile Company, in both of which

all sorts of flooring and wall tiles are made. In the second, recently

built, Mr. Colin Minton Campbell, the proprietor, has introduced new

arrangements and contrivances in almost every department; all

operations being performed on the ground floor, and in such manner

that the goods shall travel the shortest possible distance from the

moment they are begun to that of their completion. He has been the

first to use Maw's patent steam presses for plain tiles, each of which

can make twelve thousand tiles weekly, requiring only the assistance

of a single person, to remove the tiles as they come out from the

mould. It is by the intelligent use of these mechanical processes,

that we may expect a reduction in the price of such a useful article.

The firm of Mintons still continue to make their plain white printed

and artistic tiles, along with their patent process for painting on

mosaics. The Broseley Works, in Shropshire, belonging to Messrs. Maw

and Co., have also a great name, and carry on an extensive business in

tile making. Next are those of Messrs. Edge and Malkin, of Burslem.

Messrs. Simpson, of London, are well known for their wall decorations

in tiles painted by hand, and Messrs. Copeland, of Stoke, for their

painted slabs.

The various porcelain biscuits known under the name of Parian or

statuary biscuits, 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 hardness or fusibility is

regulated by the proportion of one material towards the other. Of

course, similar biscuits may 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

below the surface, imparts to these biscuits a softness which is

wanting in the similar productions of SA"vres, Germany, and Denmark.

In noticing the bluish-white colour of the foreign article as compared

with the cream tint of our own, I must explain that this difference

lies in the management of the fire, since in none of them is stain or

colour introduced to procure any such result. As my readers 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

reductive; while here, on the contrary, it is oxidizing; and it is to

the formation of a small quantity of silicate of peroxide of iron

disseminated in the mass, that the creamy colour of our Parian is due.

Since this new material was introduced by Messrs. Copeland and Messrs.

Minton, about twenty-eight years ago, a large quantity of figures,

busts, and groups have been sold, and the talent of our most eminent

sculptors has been put to contribution to get models adapted for this

kind of ware. Parian is generally cast, which accounts for the great

contraction it undergoes when fired, and much care is required 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 but 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 making pieces of decoration. The manufactory at Worcester,

several years ago, made a great many coloured and gilt ornaments in

the Cinque-cento style, to which it has lately added a highly artistic

imitation of the Japanese lacquered ivories, for which great credit is

due to the present director, Mr. Binns.

The Belleek manufactory, in Ireland, has obtained a name for coating

its glazed Parian with an iridescent lustre, in imitation of a similar

article invented by a Frenchman, M. Bianchon.

For richly decorated ornaments, the body of the Parian has been

stained with success in many rich colours by Messrs. Minton, their

last production in this class being a Parian combining the red colour

of the terra cotta, with the advantages of a vitrified porcelain.

Their most artistic ware is, however, their _pActe sur pActe_, in

the production of which they have been assisted by M. Solon, an

eminent artist, who left the SA"vres works to establish this branch of

fine art in their manufactory. To carry on this process, advantage is

taken of the transparency of the Parian body with which the figures or

ornaments introduced in the composition are painted, or rather

modelled. As they are laid on a ground of a dark colour, the softness

of the shades in the thinner parts gives to the finished pieces a

particularly beautiful cameo appearance. The effect may be compared to

that of the Limoges enamels, when confined to the white colour. This

process has a certain connection with that of Wedgwood for making his

jasper ware; but there is this difference, that in the jasper, the

figures and ornaments are taken from clay moulds, and may be repeated

to any extent, the talent of the artisan consisting in pressing neatly

and transferring on the vases the various fragments of decoration,

without destroying the sharpness of the impression, while in the _pActe

sur pActe_ original works can only be produced by the artist, who must

combine the qualifications of designer and modeller. What I say here

is not in disparagement of jasper, which, considering the time of its

introduction, was far in advance of anything that could be expected.

In its production the Wedgwoods never had a rival, and the models of

the celebrated Josiah Wedgwood are still worked at their manufactory

at Etruria, with the same success. The sulphate and carbonate of

barytes were the fluxes originally used to vitrify the body of the

jasper ware, and on this account it ought to be classified with the

stoneware. Parian, which may be made from purely granitic materials,

has a nearer connection with porcelain.

There are three different sorts of porcelain: 1. The Chinese and

Japanese, with which may be assimilated the German and French, all of

them made of kaolin and felspar, sometimes with an addition of quartz.

The principal seat of this manufacture is now in France, with Limoges

for its centre. 2. The soft porcelain, of which the most perfect type

is the old SA"vres, includes those of Chelsea, Bow, Worcester, and

Derby. In all these the transparency, which is the distinctive feature

of porcelain, is secured by the introduction of _fritt_, a mixture of

sand and alkaline materials thoroughly vitrified, ground and made

workable by an addition of plastic clay. The calcareous marl used at

SA"vres gave to the French works a superiority over the English, who

could only use the clays from our southern counties. The manufacture

of the soft porcelain, on account of its difficulties, is almost

abandoned. 3. The English porcelain, the body of which is made, like

the hard, from kaolin and Cornish stone, but differing from it by the

addition of a large proportion of calcined bones. This kind is

exclusively English. For the hard porcelain, the glaze is made from

felspar containing a variable quantity of quartz, or, as in Germany,

from quartz vitrified by an addition of gypsum, the melting of which

in both cases requires a very high temperature. For the glazing of the

two other classes of porcelain, a soft, vitreous mixture containing

silicate of lead and borates is used, the temperature necessary to

melt these being much inferior to that required for firing the biscuit.

The most ancient porcelain is, as everyone knows, the Chinese, which,

relying on the few authorities that have written on this subject, may

have been in existence for two thousand years, and is said to have

reached its greatest perfection towards the eleventh century of our

era. The Portuguese have the credit of having been the first to

introduce it in Europe, in 1520; but it is not improbable that, before

they doubled the Cape of Good Hope, some specimens were brought to

Europe through India and Persia. This may be inferred from the mention

by ancient historians of some extraordinary white vessels, which could

hardly correspond to any other kind of ware. The Portuguese and the

Dutch, who were the first to explore the Chinese seas, seem to have

derived a good trade from the importation of the porcelain into

Europe, and, since then, the reproduction of that refined pottery was

the ambition of many alchemists, who pursued their experiments in that

direction with an eagerness almost equal to that wasted in the search

for the philosopher's stone. For a long time, in consequence of the

imperfection of their chemical knowledge, their efforts ended in

failure. The only successful attempt was that of Francis II., one of

the Medicis, who produced a few pieces of soft porcelain recognizable

by their mark, representing the dome of Florence.

At the death of this prince, his secret was lost, and it was a long

time afterwards, at the end of the seventeenth century, that John

Dwight, a potter, of Fulham, in Middlesex, took a patent for what is

curiously reported by Dr. Plot as "_the mystery of transparent

earthenware commonly knowne by the name of porcelaine and Persian

ware_." Made from English materials, it is probable that this was

nothing better than a kind of white stoneware, possessing little of

those qualities which would entitle it to the name of porcelain. Next

to that in date would be the soft porcelain made at the manufactory of

St. Cloud, which was said to produce, in 1698, pieces of ware

considered very good imitations of the Oriental. This was the origin

of the French soft porcelain, which was carried on afterwards with

varied success at Chantilly, Vincennes, and other places, till it was

definitely settled, in 1756, by King Louis XV. in the royal

establishment of SA"vres. At a corresponding period, on this side of

the Channel, the efforts of our potters were varied and numerous. If

we are to believe Dr. Martyn Lister, a manufactory of porcelain

existed at Chelsea as far back as 1698, a fact which would establish

for England a claim equal to that of France for the discovery of the

soft porcelain. This is not altogether improbable, considering that

there was a glass manufactory in that locality before that, and that

many people had a notion that porcelain was nothing else than a glass

hardened and made opaque. The managers of these glass-works may have

experimented on that supposition, and the conjecture is strengthened

by the fact, that pounded glass was always used at Chelsea to give the

desired transparency. Good specimens are not, however, recorded before

1745, and it is probable that many of the improvements at Chelsea were

realized by the Staffordshire potters, who, two years later, went

there to apply their industry. The priority in making practically good

ware belongs to the works established in 1730 at Stratford-le-Bow,

from which the Bow porcelain took its name. It was not perfected

there, however, before 1744, when a china, softer than that made at

Chelsea, and nearer to that made at Vincennes, was manufactured by a

potter named Frye, originally a painter, who seems to have been the

promoter and manager of these works, which at one time did not employ

less than three hundred people.

Bow was celebrated for its statuettes, and it is said that several of

them were modelled by Bacon, the sculptor. The successes of Bow and

Chelsea were great but of short duration, for both had ceased to exist

in 1775, when their utensils and moulds were sold to Mr. William

Dwesbury, and carried to Derby, where this enterprising gentleman had

started a manufactory as far back as 1751.

Three generations of Dwesbury continued here the traditions of

Chelsea, after which time the works became the property of Robert

Bloor, the last owner of repute. I am happy to say that after ceasing

to exist for a great many years, this celebrated manufactory is going

to be revived under the leadership of Mr. E. Phillips, formerly one of

the directors of the Worcester works. In that same year (1761), a

man--who for his inquiring turn of mind and artistic knowledge seems

to have a great likeness to Josiah Wedgwood--Johu Wall, a doctor and a

chemist, began also to make porcelain at Worcester; and if Mr. Binns'

assertions are correct as regards the preparation of the fritt used in

it, he must have had some knowledge of the Vincennes receipts. The

Worcester works have now been celebrated for more than a century, and

with them must be associated the names of the various owners, Flight,

Barr, and Chamberlain. At Caughley, in Shropshire, a manufactory of

soft porcelain was in existence in 1756, and it was employed at one

time by the proprietors of the Worcester works to assist in making

ware, which was sent back to them to be decorated. The Caughley works

were bought by John Rose, a pupil of Turner, the first director, and

transferred to Coalport, with which the works of Nantgarw, in South

Wales, were also amalgamated. These works have been in the family of

John Rose until lately, when they came into the possession of M. Pew,

the present owner. For softness and resistance of body, brightness of

glaze, and clearness of colour, the Coalport ware is held in great

esteem by those who know anything about china. At Swinton, in

Yorkshire, soft porcelain was manufactured on the property of the

Marquis of Rockingham. Manufactories also existed at other places, so

that the reader may here remark, that all exertions to establish the

manufacture of china were made outside Staffordshire; and if he has

noticed the dates, he will also perceive that all these works were

founded, when Wedgwood was too young to render any assistance. This we

must say in justice to Dr. Wall, Frye, Dwesbury, and Cookworthy--whose

name must not be forgotten as the discoverer of the Cornish clay,

which so greatly promoted the ceramic trade of this country. William

Cookworthy was a chemist and druggist, at Plymouth, a member of the

Society of Friends, and a man of great respectability. Having had the

opportunity of seeing some kaolin and felspar from Virginia, that an

American friend had shown to him as the very material from which the

Chinese porcelain was made, he recognized, several years afterwards,

the same in Cornwall, and setting resolutely to work, he began to make

his first trials at St. Stephens, on the property of Lord Camelford,

and afterwards at Plymouth, where he remained till 1774, when

Champion, a merchant of Bristol, bought his patent, and removed the

works to the latter place. I must here explain that Cookworthy's ideas

of the making of porcelain were correct, inasmuch as he wished to

closely imitate the Chinese; consequently he had to work on different

principles from those then in favour at Chelsea and other places. He

wanted to produce a porcelain without fritt and with a felspathic

glaze, and, in succeeding in his attempt, this energetic man is

entitled to a great deal of credit, when we consider that, although

the processes discovered by Bottger, in 1710, at Meyssen, for making

hard porcelain, were also put in practice at Vienna, St. Petersburg,

and Berlin, they were kept very secret, and it is most probable that

he had no information whatever from those quarters. It would be to rob

Cookworthy to admit that the hard porcelain pieces, known by the name

of Lowestoft, were made in that locality. I am indeed sorry to differ

in this from an eminent critic, who has taken great trouble to collect

documents in support of this opinion; but those who are in favour of

it know very little about the difficulties attending the organization

of such manufacture, and the quality of the materials that it

requires. Besides the absence of any information respecting the place

whence these materials were taken, the vast quantity of pieces which

are met with is such, that it precludes the idea that they have been

made in the precincts of such a small establishment. They have every

feature of Chinese porcelain, and of one made in large quantities. It

is most probable that, after making, or trying to make, soft porcelain

for a time, the proprietors of the Lowestoft works found it more

profitable to paint and decorate the foreign article, which they could

easily get from Holland in the white state.

Most pieces of Cookworthy manufacture were copied from the Chinese,

and are still well known by the name of Plymouth porcelain. At

Bristol, Champion used the same clay to produce a softer kind of ware,

and his materials began to be employed at Bow and other places. The

Staffordshire potters soon became anxious to take advantage of the

discovery, and in 1777 a company was formed by Jacob Warburton to

obtain a licence for their use. This was granted by Champion, but with

this singular restriction--that, although they were allowed to use a

certain quantity of china clay and china stone, they were not to make

porcelain. This restriction, however, did not last long, and Champion

himself came for a short time to Shelton to superintend some works.

Amongst the names of Warburton's associates, we notice some well known

in Staffordshire, such as S. Hollins, of Shelton; Antony Keeling, of

Tunstall; Turner, of Lane End, and a few others. To these gentlemen we

must give credit for the earliest attempts to introduce the

manufacture of china into the Potteries. However, their porcelain was

inferior to that made at Worcester and Derby, and it is doubtful

whether they would have persisted, if the matter had not been settled

by Josiah Spode, the second of that name, who, by adding calcined

bones to the body of the ware, made a new kind of porcelain, distinct

from the hard or the soft previously made. On that account Spode

deserves to be considered as the creator of the English porcelain.

There is this peculiarity in the use of bones, that the phosphate of

lime which enters into their composition is not decomposed by the

silicates with which it is mixed, and, as it is infusible, its

admixture in the body allows the ware to stand without injury the

temperature at which the felspar is vitrified. This hardening of the

bones does not exclude a certain amount of transparency, and they

possess, besides, a very great advantage in preventing the oxides of

iron which exist in the clays, producing that brownish or imperfect

transparency, noticeable in the old Derby or Worcester ware. I have

already said that the adaptation of the glaze for each kind of pottery

is one of the greatest difficulties that the maker has to overcome; in

this case, however, there was very little, and the glazing of English

porcelain may be considered as exceptionally easy. Most of the glazes

which had been used for the soft porcelain could be adapted to this

one, a property which was of great service when the pieces had to be

decorated. I have already explained, that when paintings executed on

the surface of the ware are submitted to a moderate red heat, if the

glaze is soft enough to undergo an incipient fusion, the vitreous

colours with which they are executed will sink into it and attain, by

their incorporation, an amount of glossiness and brilliancy which

cannot be got on the surface of hard glazes. This is particularly

illustrated by the old SA"vres ware, which possesses this quality in

the highest degree. English porcelain, well-made, has almost all the

advantages of the old soft, and its making is not attended with the

difficulties experienced in working a body made from fritted

substances. For regular use, it is not much inferior to the hard

porcelain. When this last began to be made on the Continent, people

were so much prejudiced in its favour, on account of the capability of

its glaze to resist the scratching of the knife, that this was thought

to more than compensate for its inability to combine with the colours.

The advantage was, in fact, more apparent than real, for when hard

porcelain has been long in use, it becomes as badly scratched as the

English. Some people question whether it would not be desirable to

revive in England the manufacture of the hard. There are many reasons

against this, the principal being, that in case we succeeded, we

should have to compete with the French and Germans, who get their

labour cheaper, and have a long experience of processes altogether

different from ours; and by the change we should lose the advantage of

our traditions, and depend, at least for a time, on foreign labour to

give a new training to our workmen. Out of the trade, few people seem

to know that the price of hard porcelain is generally lower than that

given for the English; and, if the experiment were made, it would be

soon found that with greater risks we should produce an article of

less value, and consequently less remunerative. It is true that the

exports of our best china are very small, on account of its price; but

with the improvement going on in the public taste, it is likely to

increase, and there are signs that eventually our richest articles may

find purchasers on the other side of the Atlantic.

In Europe, where the value of the various ceramic productions has been

more investigated than in the other parts of the world, there is

hardly an amateur who does not recognize the superiority of a soft

porcelain for decorated articles, and if the English china is not,

properly speaking, as soft as the old SA"vres, it is certainly nearer

to it than any other porcelain. This superiority is proved by the test

that the various porcelains are undergoing at the present time, and

which is rather decisive. We understand by this, the manner in which

they have stood the dangerous competition arising from the

introduction of artistic faiences or painted majolica. While, in

consequence of this, the French manufacturers have seen the production

of ornamental articles in hard porcelain collapse to an incredible

extent, the quantity of those made in England for similar purposes is

fast increasing.

Messrs. Copeland, whose father, the late alderman, was for some time

in partnership with Spode, occupy, in Stoke-upon-Trent, the same

establishment in which that great potter carried out his improvements.

Since then, these makers have kept their rank among the principal

leaders of the trade, and maintain their reputation for the excellence

of their decoration and the beauty of their gilding. It was so far

fortunate for Stoke that, although one of the smallest towns in the

Potteries, it became the seat of the most important manufactories of

china. It was in 1788 that Thomas Minton, who had been brought up as

an engraver at the Caughley works, in Shropshire, and who in that

capacity had been several years in the employment of Spode, founded in

that town the establishment which subsequently became the property of

his son, Herbert Minton. The father does not seem to have possessed

these qualities which, as potter, should entitle him to a special

notice; but the same cannot be said of the son, who soon after his

father's death began to work in earnest to raise his manufactory to

its present degree of eminence. The unceasing activity of his mind in

carrying out improvements in all the branches of his trade, may be

attested by one who for many years had the honour of working with him.

On every matter connected with art his ideas were sound, and his

natural tact rarely failed in finding out that which was most suited

to the taste of his customers. His reputation, as the most advanced

potter of his time, is so well established, that I am not astonished

to find others claiming a share in it, asserting that it was at their

suggestion, or with their assistance, that he left the old path to

open the way to progress. Suggestions and advices are always freely

given to a man of sociable disposition as was Herbert Minton, but he

used his own judgment and discretion to test their practicability. In

applying higher class of art to his productions, he had only to follow

his own inclinations, guided by that care and prudence which are

inseparable from good administration. He knew how to select his

assistants, and was particularly fortunate in his partners, his two

nephews: Michael Hollins, who, since he left the firm of Minton, is

the owner of a large tile manufactory at Stoke; and Colin Minton

Campbell, his pupil and heir, who, after taking an active part in all

his labours, has so successfully followed the example set by his

uncle, that Minton's manufactory is now the largest in existence, and

turns out the greatest variety of ware. With Minton and Copeland must

be associated the names of Messrs. Brown-Westhead, of Caulden Place;

and outside Staffordshire, the Coalport works and the Royal

manufactory at Worcester. These are the principal producers of richly

decorated china, for which the demand has greatly increased during the

last few years. The greatest bulk of that ware is, however, made at

Longton, one of the pottery towns which has a reputation for the

cheapness of its goods; but of late a decided tendency to improve

their quality and prices must be noticed among the generality of its

manufacturers. Several of them, like Messrs. Ainsley, Moore, Barlow,

and others, are trying to raise their goods to the same level as those

of Stoke. There are about thirty-five firms in the Potteries making

china, most of them for the home trade, and over five times that

number making earthenware. These two hundred and thirty manufactories

are spread over an area of ten square miles, comprising the towns of

Hanley, Burslem, Tunstall, Longton, Fenton, Shelton, and

Stoke-upon-Trent, from which the electoral borough takes its name.

These, which in a few years are likely to be amalgamated in a single

town, form the district called the Potteries, containing already a

population of 170,000 inhabitants engaged in the ceramic and iron

trade. It has been remarked that since the foundation of Burslem, the

mother town of the Potteries, the population of the district has

doubled every twenty-five years, and it is easy to foresee the time

when Stoke-upon-Trent will rank in importance with our largest

commercial cities.

The export of porcelain is not large; but that of earthenware reaches

one and a half million of pounds. This does not appear large compared

with the enormous amount exported by the iron or the cotton trades,

but it is satisfactory, if taken in combination with the quantity

absorbed by the home trade, which represents quite as much. Our

colonial trade with Australia, India, and British America is decidedly

on the increase, and the same may be said as regards South America. On

the contrary, our transactions with the Continent of Europe have a

tendency to decrease, and to fluctuate in the case of the United

States, a very important market, which, in time of prosperity, would

take as much as 800,000_l._ of granite ware.

To meet the competition of France and Germany, on one side, and the

Americans on the other, great changes have taken place in the

management of our works. Several processes have been improved or

simplified, and large manufactories have been built on better

principles. These steps were not taken too soon; for if competition

scarcely existed for our goods twenty years ago, that state of things

has been much altered, and it will require a great deal of application

and energy on our part, if we intend to maintain our position as the

largest and best producers of pottery in the world.

It is a fact that America, which had not a single manufactory worth

the name at the time of the New York Exhibition, produces now, with

the assistance of British workmen, granite ware of tolerably good

quality; and I have been told by an eye-witness, that no less than

seventy ovens are now at work at Trenton, in New Jersey. The clays and

coals used by these potters are good, and if the salaries are higher

than they are in England, they find a compensation in the heavy duties

which, since the war of Secession, are levied on our wares.

Our commercial intercourse with France has not much altered, and the

quantity of our goods sent across the Channel may be considered small

compared with the importance of this market. The French are the

largest producers of hard porcelain, and they make their common

earthenware quite as cheap, if not cheaper, than ours. However, if

they are strong at home, they have never affected our trade abroad,

except in the United States, where they send their porcelain in

competition with English granite.

At the present time, the rivalry from which we have suffered most in

Germany, the North of Europe, and as far as Italy, comes from a group

of establishments situated in the Rhenish provinces and that

neighbourhood: at Sarreguemines, Sarrelouis, Vaudrevange, Mettlach,

Maestricht, and a few other places. Built in the centre of a populous

district, where labour is still very cheap, their intelligent and

wealthy proprietors share in each other's business, and consequently

have no inducement for lowering their prices. They seem to have given

a considerable portion of their time to the study of the various

processes, and they have so far succeeded, that they are a great deal

more independent with regard to their men than we are. Possessing

these advantages, we cannot wonder, if we have not been able to keep

our hold on those markets which were the nearest to them. Besides, it

is plain, that the important rise which has taken place in the price

of wages and fuel, and the consequent increase in the price of our

wares, has acted as an encouragement to foreign production; and

perhaps it may be good policy, in future, to resist any further

opportunity which might offer to increase the price of our goods. It

would, however, be singular if, in the course of time, England did not

derive some benefit from this competition; she is used to close

contest, and, everything considered, her position is an enviable one.

Our home trade is excellent; and if the amount of our exports does not

progress so fast as we could desire, we know that we have in our

commercial fleet more facilities that any other nation for sending our

goods to those numerous countries where the trade of pottery is hardly

established, and we rely on our honest and straightforward way of

dealing, for securing new customers for English manufacture.