THE THIRD FAMOUS POTTER
Theo's crutches did not arrive as soon as he expected, both because of
the remoteness of the camp and a confusion in transportation.
Poor Theo! After getting his hopes up it was hard to be cheerful over
this disappointment, and the courage that until now had buoyed him up
suddenly began to fail.
"I just wish one of those miserable expressmen could have a broken leg
and then he'd see how good it is to be laid up like this," fretted the
boy indignantly.
"Oh, come, don't wish that!" Mr. Croyden protested laughing, "for if
you decree that the expressmen be disabled you will never get your
crutches."
"I suppose not," admitted Theo grudgingly. "But it is so irritating."
"I know that; still, it might be worse, Theo. You really are pretty
comfortable, you know."
"Yes."
"You are not suffering."
"No," murmured the lad, hanging his head.
"You have plenty to eat."
"Yes."
"And the food is good."
Theo flushed, but said nothing.
"There is many a boy worse off than you are."
"Probably."
"I guess your father could show you a score of them were you to
accompany him on one of his hospital rounds. Suppose, for example, you
were in pain every moment, and were never to walk again. That would be
a real calamity, and something to fuss about."
Theo raised his eyes.
"I know it, sir," he said instantly. "I'm afraid I have been pretty
grumpy and cross."
"No. Until now you have been most patient--phenomenally patient for a
lad who loves to be doing something every minute. It is precisely
because you have done so well that I'd like you to hold out a little
longer."
Theo's lip quivered; then suddenly his scowl melted into a mischievous
smile.
"I believe, Mr. Croyden, that you are as good at preaching as you are
at lecturing," he observed gaily.
Mr. Croyden nodded his head.
"You are one of the few persons, Theo, who appreciate me at my full
value. I am really a very gifted person if only other people suspected
it. In return for your recognition of my talents I have half a mind to
favor you with another of my celebrated lectures this very instant."
"I wish you would," came eagerly from Theo. "But aren't you going off
fishing this morning?"
"No. Your father and Manuel are going to fish some secret trout hole,
and they did not invite me. You see, your father's guide and mine are
the best of friends until it comes to trout holes; then they are sworn
enemies. Manuel won't tell Tony where he finds his five and six
pounders; and Tony won't tell Manuel. Yesterday Tony actually led me
nearly half a mile out of my way so Manuel should not see where we
were going. He wanted to throw him off the scent, and I guess he did
it, too. This rivalry between fishing guides is very common and
sometimes, I am sorry to say, it is less good-natured than here."
"It seems very silly," Theo remarked.
"It is the same old question of protecting the source of one's
income. Governments as well as individuals have to confront the
problem. You remember how the Chinese tried to shut every one out from
knowing how they made their porcelain?"
"Yes, indeed. And you never have told me yet how the European nations
found out the secret."
"Until now we had not come to that story," replied Mr. Croyden. "But
to-day it chances that that is the very tale I have in mind to tell
you."
Theo rubbed his hands, and with a contented smile settled back against
the pillows prepared to listen.
"As I told you," began Mr. Croyden, "about 1518 Portuguese traders
brought Chinese porcelains into Europe; and following their lead the
Dutch imported the same goods in even greater quantities. Everywhere
people marveled at the beauty of these wares just as you would have
done if up to that time you had never seen anything but crude clay
dishes. The whiteness of the porcelain seemed a miracle, and on every
hand people were eager to make such china themselves. Especially
eager were the rulers of the different European countries, who were
clever enough to see that such production would greatly increase their
national fame and prosperity. Now there chanced to be a Prussian by
the name of Boettger, an alchemist, who because of the wars had fled
for safety to Meissen. He was a man well-versed in the composition of
minerals and chemicals, and in consequence Augustus II, who was at
that time Elector of Saxony, sent for him, and asked him to join his
other skilled chemists, who for a long time had been busy
experimenting with clays in the hope of discovering how the Chinese
made their porcelain. This was no unusual thing, for chemists of most
of the other countries were working feverishly in their laboratories
at the same enigma."
"Doesn't it seem funny?"
"As you look back on it, yes," answered Mr. Croyden. "It is almost
tragic when you consider the time, patience, and money that went into
these experiments--most of them failures, at that."
"Did Boettger fail too?"
"I am coming to that," replied the story-teller. "While mixing
various combinations of clays Boettger and his associates came upon a
hard pottery clay which was neither white nor translucent like the
Chinese, but which nevertheless was nearer that ware than anything
they had previously succeeded in making. In 1708 some dishes were
made from this material, but they were not very satisfactory. After
that Boettger tried again. You see he was not a person who was easily
discouraged. The next time he got a white ware, but it was not thin;
instead it was thick and ugly. He now had the hardness and the
whiteness, but not the semi-transparency and fine texture of the
Chinese porcelain; and although he tried repeatedly he was unable to
fathom the secret of these qualities."
Theo waited while Mr. Croyden stopped to rest.
"The one thing Boettger needed he did not know where to find and that
was----"
"Kaolin!" cried Theo.
"Exactly," assented Mr. Croyden. "What a pity it is that you could not
have shouted the magic word in his ear as lustily as you have in
mine. It would have saved poor Boettger no end of worry and hard
work. However, even if he had heard the name it probably would have
conveyed nothing to him, for no one in Europe had ever heard of
kaolin."
"I suppose it is a Chinese word."
"Yes. The name was taken from the Chinese mountain of Kailing, where
the first kaolin, or decomposed feldspar, was found."
"Now please go on with the story," urged Theo.
"Well, one day it happened that a rich Saxon iron-master was taking a
ride, and as he went along his horse's foot stuck in the soft clay at
the roadside. As the rider glanced down to see what the trouble was he
was amazed to discover that the clay was white, and being a business
man the thought instantly came into his mind that here was a way to
make some money. At that time all the nobles of the Court wore
powdered wigs, and the quick-witted iron-master said to himself: 'I
will get some of this clay, sift it very fine, do it up in packages,
and sell it for powdering the hair; thus I will make my fortune.'
Accordingly his servants dug some of the clay, and after it had been
carefully sifted through cloth, he put it upon the market as a new
wig-powder. Now in those days the more well-to-do persons had several
wigs or at least two, in order that while the one was being worn the
other might be sent away to the hair-dresser's to be curled and
powdered. Therefore, in the course of time it chanced that Boettger's
servant, like others, sent away his master's wig to have it freshened
up. When it came back it was beautifully dressed and was powdered with
some of the iron-master's new powder. It looked very fine indeed, and
Boettger had no fault to find with it until he took it up to put it on
his head; then he observed that it was strangely heavy. 'What's this!'
he cried to his servant. 'What have you been doing to my wig, rascal?'
Terror-stricken the servant protested that he had done nothing.
Boettger carried the wig into his laboratory that he might examine it
more carefully, and he soon came to the conclusion that the weight of
the article lay in the powder. He therefore shook it off and set to
work to analyze it. What was his surprise to find the powder a white
mineral substance of which he knew nothing. You may be sure he was not
long in tracking down the hair-dresser and learning from him where he
got his new powder. Next he went to the Saxon iron-master and bought
from him a great quantity of the stuff, after which the chemist shut
himself up in his laboratory to try out the new material. Think how
excited he must have been! And think how much more excited he was when
he found that this mysterious white clay was the substance for which
he had so long been searching!"
[Illustration: "HIS SERVANTS DUG SOME OF THE CLAY"]
"Kaolin?" gasped Theo.
"Kaolin!"
The room was very still; then Theo stammered hurriedly:
"And what happened next?"
"Well, you can imagine the joy the discovery brought; but it was a
carefully stifled joy, for with all his delight Boettger was far too
discreet to allow his wonderful discovery to travel outside the
confines of his laboratory. When the Elector Augustus was told the
news at his Dresden palace near by he was wild with delight, and
immediately began building a great porcelain factory at Meissen. By
1715 there was enough of the new ware ready to be put on sale at
Leipsic; and thus our beautiful porcelain, dubbed Dresden ware in
honor of the Saxon capitol, came into being. The first that was made
was plain white with a decoration of vines and leaves in low
relief. Later some of the dishes were made with a perforated border in
imitation of the Chinese and Japanese 'grains-of-rice' pattern.
Afterward the potters attempted the use of blue in a vain attempt to
reproduce Nankin Blue ware."
"I guess the other countries were pretty sore when they found Saxony
had learned how to make porcelain," put in Theo.
"They were greatly agitated, my son," laughed Mr. Croyden. "They
begged, bribed, and schemed to find out what the new clay was; but all
to no purpose. The works at Meissen were guarded day and night, and
every person employed in the factory was compelled to swear to keep
the great secret. Men were cautioned they would be shot should they
divulge the process. _Be secret to Death_ was the motto of the
manufactory, and that meant not only that they never should tell
anybody all their life-long; but if threatened with harm they should
prefer death to betraying their trust. They must even endure torture
itself rather than open their mouths. Some histories go so far as to
say that in order to secure absolute secrecy only the deaf and dumb
were allowed to transport the clay."
"I don't see but they were just as selfish as the Chinese."
"Quite as selfish, alas!"
"What became of Boettger?"
"I am sorry to say he never did much of anything else that was
praiseworthy. Sometimes too much success spoils people. But he had
done his work, and a great work, too, in launching this vast
industry. When he died he left behind him a group of thriving
factories. After his death the artists at the Meissen works gradually
abandoned copying Chinese and Japanese designs and began inventing
decorations of their own, using both gold and an increasing variety of
colors. They also began to secure the aid of sculptors, among them the
famed sculptor Kaendler who modeled statuettes of saints, animals,
birds, and persons in much the way the Dutch had done. These figures
or groups, however, were more finely executed, and were beautifully
colored. As the makers of them became more expert larger figures were
attempted until some of them were life-sized."
"Goodness!"
"It does seem absurd, doesn't it?" agreed Mr. Croyden. "It is a
childish impulse to want to make everything as big as one can make it.
Nevertheless in a land where much of the population was Catholic you
can readily understand how these gigantic figures readily found places
upon altars in the churches of Europe. All might have gone well with
this great porcelain plant had not the Seven Years' War arisen just at
this time, lasting from 1756 to 1763. During this period Frederick the
Great, the grandfather of the present Emperor of Germany, went into
Saxony, stopped the royal factories at Meissen, and took the workmen
as captives to Berlin."
"But----" began Theo indignantly.
"Such things are the issues of war," said Mr. Croyden gravely. "We
cannot uphold them, nor cease to deplore their injustice. We can only
pray that a day may come when the envy between nations will cease, and
when each country shall respect its neighbor's rights in a truly
Christian spirit. Then we shall have a world for which we shall not
need to blush, and which will really be civilized."
"Did the Saxon workmen have to make Dresden china in Germany?"
"Yes. Works under the patronage of the Emperor were opened at Berlin,
and here porcelain was made, the profits of which went to the Royal
Treasury, the workmen being paid very little indeed. Much of the ware
manufactured the monarch kept for his own use; and much of it he gave
away whenever he wished to make a fine present to his friends. But so
lavishly did the Saxon potters use the deposits of native clay that
later the supply became poorer in quality, and as a consequence the
body of the later Dresden was not so perfect as that made at
Meissen. For this reason collectors set great value on the early
Dresden work, that made between 1731 and 1756; also on the figures
modeled by the sculptor, Kaendler."
"Did the works at Berlin continue?" inquired Theo, who had become
absorbed in the story.
"Yes," replied Mr. Croyden. "You see, even before the capital at
Dresden was captured by the Germans and the Meissen workmen carried
off, attempts had been made in Prussia to manufacture porcelain from
ordinary stone. Several private business concerns as well as various
individuals had put their money into the enterprise and had even met
with some success. But this ware was manufactured on no very extended
scale. Now, however, the Emperor was determined that his venture
should succeed. Not only did he bring to Berlin the workmen and the
clay, but he even sent forth the edict that no Jew in his kingdom
should marry until he had purchased an entire supply of porcelain from
the Royal factories. As most of the Jews were rich this law assured
their master a wide sale for his product. That they did not wish to
spend all this money for china and resented the order troubled him not
at all. Most of these unlucky Jews bought their expensive porcelain
sets only to sell them afterward to other customers, and thus get them
off their hands. In this way much of the early Berlin Dresden ware
found its way into Russia, where rich Russian Jews were glad to buy
it. After repeated improvements the Berlin porcelain came in time to
be as fine as that made originally at Meissen; and not only were the
Meissen works reopened under German patronage, but the State also
established another factory at Charlottenberg.
"Now, do not forget, Theo, that all this early Meissen or Dresden
porcelain, as well as that eventually manufactured at Berlin, was made
from hard paste, or a combination of clays resulting in what we call
true porcelain. Later on I shall tell you much about soft paste wares,
and about bone china. None of those varieties, however, ranks as real
porcelain. Remember that only the hard paste products are genuine."
Mr. Croyden paused a moment, then added: "And while we are speaking
of this period in history you may perhaps be interested to know that
it was a workman who escaped from Meissen into Austria who started in
Vienna the art of making porcelain from hard paste."
"True porcelain," remarked Theo, who had profited by his lesson.
"Just so, son. Work in porcelain-making had been going on in Austria
since about 1717; but it had been done in a small way by private
individuals, who had only small capital to put into it, and who had
met with little success because the ware they had turned out had been
thick and muddy in appearance. In 1744 the Empress Maria Theresa
purchased these works, and from that time on they began to
prosper. You see, the monarchs of those days could make almost any
industry a success if they once set out to do so. Not only had they
the capital to back their undertaking but they could compel their
subjects to patronize the venture."
Theo laughed. "I see."
"Therefore by 1785 the Empress's china factory was a very busy place
which was supplying with porcelain not only Austria, but also
Turkey. In 1796 Lamprecht, one of the leading animal painters of the
monarchy, was decorating this ware with wonderful pictures of stags,
hounds, horses, in which work he excelled. But because of the
Mohammedan law that no copies of living creatures could be used for
designs the Turks refused to purchase these dishes. Hence Vienna,
eager to retain the Oriental trade, was forced to change its artistic
trend and make instead porcelains adorned with arabesques and
geometrical figures. At the present time," concluded Mr. Croyden,
"there are extensive pottery and porcelain factories throughout
Germany and Austria-Hungary, and much of our finest ware comes from
these countries. Were you to study history you would find that many of
these factories sprang up from small beginnings, and that amid the
turmoil of European strife they had a stiff fight for existence."
"I think I never considered before the effect of war upon anything but
persons," remarked Theo musingly.
"Alas, the destruction war wages against human life is bad enough,"
answered Mr. Croyden. "But see, too, how it retards the arts and
industries of the world. May the day be not far distant when nations
shall find a more Christian and intelligent method of settling their
differences, and when wars shall cease forevermore!"
[Illustration]