32 Transactions of the 



but are put in potters' kilns, called saggars, which are coarse 

 metalled cases made of marl. 



In these they generally put three pieces of clay, called hohhs, 

 for the ware to stand on to keep it from sticking to the saggars. 

 This word is a corruption of the German schragars, which 

 means supporters or cases. By reason of the leading they would 

 naturally stick together if not put in saggars, which also serves 

 to screen them from the vehemence of the fire, otherwise apt to 

 warp, if not melt them. In four-and-twenty hours an oven of 

 pots will be fired, then they let the fire die out gradually, and in 

 ten hours more the oven pots will be entirely finished, when they 

 are drawn for sale. Their chief purchasers were in those days 

 poor cratemen, who carried them on their backs all over the 

 country. 



The common glaze was produced by lead ore finely powdered, 

 and sprinkled on the pieces of ware before firing ; sometimes with 

 an addition of a little manganese for the sake of the brown colour 

 it imparts. When an extra gloss is required, calcined lead is 

 employed instead of lead ore, but still sprinkled on the pieces in 

 the same rude manner. Glazing by salt appears to have been 

 discovered about 1680, which gradually took the place of the 

 lead ore formerly used. 



The following is the curious account given of this discovery : — 

 ' At Mr Joseph Yates', Stanley, near Bagnall, five miles east of 

 Burslem, a servant was preparing in an earthen vessel a sdltlery 

 for curing pork, and during her temporary absence the liquid 

 boiled over and the sides of the pots were quickly red-hot from 

 intense heat ; yet, when cold, were covered with an excellent 

 glaze. The fact was detailed to a potter in the neighbourhood, 

 who availed himself of the lucky occurrence, and told other potters. 

 The ovens employed for the purpose being used only once weekly, 

 and the'ware being cheap, were large in diameter, and very high, 

 so as to contain a sufficient quantity to be baked each time to 

 cover all expenses contingent. They were constructed with a 

 scafibld all round them, on which the firemen could stand while 

 casting in the salt through holes made in the upper part of the 

 cylinder above the bags or inner vertical flues. The saggars 

 were made of completely refractory materials, with holes in their 

 sides for the vaporised salt to circulate freely among all the 

 vessels in the oven, so as to affect their surfaces. The wares thus 

 glazed and made from the common clay with a mixture of fine 

 sand was called " Crouch ware," and of this all the ordinary 

 articles of domestic use, including jugs, cups, dishes, &c., were 

 made. The manufacture of biUter-pots seems to be the first 



