254 Porcelain and Earthenware 



has a counter or table affixed to the sides, like the writing bench in 



a 



country school, in front of which, sit a convenient number of 

 workmen, each provided with a little boy, or girl, at hand, as a run- 

 ner or assistant. The printer moistens a bibulous paper with a brush 

 and applies it to his copper plate which has the engraved pattern 

 upon it designed for the ware in the hands of those sitting on the 

 sides of the room. It is the work of a moment to run it through 

 the press at his left hand, when he delivers it to one of the runners, 

 who hands it to a child with scissors, when the print is cut from 

 the superfluous paper and given to the workman who places it on the 

 piece of biscuit in the mode for which it was designed* The next 

 person on the bench, rubs it smartly with the brush end of a cylinder 

 made of small cords, into the pores of the ware* These manipu- 

 lations are so methodically conducted that no time is lost, each mov- 

 ing with the regularity of machinery. The papers are easily remov- 

 ed by being immersed in cold water, and gently rubbed off with a 

 piece of flannel or a soft brush, leaving a perfect impression on the 

 ware. When thus printed it is placed in an oven at a low heat in 

 order to evaporate the oil or gum employed in the printing, prepara- 

 tory to receiving the glaze. 



The glazes are a part of the potter's art requiring a thorough 

 knowledge of chemical science and a faithful application of that practi- 

 cal skill which is acquired only by experience. A rule stated by Mr. 

 Parkes, is, that a glaze should be capable of expanding and con- 

 tracting by heat and cold in the same proportion as the ware to which 

 it is applied. To adapt a vitrifiable compound to one composed of 

 both fusible and infusible materials, and which is liable to contract 

 at every additional exposure to high heat, is a process of obvious 

 difficulty. If too easily fused it will not unite with the ware, but 

 will peal off and craze; if too infusible, and the heat is pushed to a 

 greater degree than when the ware was in the state of biscuit, it will 

 warp and become crooked, or perhaps fall into a shapeless mass.. 



For the Staffordshire or printed ware a beautiful glaze is made of 

 flint, white lead and borax. Flint, which remains unaltered in the 

 focus of the most powerful heat, is easily vitrified when combined in 

 the proportions of ten parts of lead to four of ground flint. When 

 borax is employed the lead may be diminished. The efficacy of 

 borax in promoting the fusion of vitrifiable substances is unrivalled ; 

 but it is expensive, and not often employed for common wares. 

 Granite is sometimes substituted for flint in the proportion of eight 



