729 



EARTHENWARE. 



EARTHENWARE. 



730 



removes his work to a board or shelf, where it is left to dry partially ; 

 and when in a particular state of hardness, called the green state, well 

 known to the operator, the vessel is in proper order for being further 

 smoothed and shaped in the turning-lathe, and for being furnished 

 with handles, spouts, or any other addition. The turning-lathe is 

 similar to that used by the turner in wood, and by means of it, rings, 

 rims, &c., are formed on the vessels. For making dishes, plates, and 

 other similar shallow vessels, a plaster mould is used, which is placed 

 on the block at the top of the upright spindle of the lathe ; and the 

 workman continues the process in nearly a similar manner as in throw- 

 ing. When sufficiently dry to be taken from the mould, the edges are 

 pared with a sharp knife, and the vessels are placed in piles and left to 

 harden, preparatory to their being baked. 



A machine called an engine-lathe, which has a horizontal movement 

 backwards and forwards, in addition to the rotary motion, is used in 

 giving to earthenware a milled edge. Handles, spouts, &c., are fixed 

 on the vessels as soon as they are taken out of the turning-lathe. They 

 are affixed by means of slip, with which the parts designed to come in 

 contact are moistened ; in a short time, when dry, the union of the 

 parts is found to be perfect. Handles, &c., are made by pressure in a 

 small metallic cylinder, which has an aperture in the centre of its 

 bottom, to which plugs of various shaped orifices are fitted ; there is 

 likewise a piston, so fixed as to be worked by a screw up and down the 

 cylinder. The cylinder being filled with clay, the piston is inserted, 

 and forces the clay through the orifice at the bottom, and consequently 

 gives it the same form as the aperture through which it was pressed. 

 Being then cut into lengths and bent to the desired shape, the clay is 

 ready, when sufficiently dry, to be joined to the vessel. For orna- 

 mental spouts, small ornaments, and other appendages of the like 

 nature, the clay is pressed in moulds, the particular mode of doing 

 which may be readily conceived. 



When the vessels are sufficiently dry they have to be submitted to 

 the action of fire. For this purpose they are placed in deep boxes 

 called segyars, made of a mixture of fire-clay and old ground Beggars, 

 and capable of sustaining the most intense degree of heat without 

 being fused. The seggars are of various sizes, shapes, and depths, 

 adapted to the different pieces which they are to contain. In no case 

 is one piece placed in or on another in the seggar, and all is so arranged 

 that the heat may be equally applied to every part of each. The 

 seggars, with their contents, are then disposed in the oven in such a 

 way that the heat may be distributed fairly throughout : they are 

 built one layer on the top of another until they reach nearly to the 

 top of the oven, each seggar forming a cover to the one beneath it, 

 and the upper seggar in each pile being always empty. The oven is 

 of a cylindrical form, and very similar to the common kilns used for 

 burning tiles. The process of baking usually lasts from forty -eight 

 to fifty hours, during which time the heat is gradually increased, as it 

 would be injurious to the ware to apply a very high degree at first. 

 To ascertain when the baking has been carried far enough, the work- 

 man uses tests of common Staffordshire fire-clay, the pyrometer of 

 Wedgwood having been long laid aside. When the appearance is 

 considered satisfactory, the firing is discontinued, and the oven is 

 suffered gradually to cool during twenty-four or thirty hours before 

 the contents are taken out. The ware in this state is called biscuit. 

 The glaze is now applied ; the pieces are again placed in seggars, and 

 conveyed to the glazing-oven, where heat is applied to them of suffi- 

 cient intenseness to fuse the glaze ; but the heat must by no means be 

 so great as that to which the biscuit has previously been exposed, as 

 the glaze would crack or peel off if the vessels were liable to any 

 further shrinking. 



The glaze generally used for common kinds of earthenware is a 

 compound of litharge and ground flints, in the proportion of ten 

 pounds of the first to four pounds of the latter. This method of 

 glazing is however highly objectionable on account of its injurious 

 effects on the health of the workman ; while the lead being soluble by 

 acids, makes a most pernicious glaze for vessels which are used for 

 containing articles of prepared food. Glazes for porcelain and the 

 finer kinds of earthenware are generally made with white lead, ground 

 flints, ground flint-glass, and common salt. But almost every manu- 

 facturer uses a peculiar glaze of his own, the manner of making which 

 he keeps in as much mystery as possible. Some glazes are made 

 without the admixture of any lead, and in the whole of the better 

 glazes this ingredient enters in so small a quantity as not to be inju- 

 rious. The manner of applying the glaze is, to reduce the ingredients 

 to powder, mix them with water to the consistence of cream, and then 

 merely dip the pieces into the preparation, and withdraw them 

 immediately, taking care that all the parts have been wetted with the 

 glaze. 



The kind called dipped-ware receives its coloured ornament in a 

 singular way. After the basin or other vessel has been turned, it is 

 fixed to a wheel, and made to rotate while the colouring is being 

 effected. If, as is often the case, the colours are brown, yellow, and 

 blue, the workman prepares three kinds of coloured liquid or creamy 

 clay! A portion of these three he puts into a kind of funnel having 

 three compartments, in such a manner that all three remain separate, 

 and yet flow out of three adjoining apertures simultaneously. This 

 funnel the workman holds over the vessel while revolving, in such a 

 way that a little stream of tri-coloured paint shall drop upon it and form 



bands, stripes, spots, or curves ; the three colours being contiguous, 

 and yet distinct on the vessel. 



When the earthenware is to be printed, it undergoes this process 

 previously to glazing. It is thus performed : the landscape or pattern 

 is engraved upon copper ; the desired colour, being mixed with linseed- 

 oil, is laid on the plate ; and impressions are taken off on tissue-paper, 

 in the manner usually employed by copper-plate printers. The paper, 

 wet with the colour, has then all the blank parts cut away, leaving 

 only the pattern entire, which is applied lightly to the ware when in 

 the state of biscuit. It is then rubbed with a piece of woollen cloth, 

 rolled tightly in the form of a cylinder, till the colour is pressed 

 sufficiently into the ware. In this state the whole is left for an hour, 

 when it is placed in a cistern of water, so that the paper becomes 

 sufficiently moistened to peel off readily, having transferred to the 

 biscuit the colour and impression which it had received from the 

 copper-plate. When the pieces thus printed are sufficiently dry they 

 are placed in an oven and exposed to a gentle heat, in order to dissi- 

 pate the oil : they are then in a fit state to receive the glaze. Till 

 within the last few years, blue produced from the oxide of cobalt was 

 the only colour employed, but at present many other colours are printed 

 with equal facility. 



The art of painting, as applied to these interesting manufactures, 

 relates to porcelain rather than to earthenware, and wfll be noticed in 

 a later article [PORCELAIN]. The so-called lustre-ware is an earthen- 

 ware to the surface of which a peculiar metallic effect is given. The 

 metallic oxides used for this purpose are intimately mixed with some 

 essential oil, and then brushed entirely over the surface of the vessel ; 

 the heat of the enamelling oven dissipates the oxygen, and restores the 

 oxides to then- metallic state, but with their brilliancy somewhat 

 diminished. The imitation of gold and silver ia very successful in 

 some of these specimens. 



One of the most important features connected with the English 

 earthenware manufacture is the process just described, of imparting a 

 pattern by means of printing, generally with a blue ink or pigment, 

 but sometimes with black or other colours. Discussions have recently 

 taken place, in reference to the designing, the priiitin;/, and the applyiny 

 of these patterns, which it will be well briefly to notice here. 



Concerning the designs for earthenware adornment, persons of taste 

 have long speculated why the well-known willow pattern maintains 

 its place so persistently in the market. Designs in every way more 

 artistic are occasionally tried; but the dealers find this old pattern 

 still sells the best, and therefore the potters adopt it more largely 

 than any other. In 1856, Mr. Wallis, in a paper on ' Design as 

 applied to Ceramic Manufactures,' read before the Society of Arts, 

 adverted to the great influence exerted on the progress of the porcelain 

 manufacture by the eminent firms of Minton and Copeland, and then 

 made the following observations on the earthenware manufacture : 

 " Others have followed who, applying a better style of art to less ex- 

 ceptional articles than those produced by those two firms, have certainly 

 aided hi no slight degree the recent improvements. It is quite evident 

 that at the present time, whatever fault may still bo found with the 

 subjects employed for decorating the cheaper wares, yet that the 

 character of the art employed is much higher than formerly. In the 

 blue-transfer ware, for instance, there is a decided tendency to mosaic 

 forms, less attempt at projection in light and shadow ; and although 

 the details are more architectural than fictile, yet the result is felt to 

 be more suited, alike to the use of the article, the surface decorated, 

 and the method of ornamentation. In their forms, too, we can trace 

 the influence of the merest elementary outlines in use in our schools 

 of art, of which that established in the Potteries about eight years ago 

 has been one of the most practically useful." There can indeed be no 

 question that the designs are improving ; and it is curious to observe 

 the mode in which a reason has been sought for the persistence of that 

 one particular pattern which no person pretends is artistic in any sense. 

 In a discussion which followed the reading of Mr. Wallis's paper, Mr. 

 Lockett, a well-known engraver for manufacturing purposes in Man- 

 chester, said : " The world-wide celebrity of the willow-pattern in 

 crockery is an instance of demand, where usefulness and economy arc 

 the chief considerations. The ware is well covered by the pattern ; 

 and in case of breakage there is no difficulty whatever in replacing 

 them. The willow-pattern is to be found almost everywhere ; whereas 

 more elegant designs are often difficult, if not altogether impracticable, 

 to replace; .or they might require to be made expressly, if the manu- 

 facturer can be found, at extra cost and considerable inconvenience. 

 I feel persuaded that the willow-pattern is seldom if ever bought for 

 the beauty of the design ; it is preferred only for its usefulness and 

 convenience. Therefore the extensive demand for it ought not to be 

 taken as a proof of deficient taste in the public." 



In relation to the engraving of the designs, whatever they may be, 

 several suggestions have been brought forward within the last few 

 years. Mr. Lander, an engraver of Bristol, has recently (1859) patented 

 the following : He proposes to engrave the subject on a copper-plate ; 

 take as many electrotype copies from this as there are to be colours 

 (supposing it to be a specimen of polychrome earthenware, which seems 

 to be in Mr. Lander's view) ; erase portions from each cast, so that 

 what is left on any one shall be removed from all the others ; and then 

 finish up each plate with the graver. A print is to be taken on paper, 

 in the ordinary manner of colour-printing ; that is, the plates are to be 



