200 MANUFACTURES OF RUSSIA. 



CHAPTER XIL 

 Ceramics. 



THE making- of pottery forms from time immemorial one of the most widely spread 

 branches of industry in Eussia. The number of potters and grinders possessing- 

 special knowledge and able to answer the highest requirements was always great, 

 the pottery trade being one of the household industries, thus not only facilitating- 

 the large factories but furnishing also one of the principal motives for their estab- 

 lishment. The variety of articles produced at the household workshops enabled the local 

 potters to be always ready to help the manufacturers in every branch of ceramics. Thus, 

 for instance, when with the development of the chemical products, especially with that of 

 muriatic acid, the demands for special pottery arose, the establishment of the proper works 

 presented no difficulties, having already a practical foundation to work upon. All the 

 conditions and qualities which can be exacted in the ceramic art were united in this branch 

 of the pottery trade. The success of the production depends on many conditions, namely: 

 the mass must be of uniform structure; the finish must be carefully done by hand; 

 the resistance of the material to mechanical force must be considerable; the material 

 must be fine grained, as if fused ; it must be proof to change of temperature and 

 strongly baked; the sides of the pots must be comparatively thin, although to a con- 

 siderable extent they must be fireproof, and the dimensions must be very large. The 

 workmen for the manufactory were chosen among the best potters engaged in the 

 household industry, and they proved to be quite prepared to perform all work set 

 before them. 



In such way, for example, the production of stoneware for chemical use was 

 established at the large chemical factory of A. A. Shlippe in the village Plessen- 

 skoe in the Vereisk district of the Moscow government, founded in 1825 by K. K. 

 Shlippe, renowned for his chemical investigations. The works for the manufacture of 

 stoneware used at the chemical factory were established there in 1862. In 1890 this 

 factory gave way to other Moscow chemical manufactories, and the firm closed its 

 doors. Another more recent example is represented by the great chemical factory of 

 P. K. Oushkov in Elabouga, government of Viatka, where stonewares are also made. 

 It must be mentioned that the production of stoneware is by no means less 



