ANCIENT POTTERY. 



: No, let a pot be formed, of amplest size, 

 Within whose slender sides the fish, dread sire, 

 May spread his vast circumference entire ! 

 Bring, bring the tempered clay, and let it feel 

 The quick gyrations of the plastic wheel : 

 But, Caesar, thus forewarned, make no campaign, 

 Unless your potters follow in your train." GIFFORD. 



Fig. 1. 



5. In the catacombs of Thebes and Beni-Hassan, which have 

 been proved to hare existed nineteen centuries before Christ, and 

 therefore 3700 to 3800 years from the present time, drawings have 

 been discovered, exhibiting, in a great variety of forms, the processes 

 of the potter's art as then practised. The annexed engravings 

 (fig. 1 to 5) have been copied from paintings discovered in the 

 catacombs of Thebes, and described by Champollion. They 

 exhibit the processes of the potter, from the kneading of the 

 dough by the feet to the removal of the baked article from the 

 oven. 



6. Fig. 1 represents two potters kneading the paste by the pro- 

 cess cf treading. The hieroglyphics signify "he treads." 



Fig. 2. A man taking up the dough to form it into a mass 

 for the wheel. The hieroglyphics express this action. 



Fig. 3. The same man taking the ball, or prepared mass, to 

 the 1 otter who works at the wheel. 



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