THE POTTER'S ART. 



By this process the article receives a perfectly uniform thickness 

 and diameter, the edges being subsequently rounded on the wheel 

 in the usual way. 



5. Ware which has received its proper forms by the processes 

 above described and which has been to a certain degree hardened 

 by air drying or exposure to a high artificial temperature, is in 

 what is called by potters the green state. It is completely dry, 

 all moisture being perfectly expelled from it, but is still very 

 porous, so that it would readily imbibe water or other liquid 

 which might be poured into it, or in which it might be immersed. 

 It is in this state that the process of glazing, already described, 

 must be executed. 



The materials comprised in the various glazes commonly used 

 for china and earthenware are Cornish stone, flint, white lead, 

 glass, whiting, &c. These, having been ground together in proper 

 proportions to the consistence of milk, form the glaze. The 

 process is effected in large buildings termed "dipping-houses" 

 (china and earthenware being kept separate), fitted up with tubs 

 for the glaze, and stages for the reception of the ware when 

 dipped, upon which it is dried and heated, generally by means of 

 a large iron stove or "cockle," from which iron pipes, extending 

 in various directions, convey the heat throughout the whole 

 extent of the "houses." Each dipper is provided with a tub of 

 glaze, in which he immerses the bisque ware. We may note the 

 results of practice and experience in imparting a facility and 

 dexterity of handling, so necessary to perfection in this process. 

 The ware is held so that as small a portion as possible shall be 

 covered by the fingers ; it is then plunged in the glaze, which, by 

 a dexterous jerk, is made not only to cover the entire piece, but, 

 at the same time, so disperses it, that an equal and level portion 

 is disposed over the whole surface, which, being porous, imbibes 

 and retains it. The ware is handed to the dipper by a boy, and 

 another removes it when dipped to the drying or "hot-house." 

 The glaze is opaque till fired, so that the design of pattern 

 executed on the bisque is completely hid, after dipping, till they 

 have been submitted to the glost fire. An able workman will dip 

 about seven hundred dozen plates in a day.* 



The dipping house is represented in fig. 37. The dippers, A, and 

 B, immerse unglazed plates in the vessel containing the glaze, 

 which, as already explained, is a creamy liquid in which the 

 vitrifiable matter is mixed, and held in suspension, just as mud is 

 in water. When the plate is withdrawn from the glaze it is held 

 over it so as to allow all the liquid not absorbed by the plate to 

 drip off, as represented in the case of the dipper B. 



* Catalogue of the Great Exhibition, 725. 

 184 



