INGENUITY AND LUXURY 



fashioned vessels of the ancients to the modern finished 

 product; nor was the improvement in any machinery 

 responsible for it. The wares of Charpentier, Josiah 

 Wedgwood, the Davenports, and Hirschovel, were 

 superior to those of the earlier periods, not because 

 these masters had greatly superior implements, but 

 because they understood methods of blending and 

 applying their materials better than their predecessors. 

 Knowledge of the methods of making fine chinaware 

 preceded the introduction of perfected mechanical 

 devices for manufacturing it. 



In making most fine pottery, two separate heating 

 processes are necessary. The first of these, which 

 precedes the glazing, is known as the "biscuit fire," 

 and the unglazed ware as it comes from this oven is 

 known technically as "biscuit." This firing shrinks 

 the ware, and converts the clay into a firm, brittle, 

 stony substance, very porous and absorbent. This 

 cannot be reconverted into plastic clay by any known 

 process, although its chemical constituents are prac- 

 tically the same. The second firing is done after the 

 glazing material has been applied to the biscuit by 

 one of the various methods that will be described a 

 little later, the heat of the glost-oven, or glaze-kiln, 

 melting the glazing material, which becomes an in- 

 tegral part of the ware itself. 



THE RAW MATERIALS 





Generally speaking, the materials for making 

 pottery may be divided into four classes. In the first 



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