INGENUITY AND LUXURY 



Given a piece of ware to be duplicated, he first fashions 

 a sample piece, finishing it inside and out to his liking. 

 He then cuts the piece hi half to make sure of the thick- 

 ness. If this is satisfactory the weight is taken so 

 that thereafter his assistant will hand him balls of 

 clay of corresponding weight, which not only saves 

 much waste of material but aids the thrower in gauging 

 the exact size. 



He begins the process of modelling the piece by dash- 

 ing the ball of clay down upon the disc ; then, with 

 hands moistened, he works the revolving mass until 

 it is free from all bubbles and is thoroughly homo- 

 geneous. He then inserts his thumbs into the center 

 of the mass, and between his thumbs and fingers the 

 sides of the vessel rise with marvelous rapidity into 

 the shape he requires. If it is a large piece he may use 

 a "rib" an implement whose edge represents the 

 curve of the vessel for finishing it. But this is used 

 simply as a time-saver, since every step of the process 

 can be done with his thumbs and fingers, provided, of 

 course, the opening at the top is not too small. Should 

 this be the case the thrower makes the piece in two 

 parts, sticking them together afterward. 



In any event he must be careful to leave the clay 

 thick enough so that the turner, whose work follows 

 that of the thrower, will not make the finished piece 

 too thin. In some factories, the thrower only models 

 the piece roughly in the shape required, the final shap- 

 ing and finishing being left to the turner. Obviously, 

 crude throwing of this kind does not require the skill 

 of the master- workman. 



[248] 



