INGENUITY AND LUXURY 



an exaggerated idea of his own importance and caused 

 him to be exorbitant in his demands, irregular in his 

 attendance, and indifferent to the quality of his work. 

 The largest trade being purely commercial, it became 

 evident to manufacturers that some means had to be 

 found to overcome this difficulty in order to produce 

 the thousands of dozens of absolutely identical pieces 

 that are required by trade; and it was clear that ma- 

 chine work was far better adapted to achieve this result 

 than man's, as any individuality would really be a 

 defect in pieces which were all required to be absolutely 

 alike. The consequence has been the rapid introduc- 

 tion of machinery, and it was soon found that by a little 

 thought and care in the arrangement of tools and 

 molds, there was not a piece of ware the thrower made 

 that could not be made off a machine, and, as a rule, 

 made in such a way that even if it required turning, 

 the work of the turner was much facilitated, the form 

 of the piece approximating that of the finished article 

 much more than the piece formed by the thrower. 



'To this end the potter and machinist directed their 

 energies with such entire success that there are few 

 earthenware potteries, except those dedicated to artis- 

 tic as opposed to commercial production, through 

 whose doors a thrower ever passes. The result is 

 that every day there is less demand for throwers, and 

 fewer serve their apprenticeship, and year by year the 

 number will grow less, and this again constantly com- 

 pels the manufacturers to seek fresh methods of making 

 any pieces still in the hands of the throwers. That 

 thrown and turned ware has many advantages must be 



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