WORCESTER. 



(lances generally attending the introduftion of a new /pedes 

 of manufafture : for at that time little was known of porce- 

 lain in England, except by the imports from foreign nations. 

 The Worcefter porcelain company had the merit of dif- 

 covering the method of transferring impreffions from engraved 

 copper-plates to the furface of the porcelain. The invention, 

 after a lapfe of feveral years, was conveyed into Stafford- 

 ihire, and now forms a grand branch of the extenfive foreign 

 and home trade carried on in the potteries, giving employ- 

 ment to many thoufands. The founders of this manufaSory, 

 befides the printing, produced neat enamelled defigns, but 

 not very fuperior either in defign or execution. Thefe ex- 

 tenfive premifes, fituate on the banks of the Severn, were 

 fubfequently purchafed by Meffrs. Jofeph Flight and Martin 

 Barr, and by a liberal pohcy, and great exertion and expence 

 in a long feries of experiments,the produftions of thefe works 

 have rilen rapidly in the public eftimation. His prefent 

 majefty, the queen, and princeffes, in the year 1788, ho- 

 noured the manufaftory by minutely infpefting its various 

 procefles ; and at this time the king gracioufly granted his 

 patent, when thefe works were ftyled ' Royal,' being the 

 firft that enjoyed this diftiniStion. His majefty condefcended 

 to fuggeft the eftabliihment of a warehoufe in London, and 

 one was immediately opened in Coventry-ftreet. The pro- 

 prietors have fince had the honour of receiving a patent and 

 every encouragement froin his royal highnefs the prince 

 regent, the enlightened patron of the arts ; and from the late 

 princefs Charlotte, as well as from other members of the royal 

 family, and even from foreign courts } but our limits forbid 

 our entering into detail. On the demife of Martin Barr, 

 efq. in the year 1813, he was fucceeded by his fons ; and 

 the works are now carried on under the firm of Fhght, Barr, 

 and Barr. It is not a little remarkable, that a confiderable 

 part of the export trade of the Worcefter porcelain works 

 is to our fettlements in the Eaft Indies, and even to Canton. 

 We cannot but obferve the Angular change in our commer- 

 cial relations In this manufaBure ; for the Chinefe, who 

 feventy years fince furniftied this country and nearly all 

 Europe with porcelain, are now excluded from our markets, 

 and thrown into the back-ground, and their extenfive manu- 

 faftories nearly ruined. What Wedgwood did in his coarfer 

 clays, in his beautiful imitations of the Etrufcan vafes, and 

 in antique defigns on jafper, will long live in the recolleftion 

 of his country. The fame fpirit feems to aftuate the pro- 

 prietors of the Royal Worcefter Porcelain Works, as they 

 have fpared no expence in their Jiner materials, and highly- 

 finiftied models and paintings, to excel the manufaftories on 

 the continent. In thefe works, the utmoft attention is 

 paid to the ftudy of hiftorical compofitions, landfcapes, 

 flowers, &c.; and the fuccefs which has attended the new me- 

 thod is moft evident, as the produftions now fairly rival the 

 beft foreign fpecimens. It is with pecuhar pleafure we can 

 at length announce, that we have feen ?i fabric, recently made 

 by the prefent proprietors of thefe works, which in its colour, 

 frafture, and tranfparency, is equal to the porcelain made at 

 Sevre or Drefden. This fabric is compofed entirely of Britijb 

 materials, and the faft muft be the ground of triumph, after 

 all that has been faid of the impoffibility of finding in this 

 country proper materials/or a true porcelain. The procefs is 

 moft curious and elaborate, of which we can but give a 

 flight defcription, as its details are fo^ numerous. It may 

 be viewed by tickets, granted by order of the proprietors 

 to any refpeftable individuals leaving their namts. The 

 materials, feveral of which are procured from the county of 

 Cornwall, are firft felefted with great care, and fome undergo 

 a fevere calcination previous to their being compofed in 

 proper proportions ; they are then weighed and mixed, 



and burnt in a kiln to a very iutenfe degree of heat, and 

 form what is termed a • frit.' This is ground under a 

 maffive iron roller previous to an admixture of a certain pro- 

 portion of the pureft argil, or working clay, which is ground 

 with the frit in a mill, the bottom of which is laid with 

 ftone, over which large ftones of about fifteen hundred or 

 a ton weight are driven by upright ' drivers,' fixed in 

 wooden arms attached to the centre ftiafts ; thefe, with 

 water, reduce the fubftance to a tliick white liquid, which 

 is afterwards paffed through an extremely fine lawn fieve, 

 and is run from cifterns into large brick pans, warmed by 

 flues underneath ; the heat being fufScient to drive off, by 

 evaporation, the water that cannot be coUefted on the fur- 

 face, fo that the refiduum is a moift clay, which is after- 

 wards tempered in ftone vaults, and rendered fit for the ufe 

 of the potter. The man who firft brings the rude mafs of 

 clay into form, on a circular block, moved horizontally by 

 a boy, who drives a vertical wheel, is called a ' thrower.' ' 

 The dexterity and rapidity with which the clay appears to 

 fpring into the ftiape required feems like magic, as it is 

 performed filently, and almoft unperceived, by the preflure 

 of the fingers and thumb. This mode of ' throwing' differs 

 from the Chinefe method, and that praftifed on the con- 

 tinent, where the thrower moves his block by the aftion of 

 his feet : in the one he has the advantage of an undivided 

 attention, and the clay is literally obedient to his touch ; 

 while in the foreign method, the thrower is diftrafted with 

 two diftinft operations, and at the beft it can be but a 

 clumfy exhibition. By this mode all round velfels derive 

 their firft formation ; any article of an oval, fquare, or other 

 fhape, muft be made off a mould formed of alabafter, pre- 

 pared in a powder, and with water brought into a hquid 

 form, when it is run on the model, and fets quite hard, pre- 

 fenting a cafe the precife reverfe of the model, on which 

 layers of clay, cut to a proper thicknefs, are preffed with a 

 fponge and the hand, and the artift from this is termed ' a 

 preffer.' Great care is requifite in drying the different 

 articles in a ftove after they come from the thrower, to render 

 them fufBciently firm to hang on a lathe, where they are 

 reduced to a proper thicknefs, and a more accurate form, 

 by a turner, who works his wheel on the fame principle as 

 one for wood or ivory. It is again committed to the ftove, 

 where it is rendered quite dry and crifp ; and the furface is 

 afterwards fponged, and then rubbed with paper perfeftly 

 fmooth. In pieces which have any particular marks or 

 decorations in the clay, they are preffed from moulds, and 

 the handles are attached to the vefTel fimply by the clay 

 reduced to a liquid form. When burnt, the union is fo 

 complete, that it appears to have been made altogether, and 

 is perfectly as firm. We cannot trace the operations in this 

 ftage any farther, but are furprifed to fee how many hands 

 the moft fimple article paffes through, while the rifle and 

 labour in thefe and more elaborate fpecimens are very great 

 in this tender ftate of the clay. From the potter's-ftove 

 the ware is carried to what is termed the bifcuit-kiln, and 

 placed in cafes of fire-clay, called feggars, in which each 

 piece requires particular fupports to prevent its yielding to 

 the fire, and loCng its proper fhape. Here the porcelain is 

 burnt to an intenfe degree of heat, and is rendered quite 

 white and tranfparent, but has a flight roughnefs on its 

 furface. From hence it is carried to the warehoufe, exa- 

 mined, freed from duft and other imperfeftions, and then 

 dipped in a Hquid termed the glaze, dried in a ftove, and 

 afterwards every piece is carefully examined and ' trimmed ;' 

 which confifts in rendering the furface quite even, and 

 fcraping the glaze from the feet, which, if not removed, 

 would melt and adhere to the cafes in which they are burnt. 



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