5oo 
Cornish China Clay 9 
[October, 
IV. CORNISH CHINA CLAY,* 
By James Quick, 
S HE art of pottery being one of those branches of in- 
dustry which supply the immediate wants of the 
human race, originated in the earliest period of 
mankind’s existence, and at the present day no other of the 
useful arts has attained a higher degree of excellence in its 
various details or has such a universal demand for its 
numerous products. In discovering suitable materials for 
the pottery manufacture, as well as in perfecting the differ- 
ent processes of the industry, an extraordinary amount of 
talent in every age and in almost every nation has been ex- 
pended, and for the antiquary and the historian the subject 
as a whole presents an inexhaustible mine of research. The 
story of Bernard Palissy in France, wasting his time, his 
energy, and his money in his efforts to solve the mystery of 
the white enamel, and that of Baron Bottcher — the chemist 
in Saxony whose unremitting perseverance through a long 
period of years was at last crowned with success through 
the merest accident — are vested with thrilling interest. The 
porcelain or white earthenware products of China and Japan, 
where the manufacture was probably started many years 
previous to the Christian era, had on account of their pure 
whiteness, their semi-transparent texture, and superiority of 
glaze, long been the envy of European artists, when Bottcher 
one day inspecting a white substance found in Saxony and 
newly introduced as hair-powder, was struck with its adapta- 
bility to the requirements of pottery, and afterwards iden- 
tified it as being the much-coveted kaolin, or the same 
material as that used by the Chinese. Subsequently, kaolin 
in various degrees of purity was found in several other parts 
of Europe, and it is now known to consist of the felspar of 
white granite in a state of decomposition, and after passing 
through the raising process somewhat resembles ordinary 
whiting, but has a much greater density. The kaolin, or 
as it is more commonly called in England, “ china clay,” 
and sometimes porcelain clay, used at the Staffordshire 
* In presenting this article for publication the writer wishes to express his 
sincere thanks to T. H. Stocker, Esq., of St. Austell ; Thos. Kinsman, Esq., of 
St. Austell and Vounder ; the Rev. C. M. E. Collins, of Trewardale, Bodmin ; 
and those other gentlemen in Cornwall who have kindly afforded him facilities 
for obtaining information. 
