KERAMIC STUDIO 
lOI 
these fine glazes, will find the different processes which I have 
mentioned, a very useful guide. But one must not forget that 
all these preparations require some practice, strict weighings 
on accurate scales, pure materials, very finely ground so that 
their mixture will be thorough, also frittings made with the 
most minute attention. All these operations constitute an 
expenditure of time and labor, and it is to be regretted that 
chemists do not undertake the production of all the composi- 
tions which enter into the decoration of ceramics. I am sure 
that they wovild find it profitable, and it would free artists from 
this complex work, which restricts their art production. 
Although the formulae contained in these articles have 
been studied for the PN porcelain body and the Sevres gres, 
and strictly suit them both, artists, especially if other bodies 
are used, will need to constantly experiment with colored 
pastes and glazes. For such trials they will find it convenient 
to use a kiln in which firing will be rapid. I ha^c adopted for 
this work the small Perrot laboratory furnace, the fuel for 
which is gas. It will hold six small sample tiles or a small 
vase 4 inches high and 2 inches wide. The temperature 
reaches uniformly 1300° C, and the atmosphere is reducing or 
oxidising at will. Porcelain is fired in it in two hours. This 
furnace is made by the finn of Mr. Wiesnegg, 64 rue Gay 
Lussac, Paris, in five different sizes. I use No. 3, which is 
more exact in its results, and costs 215 francs (about $40). In 
this furnace frittings can also be made. 
I have now reached the end of these articles which arc 
perhaps beyond the usual scope of this magazine, but which 
fall in with the programme to which it devotes its energies : the 
advancement of the potter's art. This art is a part of human 
attainments, which ennoble man, are necessary to him, and 
which permanently perpetuate the history of humanity. It is 
from fragments of the potter's works, found in the ruins of 
ancient civilizations, that human evolution is reconstructed. 
And it is to be regretted that these fragments, which have been 
preserved only in the burning sands of dry climates, have not 
been made of less destructible material than faience. We 
would then have numerous documents to tell us the obscvire 
history of the Middle East, of the great Asiatic uplands, the 
cradle of man. 
Better favored bj-^ the richness of its soil and the precious 
quality of its clays, the Extreme East, China, shows us ceramics 
which, although 4000 years old, have not lost any of their 
freshness, their brilliancy or sonority. Tbe sinister crazing, 
forerunner of ruin, an open door to the disintegrating hinnidity, 
has not touched them. 
It is the duty of our century, illuminated with science, to 
use this science for the technical development of wares which 
will survive, notwithstanding our damp and destructive climate. 
This goal is reached by the adoption of the finest of clays: 
kaolin. Its advance has been slow, its .study bristling with 
difficulties, but it is beginning to take its place. Alone with its 
worth3^ partner, grfes, porcelain possesses, besides its great 
beauty, this inalterability which will defy the wear of centuries. 
These indestructible materials had to be enriched with 
glazes which would also resist the attacks of time. Modem 
chemistry is doing this fascinating work. Empiric and scien- 
tist, everybody, is l^ringing his formulae to this edifice of 
beauty, which progressive publications are anxious to unravel, 
by advocating the logic and charm of the grand feu. And the 
day is not far off, when Occidental ceramics, besides their 
fundamental quality of inalterability, will be " brilliant as a 
mirror, thin as paper and sonorous as a musical instrument," 
according to the Chinese poet. They will have also the splen- 
dor of Persian faiences, the sumptuousness of Hispano-Mores- 
(lue wares, the richness of Italian potteries and the variety of 
the nmffie fire palette. 
1 will conclude l^y saying that ceramists who will take 
their inspiration from these articles, and follow the instructions 
\'ery carefully, are sure to obtain a first result, perhaps shape- 
less, because they will lack the practical teaching, the use of 
clay paste and the right handlu^g of their kiln, but there is no 
doubt that after a few firings, they will begin to see through the 
complex details which form the teclinique of grand feu cera- 
mics. At first they niaj^ use the PN paste for casting, made by 
Mr. Frugier, and fire a few simple shapes in the Perrot gas 
furnace. Thus their first experiments wdll be made at a very 
small cost. When they are sure of these first results they can 
build the coal kiln and pursue their experiments on bodies and 
colors. After a few coal firings, they will be able to trazisform 
the fire mouths into fire mouths for wood, and having mastered 
the handling of their clay and kiln, they will be able to give a 
l)ersonal touch to their work. 
It will be a pleasure for me and the best of rewards, if I 
succeed in making converts and in reducing their first expenses 
to a minimum. 
Porcelaiu Vase, cry.stallme glaze, by Mrs. Alsop Robiueati— Cafe au lait gronud, ashy grey crystals, outliue arouud buuches of crystals reddish brown. 
