lOO 
RERAMIC STUDIO 
and empirical way, free from scientific formulae, in a simple and 
exact language, with a profusion of details for the benefit of 
those who will take interest in them. 
I will not speak of faience, because it is easy to find every- 
where clay suitable for faience, and because merchants who sell 
colors for this variety of ceramics are many. Only the gres and 
porcelain capable of standing the higher fires will retain my at- 
tention. 
The ceramist, in order to produce durable work, must first 
possess a good plastic body, easily yielding to the thumb or 
the hand, whether he uses a material which nature has herself 
composed and combined, as in Europe, the clays of Nievre, of 
Bauvaisis, of Provence and of Flanders, or makes a mixture of 
clays coming from different places, as is done for the Sevres gres. 
All continents contain natural gres clays; it is the duty of 
geologists to. studj^ them and make them known. 
The artist will prefer natural gres, because in the case of 
mixtures a verj^ serious study of clays will be necessary to avoid 
long and costly experiments, 
Gres-cerame (ceramic stoneware) in order to deserve this 
name, must after firing, give a solid, hard piece, impervious to 
water, without the help of any covering or glaze, and must be 
suitable for objects of large dimensions, capable of receiving a 
varied coloration and a delicate and sharp relief ornamentation. 
These qualities, which Brogniart in his learned "Treatise of 
Ceramic Arts" gives to ceramic gres, make it resemble closeh- 
porcelain, from which it really differs onty by the absence of 
translucency and whiteness. Gres and porcelain are both in the 
class of ceramic products impervious to water. But the gres 
paste has for the fabrication of large pieces considerable ad- 
vantage over the porcelain paste, it is easier to work, more 
plastic, easier to fire without warping, and is much cheaper. 
The impermeability to water, which protects the ware from 
injury by frost, the comparative ease with which it is worked 
and decorated, make the ceramic gres the best material for the 
outside and inside decoration of habitations, in climates where 
frosts are frequent. It will, I am sure, replace faience everj^- 
where and some day dethrone forever a body which is infer- 
ior by its lack of solidity, consequently of durability. 
The gres which I have most used is that of Sevres. It is 
eas3^ to prepare and not expensive. Its composition is : 
Clay of St. Amand, 9 k. 335 gr. 
Claj^ of Randonnai, 4 k. 500 gr. 
Ground sand of Decise, 4 k. 335 gr. 
The clay of St. Atnand can be bought from its owner, Mr. 
Poulain, k Argenoux, commune de vSt. Amand en Luysaie 
(Nievre) , for 12 fr. ($2.40) per looo kilos; the clay of Randonnai, 
from Mr. Aubert, a Tourouve (Orne) for 10 fr. ($2.00) per lOOO 
kilos.* 
The sand of Decise being the property of the great faience 
factory of Creil et Montereau (Oise), must be ordered from the 
Director. I have paid 26 francs ($5.20) for 260 kilos, washed, 
ground and dried sand, or 10 francs (S2.00) per 100 kilos. 
The two claj^s St. Amand and Randonnai, coming from the 
quarry in clods, are simply crushed dry with a hammer, until 
reduced to about the size of a nut. After being carefully 
weighed, the various elements are poured in a pail full of water. 
The clays will melt by themselves like flour. They are left to 
rest for two clays. After this time thej^ are stirred with a 
spatula and passed through a screen No. 60. f 
* It has «eemed advisable to leave the weiglit« expressed in Frencli 
measures, as French weights are now generally used for pottery work. A 
kilo is 1000 grammes. .500 grammes make a French pound, differing only 
slightly from the Englisii pound. 
t Prices of Brass wire lawn for screens: So. 60, 60c. per si), ft.; No. 
100,11.00 per sq.ft.; .\o. 120, $2.00 per sq. ft. Marscliing & Co., 27 
Park Place, New York. 
The screen is a metallic canvas made of brass. The nails 
which fix them to the frame must be of copper, to avoid the 
rust of iron nails. I get these screens from Mr. Louvier, 45 rue 
du Temple, Paris. 
It is important to throw away only the refuse which does 
not go through No. 60 screen. It consists of particles of iron 
and of organic matters, in small quantity. 
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The abo\-e measurements in centimetres reduced to inches are about as follows: 
24 mches long, 10 inches wide, 6 inches high; walls 1^ inches thick, 3i inches deep. 
As this mixture has been diluted in a large qviantitj^ of 
water to make it easily pass through the screen, it is left to rest 
for two days, when the water is poured out and the mixture 
placed in a plaster basin (Fig. i), which will absorb the 
water. The paste gradually hardens, and when found suffi- 
ciently firm, it is taken by the thrower. 
This paste will acquire the distinctive qualities of ceramic 
gres by being fired to Seger cone 9, or a temperature of 1270° 
according to the thermo-electric pj^rometer of Mr. Le Chatelier. 
If fired at a reducing fire, it will be better vitrified in its mass, 
more impervious to water than if fired at an oxidising fire. 
For all gres, especially if pieces are of large size, the firing 
must be very slow and gradual at first, to avoid the l^reaking 
which a too quick firing would cause. 
This gres body is of a very fine grain. It is easily worked 
Ijy pressing or throwing. It is even probal^le that it could be 
satisfactorily handled with the mechanical processes in use in 
factories. Its cliying must be watched carefully, in order to 
avoid cracks and change in shape. 
The shrinkage of this paste, both from drying and firing, is 
such that one must take in the mould a piece I m, 125, to obtain 
after firing a piece one meter high. This gres, invented at 
Sevres, has been studied not only with a view to give the quali- 
ties necessarj^ to a good gres, but to make it as close as possible 
to the new porcelain, so that pieces can be made of gres and 
porcelain mixed. Its combination allows it also to receive with 
good results all the colored glazes which had been previously 
created for this new porcelain, to fire at the same temperature, 
at the same cone, and also makes possible the jjlacing in the same 
kiln, side by side, of pieces of both materials. It can be treated 
with the same glazes and the same processes of decoration, and, 
from a ceramic standpoint, excels porcelain on the point of 
fabrication of large size pieces. 
The necessity of making stands for mj" vases, and the wish 
to use only ceramic materials for everjr part of my productions, 
also the desire not to imitate the Japanese and Chinese who 
carve their stands in teak wood, marble or bronze, led me to 
adopt gres for the fabrication of these stands, and I have alwaj^s 
been careful to fire the porcelain vase and its gres stand in the 
same sagger.. 
I have experimented also on a simpler composition of gres 
paste, which has given me excellent results: 
Clay of Randonnai, 80 kilos 
Sandof Fontainebleau, 20 kilos 
The sand of Fontainbleau is furnished to me by the factory 
of Creil and Montereau, ground and dried for 90 fr. (Si. 80) per 
1000 kilo. 
