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heramic studio 
GRAND FEU CERAMICS 
V— The Making of Ceramic Shapes— Gres and Porcelain 
Throwing and Pressing. 
Taxile Doal 
HE handling of gres, and especially 
of porcelain, presents difficulties, 
which can be solved only by prac- 
tice or with the help of a clever 
artisan. Pieces can be made by 
three different processes: Throw- 
ing and pressing for gres, to which 
should be added casting for porce- 
lain. None of the details of this 
work must be neglected, as an omis- 
sion or lack of attention may absolutely ruin the finished 
piece, although there may be nothing, l)efore its passage 
through the fire, to show that it contains a destructive flaw, no 
more than a flaw can be detected in a steel bar before it breaks. 
However one should not exaggerate these difficulties, as 
the mind gradually and easily gets used to the many precau- 
tions which must be taken during the handling of a piece. 
When I commenced my experiments, I did not know how 
to throw, and I first learned to use the wheel. 
Beating — When the soft paste has been taken out of the 
plaster basin it is necessary to beat it, in order to jnake it 
thoroughly homogeneous and to expel all the air bubbles, which 
may have been introduced during the first operations. In a 
ceramic body, the forgotten air bubble causes during firing a 
blister or a pin hole. 
Formerly in factories the paste was beaten with nak'ed 
feet, and now the work is done bj^ machinery. As machinery 
is unnecessary for smaU quantities, one should beat the paste, 
as I do, with the hands. 
The paste is divided into balls or masses of 15 to 20 centi- 
meters (6 to 8 inches) according to the musciilar strength of 
the operator. Then the ball is cut in two, either with a brass 
knife, or better, with a fine copper 
thread such as is used to cut butter 
(fig. 2). The detached part is lifted 
with both hands to the height of the 
arm and thrown violently on the other 
part, so that the two masses will 
penetrate each other. In order to in- 
crease this penetration, one strikes a few " 
successive blows with the hands on the sides of the mass. This 
operation is repeated about twenty times, care being talcen 
every time to oppose the sections to each other, until, when 
opening the mass, no air bubble can be detected. 
During the beating, the hands must be kept, not wet, liut 
damp, to avoid the formation of crust from the heat of the hand . 
The Ijeating of paste may be done, for gres, on a plaster 
slab 3 inches thiclc, and for porcelain it shoidd be done on a slab 
of slightly porous stone, about 2 inches thick. 
The slab I use is 25 inches long by 27 wide. Its svu^face is 
very smooth. It is solidly fixed on one side in the wall, and 
supported on the two other sides by a casing of bricks, laid flat, 
so as to insure their absolute fixity. The fourth side, or front, 
is open to leave free movement to the beater. 
This paste bench must be kept very clean and carefullj' 
cleansed when one uses it for porcelain after gres. 
Throiving — Throwing comprises throwing proper and 
turning or finishing. The tool to use is the anticiue potter's 
wheel. It is made of a A^ertical .shaft turning in a cup fixed on 
the floor, the upper part being held by a collar. On top is 
screwed a plaster cap on the flat side of which the thrower 
places the paste. This cap is called the wheel top. Near the 
^2. 
base of the shaft is a large balance wheel, whicJi the thrower 
pushes with the right foot to keejj it revolving. 
Everybody knows the potter's wheel. There are some in 
all cities in the world and it shoidd be easy to all to become 
familiar with its working. 
Throwing— To throw a piece, the thrower ]jlaces near his 
hands an earthenware basin filled with a clear paste caUed slip. 
He puts the wheel in motion, throws with his right hand some 
slip on the wheel top, sHdes on that sHp a plaster disc |-inch 
thick-, ]nitting it exactly in the center, being sure that its 
center coincides with that (jf the wheel top, and this fixes it. As 
soon as the water of the slip is absorbed by the |)laster, the disc 
will be fixed by itself and will fomi a solid basis. Then the 
disc is also covered with sHp, in the midst of which the ball of 
paste is thrown and fixed. 
Taking the mass of paste between the hands which he uaist 
keep constantly wet with sHp, the thrower alternately raises 
and lowers it, pressing it between his hands, tJicn between his 
fingers, pushing the thumbs into the center of the mass 
and opposing them to the fingers which are pressing on the 
outside. Sometimes with an effort, other times by a slight 
touch of the hands, he gives to the paste a heavy and thick 
shape, foUowing as closely as possible the curves of the shape 
to be made.f 
In the study of throwing the most difficult thing to master 
is the centering of a piece, which consists in making the center 
of the thrown piece exactly coincide with the center of the 
wheel top, so that there wiU be a synchronism of rotation of 
both. It took me three months and a good deal of patience to 
master this necessary detail. I advise to practice first with a 
plaster disc and sucessively with heavier and more important 
pieces. This point acquired the rest is nothing but an attrac- 
tive play.* 
Closed pieces, those with narrow necks, are thrown in two 
l^ieces, which after the finishing are put together and fastened 
witli slip. This operation unist be done rapidly and with ]jre- 
cision. 
Throwing is the most important part of the making on the 
^\ heel of a ceramic piece and its siiccess depends entirely on 
the care with which it is done. Brongniart, in his excellent 
"Traite de Ccrauiicnic " mentions all the i)recautions which 
must be taken. It would be too k)ng to go over them in detail 
in these articles. The thrower will become familiar with them 
by practice. I will simply say that the less plastic a clay is, 
the thiclvcr it nuist be thrown, and that it takes many years of 
practice to Ijecome a clever thrower. 
T It niiiig- -When the thrown piece isfinn, but not dry, it is 
placed again on the wheel and glued 
with slip. Then it is i)erfected with 
turning tools. The.se instruments (fig.3) 
are steel plates, sharpened on the edges 
with a file, straight or' curved, solidly 
fixed in a wooden handle and perpen- 
dicular to the angle of the handle. 
^^'ith these different turning tools the 
thrower perfects all the curves of the 
vase, keejiing as closely us possible to 
the design which he has under his eyes. 
The piece is then subjected to the finishing process. 
This consists in applying to the piece tin-ned a steel 
blade with sharp edges, which has Ijeen cut with a file into 
t [Tlie i^laster disc lioldiiig the sliape is then cut from wlieol head witli 
a wire. — Ed.] 
* [Ry pressing the paste firmly between the pahns with tiiuinbs o\-er 
top and liolding steadily until it no longer " wobljles " the clay will quickly 
center itself — the main thing is not to allow the hands to move from this fixecl 
position until no motion is felt but tlie circling one. — Kd.) 
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