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RERAMIC STUDIO 
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Foyer, fire mouth — Murelte, wall in front of fire mouth — Enjournement, setting. 
GRAND FEU CERAMICS 
IX— SAGGERS, PLACING AND SETTING— Continued 
Taxile Doat 
/^HEN set on top of each other, the saggers form columns 
which are called bungs (Fig. 66) , and reach the top of 
the firing chamber. Each bung must be built, from top to 
bottom, of saggers having the same diameter. The solidity 
of the bung is secured by that condition. The number of 
bungs varies according to the size of the kiln and the diameter 
of the saggers. Three bungs of saggers one foot in diameter 
found room in my first small coal kdn (Fig. 39, p. 197, Jan. 
1904). In my wood kiln (Fig. 67) there are regularly nine 
bungs of different sizes to allow the placing of a great varietj' 
of shapes and to better distribute the spaces reserved to the 
passage of the flame. I saj^ regularty, because I have limited 
mj^self to certain sizes of pieces. If I exceeded these sizes I 
would have to construct a larger kiln, to have a much more 
cumbersome material, also assistants and workmen, etc., 
which is not my purpose, notwithstanding the tendencj' of all 
ceramists to build castles in the air. My setting is, with slight 
variations, alwaj^s about the same. 
Plan of setting in a kiln having Im, 35 diameter (4 feet 
5 inches), (Fig. 67).: 
The bungs have between them a space of 4 inches and 2 
inches near the fire mouths. Their vertical position is estab- 
lished with the plumb line; it must be perfect. Notwithstand- 
ing these precautions, the saggers would not keep their balance 
f/«.c;.9 
if they were not cemented together by the means of wads of 
lute (Fig. 68) placed between each piece of placing material, 
saggers, rings or bats. This clay is made of 
Claj' of Provins 30 
Common yellow sand of Villebon 70 
It is the most valuable help to the setter; it gives regularit}^ 
and solidity to the bungs. This clay, fresh when it is put on, 
dries very rapidly and at once gives rigidity to the bung. As 
soon as the lute is dry, one removes the ropes which hold to- 
gether the fragments of broken saggers and rings, which ha-\^e 
been found to be still useful. This is left to the judgment of 
the setter. Sometimes broken saggers are better than new 
ones, but they must be held with ropes (Fig. 69) so as to be 
easily handled, and not to lose anj" piece, as the reconstruction 
of saggers from mixed fragments is worse than a Chinese 
puzzle game. 
The lute can be made by rolling the clay by hand in the 
shape of a rope about \ inch thick, but it is a slow way. Mach- 
ines can be bought from Mr. Faure, engineer at Limoges, or 
from Mr. Wenger, Hanley (Staffordshire, England), the latter 
S20 delivered at Hanley. As this price is high, I have solved 
the difficulty by employing an American machine made to 
make meat juice, which bears the mark "Enterprise Mfg. Co., 
Philadelphia" (Fig. 70). The bottom has been removed and 
replaced by an iron plaque (Fig. 71) in the shape of a movable 
dii.\-n^{re. ool 5 
disc 6i inch in diameter, pierced with 50 holes about + inch 
diameter. The vertical cylinder is filled with soft paste, which 
is forced through the holes by a screw-press acting on the cover. 
The wads of clay are gathered under, ready for use. 
The sagger at the base of a bung may or may not rest on 
the bottom of the kiln. In kikis with up draft, it rests on the 
l^ottom (Fig. 72) which has first been covered with a laj^er of 
cUrecfe 
