The Sun.
London, England, 1852-06-03 00:00:00

THE SOCIETY OF ARTS.

Last evening, at the rooms of the Society of Arts, Mr.
L. Arnoux, of Steke.npon Trent, delivered a lecture
upon the ceramic manufacture.
The lecturer commere ed by an interesting historical
sketch of the ceramic manufacture, both in the classic
and modern times, paying a well merited tribute to the
genius of Me. Wedgewood, the founder of the ceramic
manufacture in England. Nature had provided England
with all the materials necessary for the potter's art, and
at present the annual produce of °tar potteries was esti-
mated at two millions sterling. 185 factories, employing
60,000 persons, were eugeged in the manufacture, 133 of
these being congregated in North Staffordshire. 84
million pieces were annually exported to almost all-parts
of the world. There was no manufacture which employed
in almostall,
whiteness,
and such varied processes as. this, as great
hardness, and brilliancy of surface were re-
quiredrather -beli ti some
Exhibitio
spect, particularly with
the smelts now in
itlet
n atteml44 demand. The
po new.:pencessesi was
manufactured producla
Of the continental nations t re-
preference to the application
atmospberic pressure, proceeded to review the
of
recommendedte
He notie,,d with sliheoviTatt the Great Exhibition.
approbation some of the bricks exhi-
bited,much greater extent
great improvements which
tehanase of the enamelled brick to a
had
present, and noticed the
manu-
facture of terracotta, and
liarly adapted for purposes of a rendered it now perm-
idchbeen made in the a
very cheap rate.
ex-
hibited by M. Minton wereencaustic'
tiles The
mosaic architectural ornament at
a newand
had made great progress, was rewarded by
which
by a council
medal, and had been further improved l
sincei the Exhibi-
tion. The most important English man
description was that commonly calledeart:tureeancsvre,f this
and it
was one in which we had nothing to fear froamfor
competition. In this our mauufacturers had little
to do but to follow Wedgewood, and the manufacture now perfection. All that could be recommended
was, the avoidance of the excessive use of flint, which
rendered the articles more liable to chip. The countries
on the Continent which were principally distinguished
in this manufacture wire France, Prussia, and Austria.
The manufacture of our Perian ware was noticed
copiously, the lecturer awarding to us the superiority in
this respect. over our Continental rivals in the ceramic
art. The history and processes both of our own and of
the foreign porcelain manufacture were next dwelt upon,
but it would be impossible to do any justice to the sub-
ject without entering into details which would far
exceed the space we can devote to them. Of the 185
factories engaged in the manufacture of earthenware, 24
were engaged in that re soft porcelain, the greatest part
of the produce bring sold in this country, for the exports
did not exceed 60,0001. sterling, nor were they likely
to exceed it materially. The French had no fewer than
70 manufactories of nerd porcelain, and their exports of
this article has doubled in the short apace of five years,
enforcing upon us the neci ssity of paying particular
attention to the improvement of this manufacture, which
had been introduced into England by M. Minton. There
were about 40 manufactories of porcelain in the Zollve-
rein, Saxony, and Austria. Summing up the results of
his remarks upon the various branches of this art, the
lecturer expressed his opinion that England had nothing
to fear in the ceramic raanufacture, from foreign compe-
tition. While, however, he bore witness to the improve-
ment which has taken place in consequence of the Great
Exhibition, he emphatically dwelt upon the necessity of
devoting increased attention to the application of sound
principles of art and design to the manufacture, in order
suceessfully to maintain a competition with other nations
in its higher branches.
A vote of thanks was very cordially given to the lec-
turer.