The Albany register. [volume] (Albany, Or.) 1868-18??, 1875-03-19
Mx Porcelain Yaae
BY ELLEN BERTHA BRADLEY.

BY ELLEN BERTHA BRADLEY.
This afternoon I received a beautiful
pair of vases, present from friend
who has just returned from Europe.
They are pure white, about six inches
high, and of the antique style now so
| fashionable. I placed them on the man
tel, and when Ned came home he noticed
them instantly.
t'What are they2" I asked, when he
had looked ut them admiringly few
| minutes.
Eat the first glance I thought they
were alabaster," he answered. "But
they are a beautiful specimen of un-
glazed porcelain. / saw similar ones
being made at Etrrria.''
"Where's that" said Susie.
HIn England" he replied. at is
where the Wedgewood pottery and por-
celain are made. MIR. Wedgewood put
up his factories not far from Shelton, and
built near them a mansion for himself
and rows of cottages for the workmen.
The village thus formed he, somewhat
fanclfully, callee Etruria, the name of
part OF ancient Greece where many beau
| tful specimens of pottery have been
| found That was just about hundred
years ago. The mansion is of the style
| then common among persons of wealth.
| 1t Is large, roomy, brick building stand
ing in park. The cottages are all of
! the same size and pattern. / was told
/ that their resemblance to each other went
so far that each front door opened into
the best parlor, and In each parlor stood
a mahogany chest of drawers, but can
not vouch Tor the truth of that state
meEt +"
What about the factories Z" said I.
| ooh, yes" said he. f'They are the
| first interest to you until you find out
/ how your vases were made. Well, if
you're going through the process you
must begin with the mixing of the clay,
and that is pretty dirty work, I assure
| you"
g Never mind that, . said 1. laughing.
I'm not afraid of the dirt"
every well, said he. "The materials
used in making the finest kinds of porce-
lain are flint, bone, Cornish stone, and
Cornish clay or kaoEn."
''Thas is to say, China clay" said
neither.
SIS it brought from China ~ asked
Harry.
"No," said his uncle, s'but it was
long supposed to exist only there. Pot
terry has been made in Europe since the
earliest times of which we have any
record, but until within the last two
centuries 1t has been believed impossible
to manufacture the delicate, half trans
parent porcelain of the East, because of
the absence of kaolin. After it was dis
covered on the Continent, it was long
supposed not to exist in England, and
British orockery remained very inferior
quality"
"What Is kaolin Z" I asked
1t is clay formed by the wearing
down of certain granitic rocks by the
action of air, water and FROST he an
4
of some ponds In Cornwall, called catch
pools, into which it had been washed by
streams from neighboring hills. Mr.
Wedgewood seized upon it as soon as it
was discovered, and began the improve
ments in British crockery which have
made it famous the world over. Greater
masterpieces of art are produced upon
the Continent than In Great Britain, but
in no country Is the general character of
pottery 80 high. That from Etruria is
stripped all over the world.
It seems to me" said /, ts that we
are not getting on very fast with the his
tory of my vases"
ssOh, those vases 70 said Ned. "We
mustn't forget them. The first step to-
ward making them was the burning or
calcining of the bone and flint. Then
they and the other ingredients were
ground to powder and mixed with water
INTO slip.
'Into whata'' cried Harry.
"Shp," replied his uncle, smiling &c
suppose the name is given to the mix
ture because of it's perfect smoothness
That used for the finest porcelain is
strained through sieves the meshes of
which are not more than the three
hundredth part of an inch in diameter. j
The slip is poured into a wide fat oven,
where it is reduced by evaporation to the
proper consistency. It is then taken out
and kneaded by machinery until it is soft
and iplable, when it is ready for the pot
ter's wheel or the mold. These vases
of yours, Mary, were probably run in
plaster-of-P Paris molds most delicate
and complicated forms are, although the
wheel Is used with astonishing skill. A
lump of clay of the right size Is placed
ON q revolving tablet, and as it turns the
potter works it into shape with his hands.
The proper form having been given by
either method, it is dried by exposure to
the air before being placed In the biscuit
Kiln, where it is exposed TO fierce heat
for forty or fifty hours. The oven is then
allowed to cool gradually and the pottery
Is taken out ready for the glazing
These are not glazed, said Susie,
taking UP one of the vases.
No, said he s. These are of the
most delicate and beautiful porcelain,
and are left In the biscuit state. They
are an almost exact imitation of alabaster.
In fact, they are Parian. :"
Like what statuettes are made 'FRONT.'
asked.
Yes, he answered. . Anything that
is purely ornamental need not be glazed,
but all articles intended for use, from
our yellow pudding dishes to the delicate
porCHlain from which Queen Victoria
drinks her tea. YnrYe3t ba sflipx@d into