The Daily times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1886-1889, 1888-04-02
MAKING A TEA SET.
POTTERY NOT MADE so RAPIDLY
AS REPORTED.


A paragraph has been going the rounds
| Of the English press, purportipg TO be a
| veracious statement Of the remarkable
| feat of "young English potter astonish'
| ing the United States by an exhibition OF
| his prowessn in making an entire set OF
| forty-fou pieces in the short time OF eight
minutes The astonishment does not seem
| to have spread to any perceptibie extent
| among American potterS. Indeed, they
| do not appear 20 be aware OF any, Tor the
excellent reason that the alleged feat u
simply an impossibility. No matter how
young that potter may be, he might be
even younger, and, although English, stil
he couldn't do it.
Mr.. Theodore Hayiland, whose author
! ity as an expert nobody will question,
upon reading the paragraph said 1t H.
| impossible What the man made waa
simply the camise, or shirt, of the several
articles in the tea set. That is nothing
more than a sheet OF the dough like clay,
more or less accurate IN thickness and
form that must he put on mold, and
when it dries TO u certain point must have
attached to it the other parts required TO
complete the article for which ii IS IN
tended. That forty-four thin pieces Of
clay may be spun upon a wheel in eight
minutes, or even less, Is not at all surpris-
ing but when that is done see how far
they are from being finished.
TO BIZ DONE ATTEEwARD.
"Turn up your plate or cup or saucer,
and YOU will see that it has foot, rs It
is technically termed, which is a circict Of
clay attached to the camise when It IS
sufficiently dry AMI is nodded III like
manner, notice that other articles, the
teapot and sugar bowl. have collars at
their tops, which are also put on ia the
same way. Then the lids have knobs and
what IS termed the 'bridle'-the parl that
sets down in the collar-added to them,
Then the teapot at least must haye
spout, and both it and the cream jug at
least handles Aud all those things have
10 be nodded and stuck on the camise. II
Is prepostcrous TO suppose even that a
man could do al this "a the time speci
fled Even if he possessed the manual
deXterity 70 work with lightning like
rapidity, tie clay would not dry sulii-
GENTLY in SO few minutes 70 cnable him TO
complete the pieces.
Similar expires lions Of disbelief were
uttered By two other experts. They both
said that while 10 Is true that great ma
iority Of the pottery workers IN the United
States are English, the employers are
Americans and have introduced In their
establishments such eXpedit.ug and labor
saving processes as are ahead OF every
thing OF the Kind In England. A factory
in Trenton was spoken OF Us one OF the
most progressive II is often visited 10y
English pottery manufacturers when they
come 10 this country, and they seldom fail
10 find new points for their own advantage
at home At the same time not even
American ingenuity has ever yet found a
way 10 turn out q complete set OF forty
four pieces in eight minutes, and the
young Englishman who could do It would
indeed astOnish them very much and open
up such prospect Of reduction in cost u
production as would make even prOtec
tive tariff seem OF minor importance
THE QUESTION Of COST.
Touching upon that question Of cost
Mr.. Haviland said There is very little
difference Ia the cost OF production Of the
actual white material, whether il IS for
the very finest class Of goods that are sub
sequently TO receive the highest artistic
decoration, or for the common articles
that pass without decoration 10 the con
sumcr's hands That is, Of course, with
the understanding that n wide difference
exists between the cost Of the white ma
terial Of porcelain, which Is composed OF
kaolin and that Ut china that is made
from clay. The cost Of workmanship on
the white material is about the same, and
there is little difference in the time re-
Quired for production, as the processes
are, to great extent, identical, though 1t
IS worthy Of remark that We 10 do not
ind, as a rule, that the workman who Is
skilled in handling one substance, the
clay. for instance, can with equal ability
work the other There IL "a difference in
the manipulation that Is difficult TO de-
fine
NO man, as the making Of pottery Is
now carried on, makes all Of an article.
One makes the camise by rolling 1t out. az
a cook would his pie crust, OF by spinning
it on a wheel, according 70 the use for
which ii is intended Another fits the
clay to the mold and trims IL Others
attach to II the several parts required for
It's completion, others decorate It, and so
il passes from hand TO hand until 1t
reaches the kiln II is in the decoration
that the great cost IS added. Awhile por-
celain set Of forty-four pieces, that may
not be worth more than from $40 TO $40,
can be decorated so that each piece may
be made m almost priceless treasure Of
art. In practice we dOnot make, for ordI-
nary commercial demand, sets Of that size
costing more than SO, but we have made
and can make them worth $500 very
easily. Decoration that would increase
that value would have TO be by some
great artist ranking il the world OF art
far above the professional porcelain decor
ators, the best Of whom in France DO not
get over 5000 francs a year, say 81 200
The man who is paid ut that rate will
spend day, or perhaps two days some
times, in painting single plate That
being taken into consideration, together
with the high duties, it Is wonderful that
the exquisite porcelain imported is sold
here so cheaply. New York sun.
I. Fraud