The times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1882-1897, 1888-05-18

The fashioning of pottery from clay
may, at first gIance, seem simple pro-
cess. We have all, as children, made
mud pies. The mud pie urchin is the
potter in embryo. But when you know
that the clay passes through thirty odd
processes or landings before the finished
dish is produced, and that it may have
received thirty OF these landings only to
be utterly ruined at the thirty-first, and
the proposition looks somehow different.
The story OF how a saucer is made is in
teresting. Imagine, in the first place,
three heaps OF stuff that looks like ground
chalk. These are china clay, flint and
feldspar. " They have already gone
through certain processes of calcining,
grinding, etc., before they reach the pot
terry, to fit them to the use for which
they are intended. They are the potter's
raw material.
These three materials are mixed in GER
tain proportions, the formula for which
is said to be a secret known only to the
potters. When was told this I remem-
Der marveling how it could have re-
manned a secret so long when it was
known to so many. Still feel bound to
believe it is q secret. Water is now
added until the mixture is like thin
cream. The cream or 'slip' is then
passed through q screening process by
running it over ''lawns" or fine cloths.
The impurities are thus removed. and the
cream-now containing pure potter's
clay only-fows into vat, from which
it is pumped into the presses. These are
canvas bags inelosed in shallow trays Of
wood. The water by pressure is forced
through the meshes Of the canvas, leav-
ing the clay behind. When the water is
all drained off the trays are opened, the
canvas coverings thrown back, and the
clay in 'leaves" or cakes Of the consist
ency and color of putty, are disclosed.
These are rolled up and deposited in the
clay vault until the superfuous moisture
has evaporated. 1t is then submitted to
the process Of "wedging' or beating to
expel the air, which if left in would
cause the goods to blister during the fir
ing process. It is then ready for the
''presser" j. e., the man who shapes the
dishes out Of the clay.
The presser does this with the aid of q
mold Of plaster prepared by the mold
maker, the most important and highest
paid of all the pottery employees. These
molds are Of every size and shape, ac-
cording TO the goods to be produced.
The most elaborate are those for sanitary
use, called plumbers goods. The hol-
low ware molds are made in three pieces
the two sides and the bottom. Hol-
low ware comprises ewers, teapots, sugar
bowls, ETC., as distinguished from flat
ware, or saucers, plates, platters, etc.
The saucer mold looks something like q
small apple pie, the upper surface Of
which is modelled with the reverse form
of the inside Of the saucer. This mold is
placed on rapidly revolving iron cup
called a "jigger, the presser takes lump
of soft clay, hattens it out with a blow
or two of "a plaster stamp until it looks
like pie crust, picks it up and fops it
over the revolving mold, where, with the
aid Of curiously shaped profile instru-
ment or tool, he instantly fashions tho
clay into the form of a saucer upside
down.
A good workman with boy or two tc
help him with the molds will fashion
many hundreds Of saucers daily in thin
manner. The mold with the saucer On
top is then placed on q rack, where, by
means of steam pipes, it is dried. The
saucer is then taken from the mold, the
edges trimmed of and the surface
sponged smooth. It Is then placed in the
''green room" for further drying pro-
cess.
The man who makes cups is called
"thrower, and he exercises little more
skill and dexterity than the fatware pres
ser in "throwing" the clay up into the
proper shape. His "jigger" also is Of a
different form. After the cup has been
shaped and dried it is tuned in lathe
and then sponged, WHEN it is ready to ac-
company the saucer to the ''green room"
When the saucer is perfectly dry it in
ready for it's first or biscuit" baking. A
round vessel of coarse pottery, which
looks like an old bandbox and IL called
"sagger," is produced. White sand is
placed at the bottom. Then the saucera
are ranged in layers, each layer being
covered with sand. When the sagger is
full strips of common red clay. called
"wads," arc placed round the rim, and
the sagger Is ready for the kiln.
The kilns are about 20 feet high and
10 across, being circular in form. Their
Uize is designated by the number Of days
It will take to ill them. The one saw
was called 10 day kiln, because it
would take one man 10 days to fill it
with saggers. Eight men were at work
at it, and it was filled in two days and
half. The saggers are placed in piles,
called "bungs," 90 feet high. The
"wads" serve to steady the piles and to
keep out foreign substances, smoke and
the like, when the firing begins. On the
top of each chung an inverted sagger
Is placed for a like reason. When the
kiln is full the opening is bricked up and
the fires lighted. The crockery is sub
jected to heat of 5000 dogs. Fahren-
heit for from 4S TO 60 hours. Then the
fires are put out and the kiln allowed to
cool for several days, when it is opened,
care being taken not to let the cool air
chill the contents suddenly for fear OF
cracking them.
The next process is that of glazing.
The glaze is generally q mixture OF
water, flint, spar, paris white, clay, zinc,
lead, boracic acid and soda ash, though
a,p,etiroas other inpredients arc added