The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1898-05-06

are brought from all parts of the worl,l.
kaolin or china clay which is the leISpar
OF decomposed granite washed from the
rocks. is brought from Cornwall 50
Is the Cornish or china stone: fclspar
is brought from Sweden. and. though
OF a rich red. il turns white when
burned; mari and fine clay come from
BroSeley. in Shropshire, and Sto,lr.
bridge: tlints arc brought from Dicppc,
and boncS-thoSc of the OK only
come all the way from South .\meri-
ca to be calcined and ground down.
The grinding is 4 slow matter; each
ingredient is ground separately, in a
vat, the bottom Of which is hard
stone, whereon other hard stones OF
great weight revolve slowly From
twelve hours to ten days constant
treatment 10y these remorelcss mills is
required by the various materials,
some needing to be ground much lon
ger than others before the requisite
tineness is attained. 1t is essential
that all the ingredients should be re-
duced to 4 certain standard of grain
and the contents of each vat must pass
through lawn sieve with four thous-
and meshcs to the square inch. When
the materials are sufficiently ground
to meet this test, they arc taken to the
''slip house." and mixed together, with
the clays, which do not need grinding.
\ magnet of great strength is in each
mixing trough, and draws to itself
every particle of iron, which, if allow
ed to remain in the mixture, wonld in
jure the ware very much. When prop
erly mixed, the water is pressed out
and the paste or clay is beaten so that
it may obtain consistency. Then it is
ready to be made into the many shapes
which find popular favor.
The process OF manufacture depends
on the shape to be obtained. \ plain
circular tcacup may be cast on Il pot
ter's wheel Of the ancient kind. When
it is partly dried in a mould, it is turn
cd on lathe and trimmed: then the
handle, which has been moulded, is af-
fixed with Il touch OF the ''slip"-the
porcelain paste in state Of dilution is
the cement used in all such situations
and the space is ready for the fire. 4
plate. Or saucer, however, is made by
flat pressing; a piece Of clay like PAN
cake is laid on the mould, which is set
revolving on Il wheel: the dcft fingers
Of the workm n press the clay to tho
proper shape, and it is then dried. But
the elaborate ornamental pieces Of
graceful design are made in moul,ls,
and for this process the clay is used in
the thin or slip" state. The moulls
are pressed together, the slip is pour
ed into them througha Il hole in one
side. and, when the moisture has been
absorbed hy the plaster mouhl> sntii
GENTLY, the piece is taken out. 1t is
often necessary, in making large or
complicated piece, to have rs many rs
twenty or thirty castings. In mould
ing 4 figure, for instance, the legs and
arms and hands, even the thumbs in
many cas- =, are cast separately, and
with many other parts ofthe design arc
laid before workman, who carefully
builds up the complete figure out OF
the apparent chaos OF parts, afliNing
each piece to the body with a touch OF
slip. When these wares are complete,
they have to be fired for the first time;
and they are taken to u kiln, and
placed with great care and many pre-
cautions in the grim interior. The con.
traction of the clay under fire is mat
ter to which the designers must give
much study: and the change which
takes place during forty hours fierce
firing in the kiln is shown by CONTRAST
ing an unburncd piece and piece OF
'biscuit" or unburneL ware, and mark
ing the skrinkagc. Your ware must
he calculated to shrink only so much
if it SHRINK shade further. the whole
process may he spoiled. There is Il loss
Of twenty-five per cent. sometimes in
these kilns, in spite OF the assiduous
care of the workmcn. When the bis
cult ware has cooled, it is dipped in
the yloZe (which is Il compound of lead
and boraX and other matcrials.-vir
tuall Il sort of glass,-an then it j,
fired for sixteen hours in the .'ghost
oven. There is no contraction in this
OTtc:tl. DUL tiicFc Is II TiSk Holc tue ltSs
from other causes. In fact, there is
the dan ger of in iury every time the
ware goes to the fire, and, rs the high
ly-dccoratcd pieces have to go to the
kiln many times, it may he inferred
that the labor of weeks, and even
months, is sometimes nullified by an
untoward accident in the burning.
1t is during the process of dccora
ton that the ornate vases and figures
make 81 many trips to the fire. The
artist department is Il very large and
important one. The de>i gncrs, how
ever are Il class of themselves. They
project the idea: it is the business OF