The Minneapolis journal., 1904-12-31
PHILADELPHIA
POTTERY SCHOOL
THINGS MADE BY
. HAND AND WHEEL.
Philadelphia Has the Only Institution
Of the Kind in the Country-orig-
inality and Piquancy Of Women
Learners Drying, Glazing, Firing and
Other Mysterious Arts Described. !,
PHILADELPHIA Record.


At this time it is of particular i'm
terest to note the workings of the new
pottery school which Howard Fremont
Stratton, director of the School of Ap-
piled Arts, says is the only one of it's
sort in the country. Indeed, the only
school he has found of the same genre
is at Naples, Italy, the Scuola Indus
triale, where silver worker, say, goes
into the garden, picks a stem of olives
with foliage, returns and models "a
brooch, perhaps. s.
It is this absolute fidelity to truth.
that the quaker city pottery school
aims at. 1t is unique, too, in this coun-
try, the modelingroom being the largest
in America, and in the world SO far ass
is known. A foreign commissioner,
coming from the st. Louis fair, stopped I
over to visit the school because he had
SO liked the work of the pupils as ex-..
hibited at" the Louisiana Purchase ex-9
position. He admired their work as
being really applied art, as distin-
guished from mere technical teaching,
theory which, tho ever so valuable,
does not insure the S|practice makes
perfect state, to bring old-time copy
books to the rescue. Ks
In this great studio, with doors large
enough for any model (even horsel
to enter. The pupils work. The first
one will be chosen. These first designs
will be simple and structural, say. a
are little, if any, more than an inch in
height, the pupil then makes a full.
size drawing, and this drawing is be.
fore the pupils eyes until the piece Of;
pottery is finished:
give great opportunity for the study Of
technique. The sketch is always crit
icized, and perhaps changed, before the
large one is made. The design must
be followed with the greatest fidelity.
Only when it can be followed exactly.
has good technique been achieved.
.- Training Student.
"The student must be trained to fol-.
low an idea," repeats Leon Volkmar,
the instructor in pottery, "and it is.
the work. ;, A fair pupil from the.
west, who had only touched clay for
the second time, but who had evident
ly Hkept up terrible thinkin - was
producing a very ereditable vase which
her own. To see these pupils coaxingl
up before the mind rs eye the arts of
the ages.
An exposition Of that Biblical simile,
Gas clay in the hands of the potter, -
is given when Mr.. Volkmar mounts the
seat before the potter 8 wheel, the best
and n oldest way Of forming pottery.
One learns that the Potter's wheel ,is
THE patriarch Of machinery-the orig.
inal lathe.
= Seated thus, Mr.. Volkmar took up a
ball of clay, and, rounding it while he
put the wheel in motion with his feetx
he at length. placed it in the center of
the wheel. Round and round flew the
wheel, the students closing in to wit
ness this wonderfully interesting meth
cd of pottery, building. At length he
put his thumb In the center OF this
rapidly revolving mass. Deeper and
deeper; it went. Then he added q q finger
He admitted that the process took a
certain power and action: In reducing
the clay to this abject slavery he
caused it to take many forms.
First, it was spun up into a cylinder.
| Then, by almost imperceptible degrees.
| it was swelled out into a squat form,
such as the American Indians have al
the inside. "This must be done gently
or the piece collapses,'' explained Mr..
their task, while in his hand the pliable
clay took on diverse forms with light
ning-like rapidity. From the jar sug-
5gesting, the shape favored by "Lo the
Bormed into beanpot. eas Then it was
Heightened until the shape suggesting
an old-fashioned butter "crock."
/ From this it was manipulated into
exquisite thinness and formed into a
graceful, slender-necked shape that
takes the thoughts across the seas to
"the glory that was Greece But
only for a second, then down it came
would be just the thing for a bunch
of iris or other dubious beauties of the
springtime. :.-.: $3.50:
This delightfully."- -drawn-out ex-
ample ended at last: The top edge was va
setSu soft turned ice g edge = Which V fits between cen
the index and middle finger being the
characteristic of thrown pottery. With
a steel palette knife the surface, yet
whirling, was smoothed. At this point
| one is Informed that the technique was
best Judged by the inside Of the piece,
as that cannot be smoothed. 4.ss!
! Drying, Glazing and Firing.
Another interesting point. Eighteen
inches is the limit in height for these
pieces, owing to the limitations OF hut
made IN Sections fhs last Refa move
to cut the shaped piece of pottery off
with wire. For odd shapes hand
building is necessary. Now, whether
the piece of pottery has been shaped
on the wheel or entirely by hand, comes
the drying. Most Of the pieces are
done in cream pottery clay, tho an oc-
casional one is in red terra Gotta clay.
The student chooses the color, but, nat
urally, the instructor criticizes tho
choice. Exquisite examples are seen IN
the display room above, where clear,
soft yellows rival wondrous greens and
superb blues. These colors are made
of the oxides of five different metals.
The green's and reds are produced from
copper, the blues from cobalt, the
browns and yellows from iron. This IS
gotten at scientifically. The chemistry
Of the elements is as important as the
making of the pottery.