New-York tribune., 1907-01-06
THE MODERN POTTERY.
Some Important Inn proUements OUer
Old Methods.

The potter's wheel among the first mechan-
fcal devices of civilization. and It is practically the
same to-day. primitive as II may seem, that 1t
when the Etruscan potters moulded the Jars and
pitchers OF red-brown clay and decorated them with
rude figures and conventional designs to please the
taste of the housewife.
Early pottery is mostly OF the unglazed colored
earth with which We are familiar in the museums,
in the collections from ancient Rome Greece and
Egypt and in the work of American Ind
ians The rough earthen casseroles which
may to-day in the little italian shops of New
York. are probably not Ear removed in design from
the cooking pots in which Roman slaves prepared
their masters feasts in the days of the Caesars.
The Chinese The first TO make what call
fine china, and the brilliant whiteness and fine.
smooth surface OF their porceans due to their
of very fine peculiar white earth, which still
bears Its Chinese 'f kaolin. The secret, like
that OF the silkworm and the making OF gunpow-
der, and dozen other trades of these cunning
Oriental workers. jealously guarded. and for
hundreds of the ships of Europe brought car
goes of Oriental china to the markets of England,
France and Holland. without any one being able
to discover why the Chinese ware was so different
from anything made by Western potters. 1t was
an age of queer superstons and all sorts of
curious theories advanced concerning the
porcelains. One that the clay had to be buried
for fifty years before being used. and that sorcery
was responsible for its clarity and exquisite color
ing. Wnen the people of the Middle Ages came anne
across anything they could not understand they
usually called IT sorcery.
secret and brought small quantity OF wnite eartn
from the East and chen European potters began to
story OF the development of the china factories of
the w Of ks n St. eH pulled
up shrub, TO the roots of which ciung a hne.
it might be used as substitute for soap, and it
was discovered that while the substance had no
which the famous porcelains of the Orient were
siSfh century 'o% f@r ne Work IN enamel and other
artistic handicraft, already had Its potteries and
hood were the largest deposits of kaoln yet dis
covered the china INDUSTRY grew with 1 f nm
oak It is the peculiar neness Of the kaoh , in this MS
cisar White eu color ''s and % fine tex !extdTs
There are large deposits of the kaolin In Austria
potteries in England is that which produces the
sson t a fact W%eener OF nd
famous potteries you will probably discover that
upon generation of potters. ard have the knowl-
edge of this deics.s era craft in their very blood
his is only one among the romances of pottery.
also artist. He viii sacrifice his money. his
strength his time, even his home. to the task of
seen In his heart. He may work in wood. in clay.
in n stone tor in the owe that grGw in the chg garden
make his dream a reality.
The artist must be a mechanic as well, and his
tools must i be perfect m He is not only drsamng
full hand he is planning the work of others who
chanical equipment as nearly perfect as II can be
made.
In trade is this more imperative than in that
Of the potter. a slight unevcnress In the heat, a
ite ltf defect IL in the oven may ruin the most 6ean,
china making there is no such thing as near
II anything goes wrong. 1t must be right the first
time -,..,...,...
a certain standard is no chiids play. 1t calls for
ever had to tend mis- own fire, every woman who
hast, has tried to cook by "a wood or coal range viii
must be the responsibility involved in tending a
FIRE which is to make an exquisite design, the work
manent part Of the clay on which It is drawn!
potters have had hard and disagreeabIe work to do
In personaly attending to the manual labor end
to find shovelling coal is stokers work II is un-
hands and at the same time to have the muscles
as It has solved a hundred others. The gas kilns
whh are used by rn moden NJ pqtsTs gye an
labor This kiln makes tho ideal equipment FOR the
the land places where beauty loving men and
women are dreaming beautiful things and making
porcelain. There is, craft in which The indvid-
which etherealizes and makes lovely the common
things of everyday life. When you see slender
and exquisite silver tracery. a plate garanded with
flowers vase as l3%ely as the roses II is meant to to
things which both beautiful perishable. the
VT they may last for hundreds Of years-the porce-
lain made for state banquets century ago is still
Many a has taken up this work her
grandmother may have bent herself TO the patient
toll OF the embroidery frame. merely Il pleasant
occupation for leisure moments. dallying now
and then with the marvellous secrets OF color, and
has ended by making II her profession Artists have
felt the alurement OF the gentle craft
These workers. well the larger potteries.
find the gas kiln n boon-and all through Ohio and
the Middle West gas kilns supplied with natural
gas are used. besides those which the ordinary
Illuminating gas. on the whole, perhaps. the
studio worker in pottery benefits most by the IN
Vention. The. larger afford 10 sub
divide its working force; in small establishment
every employed is likely TO take a hand at
every II is in the latter that the labor saving
devices are the greatest blessng.-Gas Logic.