Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-07-23

During the process Of baking these props
fall off. and when the figures are taken
rom rom me oven they stand complete in all
their beauty Of perfection.
Many a dish Is spoiled in the baking, Z"
runs the old adage Not so at the Sevres
Kitchen. Only expert chefs superintend
this branch OF the industry. Here at least
one might expect to find darkness, SCOT
dirt and the 'grimy workman" with
noise. confusion and disorder in every di-
rectlon, but every inch of space shows
methodical order and New England clean
Illness. The chefs of the department all
wear white linen uniforms and their duty
Is to watch the rise of temperature in
the ovens and to keep the fires going.
In this part of the building there are
fifteen or twenty different ovens which
look like large circular brick towers
They are eighteen feet in diameter, and
each one contains swinging door about
five feet In height. When the pottery is
ready to be baked each separate piece is
placed in a mold and piled high In this
huge heated space At first the mold is
placed In the second story" where the
heat is not so intense. Here II Is kept at
a temperature Of 800 degrees centigrade
for about four or five hours. This grad
ual heating Is necessary, for IL the moidS
were subjected to too great a heat a
the beginning the water would dry out
too quickly and the pottery would crack
Ihen comes the process of cooling off
1t takes several days even after the fires
have been extinguished before the molds
are cold enough to be handled. The sec
ond half of the baking process 10 then
executed. The mo ds are placed In the
lower story and kept there for eighteen or
twenty hours in a heat ranging from 200
to 1,4O degrees centigrade.
-Four freplaces are built of brick on the
Ef nft hn .,sr Ior
the first baking large wood is used, but
for the second fine wood is substituted in
order to gain the more intense heat. Coal
S never employed. Open ngs in the wall
VIII CHI separates the fireb0x from the oven
about the SIZE of no es for stovepipes
carry the flame through them In crcu-
lar direct-o on around the interior of the
oven To determine the proper degree of
heat. a strange thermometer Is put inside
the oven. This cons SITS of tiny pyramids
OF chemical products and spec a. clay of
variable compositions each melting at a
d nerent temperature. Little peep holes
in the brick wall about the SIC Of spool
of thread enable the baker to look
through and watch the change in this
unique instrument for gauging heat
VIII CHI regulates his movements in regard
to his treatment Of the china.
The rooms set aside for the designers
decorators. burnishers. etc, are always
attractive pc nts of interest Reference
maps OF every conceivable color. shade
or tint hang on the walls and awaken
the uninit ated to the fact that shades
exist that were never dreamed Of by him.
Strange to relate, turquoise blue color
that was first used IN the decoration of
Sevres ware was lost after the beg ming
OF the nineteenth century, and now, after
one hundred years of searching, 1t has
been rediscovered and Is giving the most
satisfactory results in the present-day
decorations.
Two women were instrumental in fos-
tering the development in artistic beauty
of the products of this great factory OF
Sevres When Louis XIV began to mani
fest such decided predictions for the
Of Nine. de Pompadour. Nine. de Pompa-
dour. for whom the king created the
title OF marchioness. was the natural
daughter Of a butcher and was married
TO farmer. notwithstanding her humble
Origin she had an innate loNe for the