The Potter's Craft: A Practical Guide for the Studio and Workshop

It must always be an open question how much credit for artistic feeling can be given to primitive races. The production of pottery was, at first, the supplying of a need. Clay o...

Plaster is almost a necessity to the potter and therefore something should be learned about it. Even if one does not use molds there are numberless purposes for which plaster is...

Much of the fascination of pottery making centers in the glaze. At one time a great deal of mystery appeared to surround the composition and use of glazes, but if one will take...

Much of the glamour of the potter's art is associated with the wheel. Poets have sung its praise and artists have delighted in its rhythmic motion, but alas! the wheel as a comm...

Kilns and burning form the pivot upon which the art of the potter turns. M. Doat has said, "A potter can no more express himself without his kiln than can a violinist without hi...

One of the modern developments of clay-working is the use of it in elementary and high schools as a branch of manual training. In this, clay meets the most exacting needs of the...

It is not intended, in these lines, to consider what are generally termed the Fine Arts, painting and sculpture. These are perfectly competent to take care of themselves and, in...

Clay differs from earth or soil in that it possesses certain characteristics which these do not possess. Its distribution is very wide but for the most part it lies concealed fr...

It is not possible to finish work to perfection in the operation of throwing. The clay is too soft to handle and for proper finishing the piece must be turned over to get at the...

There are two methods of making tiles, the dust-pressed method and the plastic. The former is the more usual commercial plan but the appliances for preparing the dust and the he...

The mold described in the previous chapter is called, technically, a "block mold" and is not, as a rule, used for making the clay ware. The reason for this is that molds will we...

The production of pottery by hand is a form of modeling but with the important difference that while pieces modeled by art-school methods are not intended to be preserved in the...

The necessity for some kind of decoration upon the clay will always be a point of difference amongst artists. Some prefer the simple form with a glaze treatment only, others con...

A clay having been selected in accordance with the tests described, it becomes necessary to prepare it for use. A fairly large supply should be obtained and stored in a dry plac...

The production of porcelain is the goal of the potter. The pure white of the clay and the possibility of unlimited fire treatment exert a profound influence upon the imagination...

Matt glazes are not underfired glazes nor are they deadened by acid or sand blast. They are produced in two ways. First, by an excess of alumina which is believed to cause the f...

The glory of the Persian and Egyptian blue is too alluring for potters to withstand. Though the pursuit of this glory leads one into all kinds of disasters and failures, the ave...

The subject of "Grand Feu Ceramics" has been so ably developed by M. Taxile Doat in his admirable treatise[P] that it will be unnecessary to go deeply into the matter, but in or...

There is a limit in size beyond which the non-professional will not be able to go. Men of life-long experience can throw very large jars but this involves not only more practice...

It is not likely that many craftsmen will care to produce table wares or even that they will be able to acquire the necessary skill. Simple as these wares seem, they are, in fac...

In commercial production the casting method is constantly used. It is a means of making light and delicate pieces with ease and, of course, all the pieces cast in the same mold...

Frontispiece.--Stoneware made by the Author. PLATE. PAGE I. Throwing.--Lesson II, 1 80 II. Throwing.--Lesson II, 2 81 III. Throwing.--Lesson II, 3 82 IV. Throwing.--Lesson III,...

While it may chance that body and glaze and fire are so adjusted that faults do not develop, this state of things is rare. Besides, it is always possible that an occasional trou...

Fritted glazes, like raw glazes, are clear and brilliant and for most purposes the latter will suffice. Since, however, the aim of this work is to give as complete information a...

While the purpose of this work is not so much to put ready-made materials into the hands of the craftsman as to enable him to work out his own plans, it is recognized that there...