The ceramic art of Great Britain from pre-historic times down to the present day, Volume 1 (of 2) : $b being a history of the ancient and modern pottery and porcelain works of the kingdom and of their productions of every classJewitt, Llewellynn Frederick William
History
The ceramic art of Great Britain from pre-historic times down to the present day, Volume 1 (of 2) : $b being a history of the ancient and modern pottery and porcelain works of the kingdom and of their productions of every class
Jewitt, Llewellynn Frederick William
Pottery, British -- History
In 1694[40] Houghton thus, in his “Letters on Husbandry and Trade,”
wrote[41] while speaking of the tobacco-pipe clays, “gotten at or nigh
Pool, a post-town in Dorsetshire, and there dug in square pieces, of
the bigness of about half a hundredweight each; from thence ’tis
brought to London, and sold in peaceable times at about eighteen
shillings a ton, but now in this time of war is worth about three and
twenty shillings,” And again he says: “This sort of clay, as I hinted
formerly, is used to clay sugar; and the best sort of mugs are made
with it, and the ingenious Mr. _Daught_ of _Fulham_ tells me that ’tis
the same earth _China-ware_ is made of, and ’tis made, not by lying
long in the earth, but in the fire; and if it were worth while, we
may make as good _China_ here as any is in the world. And so for this
time, farewel Clay.” Again, on “March 13, 1695,” he thus writes: “Of
_China-ware_ I see but little imported in the year 1694, I presume by
reason of the war and our bad luck at sea. There came only from Spain
certain, and from India certain twice. ’Tis a curious manufacture, and
deserves to be encourag’d here, which without doubt money would do;
and Mr. _Dowoit_ at _Fulham_ has done it, and can again in any thing
that is flat: but the difficulty is that if a hollow dish be made, it
must be burnt so much that the heat of the fire will make the sides
fall. He tells me that our clay will very well do it; the main skill
is in managing the fire. By my consent, the man that would bring it to
perfection should have for his encouragement one thousand pound from
the publick, though I help’d to pay a tax towards it.”
Although no specifications are preserved with Dwight’s patents,[42] I
am enabled, through the extreme kindness and courtesy of the present
owner of the works, C. I. C. Bailey, Esq., to give recipes for the
manufacture of porcelain, &c., in Dwight’s own words, and copied from
his own private pocket-books. These two extremely curious books were
recently discovered among some old account books and their discovery
throws considerable light on the history of the plastic art at this
period. One of these books, which is bound in vellum, contains on its
outside front cover the words:--
“All that is in this
book was enterd since
9 ber 15 1695;”
but the other contains many earlier entries, from 1691. Both the books
are in Dwight’s own handwriting. Among the number of curious recipes
are the following, which possess more than ordinary interest.
“_To make transparent Porcelane or China Cley._--Take fine white
thirty pounds. Best cley sifted twenty pounds. Mingle & tread.
This works strong and may be wrought thin vpon ye wheel.
“_To make another transparent porcelane or China Cley._--Take
fine white thirty pounds. Best Cley fifteen pounds. Mingle and
tread. This works weaker and thicker but burns very clear with
low fire.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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