Britain at Work
A Pictorial Description of Our National Industries

THE POTTERY WORKERS. experienced eye tells him, by the glowing heat of the interior, that the glaze on the surface of the ware will have become fused and brilliant. Quickly he handles a long iron rod, waiting till, with a heavy crowbar, an assistant has removed a small brick from the doorway of the oven. Through this opening he inserts the hooked rod, and deftly draws forth the test piece all glistening and radiant. Watching the texture and colour as it cools, he is able to assure himself that his judgment has been correct. The fires are allowed to burn down, the openings are closed, and in some thirty to forty hours the finished ware will be drawn out smooth and shirting in its perfect form. We now ascend to the upper floors, where the materials are converted into the various forms we have seen below, and in the I hrower’s shop ” a new revelation awaits us. The thrower whom we here see pro- ducing such graceful shapes and delicate outlines has but his hands and fingers for tools. With these alone he is able to evolve things artistic and beautiful from the shape- less clay which he handles. Sitting astraddle before a shallow triangular wooden tray, he takes a lump of the plastic material and throws it down upon the small revolving table before him, to which it adheres. 73 PRESSING. As it rapidly spins round he wets and clasps it between his two wet palms, shaping it quickly into a cone. Then, plunging his thumbs within, the form of a rough vessel appears as if by magic, before we are able to see how this strange evolution has taken place. By gentle manipulation of his fingers he next appears to lead the plastic mass upwards into outlines and shapes of any form he wills, until we are inclined to believe that the IN THE MODELLING ROOM, BRITANNIA POTTERY, GLASGOW. 10 process must be so easy that we ourselves could accomplish it. We now enter the “Pressing shop” or shed. Here each worker, batting out on a plaster table a large sheet of soft clay, lifts it into a hollow mould made of plaster, pressing it with a pad into all its outlines. In a few hours the porous mould which supports the clay within will absorb the moisture, and can be removed, the dish or other ob- ject still retaining the desired shape. In this way all vessels are made which have not a circular form. Further on, in what is known as the “ Jollying room,” we obtain an insight into the manufacture