|
Main
- books.jibble.org
My Books
- IRC Hacks
Misc. Articles
- Meaning of Jibble
- M4 Su Doku
- Computer Scrapbooking
- Setting up Java
- Bootable Java
- Cookies in Java
- Dynamic Graphs
- Social Shakespeare
External Links
- Paul Mutton
- Jibble Photo Gallery
- Jibble Forums
- Google Landmarks
- Jibble Shop
- Free Books
- Intershot Ltd
|
books.jibble.org
Previous Page
| Next Page
Page 32
"Willie said you could talk about pottery all night," cried Matie.
"And so I might, dear, and not get further than the ABC of its history,
after all," answered Uncle Jack.
"But how many kinds are there, uncle?" asked Will.
"That question demands an answer that must teach something," said Uncle
Jack. "There are two general kinds."
"Why, I saw a thousand kinds at the Centennial," interrupted Al, with a
wise look.
[Illustration: CHINESE DOG (ROYAL WORCESTER PORCELAIN)]
"That may be," said his uncle. "But then, too, you saw a thousand kinds
of people, and yet all those people were either men or women; so all
pottery comes under the two general classes of 'hard paste' and 'soft
paste.'"
"Why, none of it was soft, Uncle Jack, was it? I thought it was all
baked hard," said Will, looking incredulous.
[Illustration: TEA-STAND (ROYAL WORCESTER PORCELAIN)]
"So all pottery _is_ baked hard, for, until it is made hard by firing,
it is only wet clay and sand,--in pretty shapes, perhaps, but not fit
for any use or ornament,--and is not yet pottery."
"Then why is it called 'soft?'"
"You've seen pieces of stone that you could grind to powder under your
heel? You'd call them 'soft.' Other pieces you couldn't crush, and
you'd call them 'hard.' That is something like what is meant by 'hard'
and 'soft' applied to pottery,--at least, 'soft' doesn't mean soft like
putty."
"But if it's all baked, why isn't it all hard alike?" asked Will.
"Because different clays are used, and different degrees of heat
applied. At one time we get a kind of pottery that can be scratched
with a knife, at another a ware too hard to be so scratched; the one is
called 'soft paste' and the other 'hard paste.'"
The boys seemed to be satisfied with this explanation.
"Uncle, didn't you see at the Centennial some funny little figures
representing all sorts of London street-people?" asked Will.
"Yes, and I brought one with me, I think. Ah! here's one," he said,
showing them a droll little man about four inches high, "and it looks
very like a London cabman--or 'cabby,' as he is called."
"He's very homely," said Matie. "Where was he made, Uncle Jack?"
Her uncle turned the figure over, and, looking at a small round
impression on the under side, answered: "At the Royal Worcester Works
in England, where some of the best of modern porcelain has been made."
"Is that hard paste or soft, Uncle Jack?" asked Willie, while Al, as if
inclined to test the matter, began a search in his pockets for a knife.
"This is hard paste porcelain; it is 'translucent,'--that is, it shows
the light through," and he held the little cabman before the lamp.
"Here's another piece from the same factory," continued he, selecting a
second specimen from the cabinet. "This is a copy of the Chinese
'conventional dog,' made of blue 'crackle-ware.' You see, the glaze is
cracked all over the surface," he added.
"Who ever saw a blue dog?" cried Matie.
"In life, no one, my dear; but there are many things in Chinese art
that are not much like living objects."
[Illustration: DRESDEN CHINA.]
"I suppose you have all heard of Dresden china," presently continued
her uncle.
Previous Page
| Next Page
|
|