The handle h la put back again, ao aa to turn the acrew F, and raise the alider H and plug f until tho latter is drawn up out of the mould e, and clear above the orifice of tho mould ; and immediately afterward°, by present.° of the foot upon the pedal R of the pedal-lever R S, and by action of the uptight rod m, the movable bottom n of the mould ie raised in tho mould c, so ae to elevate the compressed material which ie resting upon the bottom n, and carry it upwards out of the mould e, and above the orifice of the mould, when the e,onipresead material can be removed by the finger and thumb. The compressed material so withdrawn is a solid body, retaining the exact °Italie and size of the interior cavity of the mould, and poeeessing eufficient coherence to enable it to endure as much handliog as is requiNite for putting a number of them into an earthenware caee or pan, called a Bagger, in which they are to be enclosed, according to the ueual praotice potter% in preparation for putting them into the potter's kiln for firing.
After the firing, the articles made are in what is called the "biscuit " etate, and auch as are required to be glazed are dipped into the fluid glazing-compound, and are again fired. All sirnall piece° made by this dry-powder process may be glazed at the first fire by introducing a glazing-composition within the Baggers. The materials forming email articice may be so prepared that the articles become partially vitrefied by the heat of the kiln.
All artioles mado from powdered clay contract less than those made from wet clay, and are more even on the surface; and time ie Bayed by usiug a dry inatead of a wet materiel. Articlee of the same form are more uniform in size, and join and fit at edges and anglea with greater exactnees.
Encauetic tilee, ae well as plain flat tiles, are made from dry powder. A thin piece of metal, with the pattern cut out, and fitting exactly over the indeuta pressed in the tile, ie laid carefully over it, and then some coloured powder is apread over the metallic pattern, and preeeed by a screw into the indented parte. The thin metallic plate ie removed, and the superfiuoue clay lying about the surface of tho tile is eeraped off with a piece of steel, to fully bring out the deaign, tie is done in making these tiles in the wet atate. Tiles may be made in this way of half the thiekneee of those formerly made from wet clay, and of every geometrical form. It would have been im practicable to produce tiles at small coat for covering walls, as is now commonly done, by the old way of working.
Tiles only it in. thick of epeeist forms are made for paintings, and are laid together ; and figures of life size are drawn on them in a free spirited manner, and painted. These tilee are then fired again to fix the colours on the glaze. Sometimes colours are printed or painted on the biscuit tile, and it ie then fired to harden on the colour, and is afterwards glazed. Every kind of flat ornament in bas-relief can be pressed in powdered clay and enamelled. There are fine examples of manic and tile flooring, and of tile wall decoration, in the South Kensington Museum, auggeative of the use of this art in many ways ; and in several of the new restaurants and hotels, are special examples of its uee.
In this country, where we have every variety of clay, and all the other materiale necessary to make semi-vitreoue forme of all colours, fitted for the uee of the architect and civil engineer, and known to resist the severitiee of this climate better than granite, marble, or stone, it ia remarkable that greater attention is not given to the use of architectural pottery. By the aid of machinery, are produced bricks, of good shape and with true surface ; also plain moulded bricks, for string courses and cornicee; and from plaster moulds, foliated mouldings and enrichments to combine with such bricks ; and as the description of the new mode of makiog flat surfaces from dry powder, shows that mosaic and inlaid decoration, either in biscuit or enamelled ware, can be made to aid decoration at moderate cost, it is to be hoped that the example set by a few architects who have freely used these materials may be generally followed. and that the costly material, stone, which soon becomes dingy, and gives way to frost and the atmosphere of large towns, will be less in fashion.
Wares rendered Translucent by the fusion of an Incorporated Felspathic origin of the manufacture, in England and on the Continent, of every sort of tmnslucent ware, was the wish to produce a facsimile of Chinese porcelain. The desired translucency bas been attained with greater or less success in a variety of ways. Thepdte tendre of S'evres was in reality a glass, rendered sufficiently plastic hy artificial admixture to be manipulated as clay, and fired at a temperature high enough to fuse the glass, but not so high as to injure the form of the ware. The resultant ware was so fragile, and tbe difficulties of manipulating the mixture, of supporting the ware during firing, and of adjusting the temperature of the kilns, were so great, that the manufac ture of kite tendre was gladly abandoned on the discovery of kaolin at St. -Mex. English china is rendered translucent by the addition to a pure plastic clay of a considerable proportion of glass forming materials, but the proportion is so regulated that, although the ware does not require excessive heat for its firing, its plasticity is sufficient to facilitate manipulation ; moreover, the balance of fusibility and plasticity is so adjusted as to allow the introduction of sufficient caleic phosphate to reduce the shrinkage of the ware to a minimum, and at the same time greatly to add to its brilliancy. English china is easily worked, easily fired, and easily decorated. The hard porcelains of Berlin, Sevres, and other European manufactories, resemble true Chinese porcelain in being produced from purely granitic materials. They differ from English china in being more difficult to manipulate, in reqniring a higher temperature for firing, and in being less susceptible of receiving colour and other forms of decoration. They are superior, however, in their power of resisting corrosion, and of withstanding extreme changes of temperature.