Unpacking is a compound of despair and delight, and is best done slowly. As the colour dies the clamming, if any, may be knocked away, and later on the spy plugs removed. When comparatively cold, the door may be opened slightly, and left so for one or two hours. Then the front pots can be extracted but those at the back should be allowed another half hour. Be very careful of the razor edges of broken stilts or glaze dips. A steel chisel should be used for chopping rough edges or removing refractory stilts. If necessary the bases may be ground on an emery wheel until the pot stands true.
CHAPTER XII
Glazes and Lustres
“I began to think that if I should discover how to make enamels I could make earthen vessels and other things very prettily, because God had gifted me with some knowledge of drawing.”
—Palissy.
It is in this department of potting, with its surprises, difficulties, and disappointments, its rare but exciting successes, that for most potters the greatest interest lies. To those of a scientific bent it is perhaps the summit of the craft, but the artist groping amidst formulas and methods may take heart. The finest work in pottery was not produced by scientists alone and does not depend altogether upon the quality of its paste, its unique colour, or strange lustre. The last word, the form, decoration, and craftsmanship, is with the artist.
It is beyond the scope of a book of this description to enter into a necessarily long and complicated account of the different processes concerned in the composition of glazes. It will be sufficient to indicate their leading characteristics plainly enough to enable the student to start experimenting. None
can afford to miss opportunities for experiment, just as surely as none can afford to be always experimenting. For a full description of materials and glazes and their manufacture such books as those of Drs. Shaw, Furnival, and Hainbach are recommended.