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Use
of Salt Glaze and the Elers brothers |
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Source:
"The Borough of Stoke-upon-Trent" John Ward, 1843 |
Use
of Salt Glaze and the Elers brothers:
"Soon
after, Dr. Plott wrote, viz. About
the year 1690, the practise of glazing with salt was introduced; lead ore, or Smithum,
having been the fusible material previously used for glaze, which Dr. Plott
says was procured in Fown's Field, on the side of Lawton park, which is within
five miles of Burslem*, and sold to the Potters at six or seven shillings per
ton.
*In
1831, the vein was traced up to the vicinity of Trubshaw Colliery, and some
favourable specimens were obtained; but the speculator died, and the work was
abandoned.
It
is thought by some, that the salt glaze was in use before this period; but
Plott would certainly have mentioned it had he known of it… the more correct
opinion… is that the process of glazing with salt first was practised by two
ingenious foreigners, of the name of Elers, who set up a small Potwork at
Bradwell, within two miles of Burslem; from whence the people flocked in
astonishment to see the immense volumes of smoke which rose from the
Dutchmen's ovens*.
*
Aikin's Manchester, p.526.
The
same individuals also introduced and improved kind of unglazed red ware, of a
delicate sort, resembling that called Samian,
for which some of the clays in the vicinity were suitable; but they did not
long continue their operations in Staffordshire; being eyed with the utmost
jealousy and inquisitiveness, by the native Potters; and they removed the seat
of their manufacture to the neighbourhood of London.
Their
practice of glazing with salt was, however, according to general tradition,
obtained surreptitiously by the Burslem Potters, by the artifice of a workman,
who feigning himself an idiot, got access to their works; and while they took
no notice of the apparent dolt, he took sufficient notice of their mode of
glazing and other particulars, to enable him to communicate the secrets to his
employers, who soon adopted the discovery, and for a considerable period the
use of salt, which was poured by degrees into the tops of the ovens, during
the process of baking the ware and whilst in a state of intense heat, was
found to answer all the purposes, and for a long time almost superseded the
use of the lead glaze.
The
quantity of salt consumed in this way must, indeed, have been enormous; for in
the paper before referred to, of the date of 1762, it is stated, that the
Excise duty it contributed to Government amounted to near five thousand pounds
per annum."
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