PORCELAIN AND FAIENCE.
255
replace hand labor; and the introduction of English methods h:id transformed the manufacture. Also that, as regards porcelain, the softening caused by the high temperature required for the baking, deforms pieces made in any^other way than by hand; and that up to that time no mechanical assistance had been found available; but there was good reason to hope that in the shaping and preparation of the material, mechanical art might eventually lend its aid.
Workmen were paid by the piece. No less than 1,362 men and 458 women were employed in decoration of china alone, in Paris, in 1867. The greater number of the potteries have agencies, or depots, at Paris, or send their ware there for sale. Paris is the great centre of the trade, and Limoges is next in importance. From this last named place, w are is sent to all parts of the empire, by the aid of travelers and agents. The annual value of the product of fine faience was estimated, in 1867, at 10,000,000 francs, and of Porcelain at 20,000,000 francs.
Fkench Stone-China.
At the Paris Exposition, in 1867, the various brands of were carefully examined by M. Aimé
stone-china ware
^irard, with reference to their hardness, porosity, and price. 0 ascertain the hardness of the glaze upon a plate, for ex- a mple, p e usec ] a gn la ll platform of wood, sustained upon le e points resting upon the plate, one of them being tipped O'Ph a diamond. This platform was then drawn back and ^ mi over the surface, and the weight required to be added 0 Hie platform to produce a scratch was the measure of the l( hiess. He found that a pressure of more than one kilo- 7 ,lUl me was required to make as much of an impression upon i ( porcelain as one hundred and twenty grammes would 011 lead-glazed stone ware. His results are given in the 0ll °wing table.*
* From Rapports du Jury International, III., p. 136.