COLLECTING OLD CHINA

Wairarapa Times-Age, 20 October 1939, Page 2

COLLECTING OLD CHINA

ADDRESS AT ROTARY CLUB. An interesting address was given at the Masterton Rotary club’s weekly luncheon yesterday by Mr A. E. Clemas. Mr Clemas took as his subject “The Collecting of Old China." He traced the process of manufacturing various classes o£ earthenware, stoneware and porcelain from the period B.C. to the present day. Mr Clemas said that pottery was one of the earliest accom- 1 plishments of mankind, explaining that early pieces were baked in the sun’s rays, while the modern methods were biscuit and glossed oven processes, Mr Clemas dealt with pieces of the early Egyptian, Babylonian. Greek and Italian periods, also referring to the introduction of the better class of porcelain ware produced in Saxony in the early eighteenth century. He gave a short account of the factory at Sevres (France), which King Louis XV owned and worked at the potters wheel in 1759. The English craftsman, until 1750. had confined his activities to earthenware. The discovery of deposits of pure China clay by William Cookworthy. in Devon and Cornwall, and the subsequent deveopment of Bow, Chelsea. Staffordshire, Derby, Crown, —Derby, and Wedgwood, before 1760, were also dealt with. Mr Clemas concluded his remarks by referring to reproduction of old china, and the representation of Portland vase. At the conclusion of his address Mr Clemas was accorded a hearty vote of thanks for his interesting and informative survey.