Some Problems of Pottery Printing

A Symposium Before the Ceramic Society

This report is published by permission of the Ceramic Society.

From Our Own Reporter

Consideration was given recently, at a meeting of the Pottery Section of the Ceramic Society, to the subject of pottery printing problems, and the matter was approached from three different aspects — transfer paper, copper-plate engravings, and work at the bench — it being thought that by this means it would be possible to marshal and correlate the facts with a view to a more complete comprehension of the difficulties.

Pottery Printing Paper

The first speaker was Mr. B. J. Bell, a paper manufacturer’s specialist, who described the methods adopted in the production of potters’ printing paper, or “tissue,” as it is generally termed. This, said Mr. Bell, was one of the few papers still made entirely from rag, and it was essential that this should be so, on account of the demands which pottery printing tissue had to fulfil. The desiderata were:—

(1) Great strength — especially strength when wet; and strength to withstand the size — both the pull and the brushing.

(2) Absorbency to take colours. The tissue must be sensitive to the varying amounts contained in the lights and shades; it must not blotch the heavy part of the design by repelling or resisting the larger amounts of colour which that portion of the engraving accommodates; each separate line or dot made by the engraver’s tool should be discernible in the pull without any spreading; and the paper must not be so absorbent that, having taken a suitable impression from the plate it will not give it up freely when transferred.

(3) The paper should be reasonably free from any hard substances, such as hard woody sheives.

(4) It should not contain holes or very thin places which might interfere with the continuity of the design.

(5) It should be as free as possible from surface fibres or fluff which would detract from sharpness of outline and impair the evenness of the groundwork in large, flat shades.

(6) It should come away from the ware readily on soaking in water, following a reasonable interval after applications and brushing or rubbing down. The paper on being washed away should be virtually free from colour.

(7) The tint of the paper should be reasonably white.

Roller Printing Tissue.

As distinct from the flat paper, which was moistened with soap size before application to the engraved copper-plate, roller paper had no sizing, and it must be admitted that, generally speaking, the precision obtainable was somewhat inferior; but with a really accurately made roller machine — many of them were far from that — and with a good roller paper, a very high-class result could still be obtained.

In paper for the roller-printing machine, which was printed dry and was not wetted until after application to the ware, the strength was less important that with ream paper, and a thinner paper could be used.

Weight of Paper.

The usual weight of pottery tissue ream paper was about 5œ lb. in double crown size — 20 in. by 30 in. A good weight for roller-printing paper, on the other hand, was 4œlb., namely, about 11 grammes per square metre. Thinner papers could be made, but in the ordinary course they were so much more expensive to produce that any economy through lightness in weight was lost below this point.

The buyer of roller paper should, however, keep an eye on the substance of the paper that he used in order to see that it did not get too heavy. It was not merely necessary to take into account the price per pound.

Varying Requirements.

Whilst the paper manufacturers endeavoured as far as practicable to make and put out a paper which would cover as wide a range of requirements as possible, it was unreasonable, said Mr. Bell, to expect one grade of paper to suit every conceivable exacting requirement. For example, a paper which would behave eminently satisfactorily for a strong, all-over design for underglaze decoration was not necessarily suitable for, say, a fine line design for onglaze black or gold. It was here that the pottery decorator should get into touch with the paper-maker, in order that the latter, in the light of his experience, could supply a paper exactly suitable for the particular job in view.

All sorts of testings were done in the paper mill, by a variety of instruments which tested the strength of the paper in the dry state, as well as its tensile strength — both in the length and cross directions — and its elongation, bursting strength and resistance to tearing. The absorbency, also, was determined by a variety of means, one of the simplest consisting in measuring the rate at which air can be drawn through the paper under a given manometric head.

Roller Printing Machines.

In referring to roller printing machines as contrasted with the old, flat-bed printing presses, Mr.

Bell said it must be admitted that some of the roller printing machines that one saw still operating in potteries were enough to make a paper-maker weep. The older forms of roller machines allowed for no adjustments whatever, and. the only way that the printer had of getting any brake on the paper when letting it off was to get a three-legged stool and lean it against the roller so as to retard the paper as it rolled by. It was almost too elementary to claim that a proper machine ought to have some reasonable adjustment to prevent creasing.

The “Filling” of Paper.

Mr. Bell was asked by a member whether he could give any information in regard to the filling of printing paper. He presumed that some sort of filling was used, and if, as he believed, calcium sulphate was used for that purpose, might he suggest that some of the pottery colours — and especially gold — were very susceptible to the action of sulphur, and if sulphate were used as a filling it could hardly help being transferred to the pottery.

The reply to the above question was that it is incorrect to assume that pottery printing tissues are loaded; or, at any rate, this was not done at the particular mill with which Mr. Bell was associated. It might be that there was a little calcium carbonate in some of the papers, but that, if present, would be derived from the lime in the water.

Grain Direction.

Another question asked of Mr. Bell had reference to the grain direction of the paper. This, said Mr. Bell, always ran lengthwise of the roller in the roller papers, whereas, in connection with the ream paper, the printer could soon discover which way the grain ran, because when sizing on his sizing board he would tell in a moment whether the sizing was against the grain or with it. It was generally to be found that the printer drew his brush in the direction of the grain, so as not to disturb the fibres of the paper, which could easily happen, of course, when the paper was saturated, if due care were not taken.

Another member asked whether the swelling of a pottery printing paper, when it was sized, might cause loss in the fine-lined designs or in connection with gold printing. Could any information be given as to what was the expansion of the paper when sized as compared with its former dry condition?

Mr. Bell replied that saturated paper would probably expand to the degree of 4 per cent., but contraction followed upon expansion as the paper dried again under the printing press, and this contraction took place before the paper actually took the pull in being stripped from the copper. The paper had to be practically dry before it would leave the copper-plate; hence, the precaution of having the copper-plates heated.

Pottery Engraving

Mr, J. H. Latchford, a master engraver, who then dealt with the question of pottery engraving, prefaced his remarks on practical issues by giving a résumé of the history of engraving as applied to the pottery industry.

Engraving and printing, said Mr. Latchford, were so closely bound up with each other that it was almost impossible to avoid bringing the two into association when discussing either; in fact, in the early days of the pottery industry it was not an uncommon thing to combine the callings of engraver and printer in one person.

It was not quite certain who was the first person to bring about pottery transfer printing, but it could certainly be said that the “Willow” pattern was not the first to be produced, as was commonly supposed. In the year 1758, according to William Turner’s book on transfer printing, Thomas Laurenson, an engraver, advertised in the “Liverpool Advertiser” that a pamphlet would be published on the subject, dealing with the new and curious art of printing from copper-plates on porcelain.

It was here probably that there were the beginnings of printing on pottery. In any case, within a few months of that time Sadler and Green were applying for their patent to print transfers on earthenware. It might not be commonly known that Sadler was himself an engraver.

Eighteenth Century Work.

It was well known, of course, that many of the early pottery manufacturers had their own printing done at Liverpool by Sadler and Green, but printing was being done about the same time at Battersea, and Ravenet was the engraver there.

The earliest engraver in the Potteries was probably Robert Hancock, who was born at Burslem in 1731 and died at Bristol in 1817. Hancock was credited by some with being the inventor of transfer-printing; he was under Ravenet at Battersea, and later went to Worcester, Derby and Bristol. Many beautiful examples of his work had been left to us, the most famous of which was the “Tea Party” series. Here was plainly seen the French influence, the subjects being in the Watteau styles.

Turner was an apprentice under Hancock, and it was he who produced the first full service of “Willow.” Thomas Minton, in his turn, was Turner’s apprentice, and produced the “Broseley Dragon” design. He later came to Stoke-upon-Trent, and was started in business by Josiah Spode.

Early Developments.

By this time pottery engraving and printing were becoming a very important part of pottery decoration, and they had much to do with making British pottery famous the world over. Binns, of Worcester, affirmed that engraving and printing had done almost as much for British pottery as the discovery of printing, as an art, had done for literature.

The earliest engravings were all done on flat plates, and they continued to be so done for a century, when Turner invented the printing machine, which was commonly called the steam bob. The engravings were done direct upon the roller; and the rollers were solid with the mandril, and weighed as much as 40 lbs. To the engraver they were cumbersome to work upon. The roller-printing machine, however, so accelerated the work that it was soon evident the roller had come to stay, and about twenty years later the interchangeable roller machine was invented, which, with the advent of mass production, had now largely superseded the flat plate.

Although there was little doubt that the early roller work was inferior to the flat, the bad scoring of the rotary work being very detrimental to the printed article, it was inevitable that, as time went on, the difficulties in this respect should be overcome,

and nowadays very good results were being obtained.

The Question of Colours.

Turning to speak of the printing side of the subject, Mr. Latchford said it had often puzzled him that more attention was not given to the restriction of colours to be used when a pattern was given out for engraving. He had even known of fine border patterns being produced for black printing, and then ultimately sold for pink — the two extreme opposites when it came to a consideration of the strength of engraving required. Little wonder that printed patterns fell into disrepute about the time of the introduction of lithography, mainly through bad matchings of colour and the prevalence of flow blue, together with the unrestricted use of multiple dot and graver.

Some of the finest engravings that the pottery trade had ever produced were printed in the old light and medium blues. Here the quality of the work could be seen, as distinct from the dark flow blues, which placed technically good engraving at a discount.

Repairs to Engravings.

Generally speaking, too little importance was paid to the repair of engravings. It was often considered to be a cheap job, and many fine patterns had fallen under a cloud through this short-sighted policy. Patterns which had proved their worth should be constantly under review and maintained at standard. Good work proved its value when the pattern engraved turned out to be a real seller and called for repairs.

Fine Work at a Discount.

The training of an engraver called for much careful study and painstaking work, said Mr. Latchford. It was to be regretted that, with the popular taste for colour and consequent light type of engravings in general use — much of it mere outline — many of the younger generation had but limited opportunities of attaining to real craftsmanship in engraving. He believed, however, that we should yet return to the old type of printed pattern, and the sooner the American market recovered the better it would be, not only for those pottery manufacturers who exported their wares, but for engravers and engraving.

It was well worth while to examine the exquisite examples produced by that famous engraver Cutts. Who had not heard of or seen his excellent work? Again, how beautiful and much admired had been those old pastoral scenes with view borders! Many of the old engravings of this type were produced by William Heath, one of the finest engravers the pottery trade had ever known. Heath was often commissioned to make his own studies and compositions.

To-day, however, much of the interest and fascination of real work was taken away from one through considerations of time and price.

More Etching Recommended.

Many fine printings could be obtained by a combination of etching and engraving, though this, of course, was only obtainable from flat plates. Providing the patterns were suitable, a wider use of pure etching could also be made, with consequent freer treatment and effect.

Multi-coloured printed patterns, such as were evidenced by the fine examples produced at one time by William Austin, of the firm of F. & R. Pratt, had been largely eliminated through the advent of litho transfer printing. There was, however, a charm about this work which was obtainable in no other way.

Very little portraiture, too, was being done nowadays by legitimate engraving, but this was a field which was available and might yet again come into its own, said Mr. Latchford.

Early Work Unmatched.

In displaying for inspection a number of the earliest engraved patterns in the pottery trade, produced at the Spode-Copeland factory, from which they had been kindly lent, Mr. Latchford said that some of these were produced entirely by the engraver. It was found, however, that the earliest engravings were rather too closely cut for practical purposes, and later the stipple, or dot, or what was called in the trade “punching,” was brought in. A wealth of fine design and engraving resulted, and they were examples which made the Staffordshire Potteries famous. Those were the days when design and craftsmanship were well defined.

To-day, however, life had become so completely changed and complicated, and error made to appear in the garb of truth, that it was evidenced in sculpture, painting, design and drawing. In works described as “art” the impressionist was being gilded; hence, the utter chaos which existed in the multitude of fleeting productions.

Good and Bad Designs.

Our supposed leaders and critics were very much at variance in what was considered to be good or bad works of art, and there was a real danger here as applied to engraving.

The best types of hand-painting and gilding had already almost disappeared, unregretted by some, but this was a serious loss to the industry.

He would like to call especial attention to a number of plates loaned by the firm of Josiah Wedgwood & Sons, Ltd., Etruria, showing a combination of etching and engraving, and to others by John Maddock & Sons, Ltd., showing portraiture and etching. These showed how quality in engraving and printing still survived in certain notable instances.

Our great pioneer potters, such as Adams, Wedgwood and Spode had realised the great possibilities of pottery engraving and printing and had taken steps to secure the advantages which could accrue from it. Engraving, however, as an art, had passed through many vicissitudes and had been under a cloud for the past thirty-five years. He felt sure, however, that when the demand for real craftsmanship returned the supply of the right sort of material would not be found wanting.

Is Craftsmanship Dying?

Mr. A. E. Hewitt, in discussing Mr. Latchford’s contribution, said that he could not agree that the craftsmanship of engraving was going out. It would be a tragedy for the Potteries if the fine craftsmanship typified by the work of Mr. Latchford and his colleagues, were ever allowed to die out. Personally, he believed that the demand was returning. He was convinced that craftsmanship, whether in relation to modelling, or engraving, or painting, was the only thing which would keep alive the reputation of North Staffordshire. He was pleased to say that

at the Spode-Copeland Works they had hundreds of these fine old patterns which had been jealously preserved, and examples of these could be inspected in the works museum, which was open at any time to the inspection of any member of the Society who cared to make application.

Mr. Latchford replied that he was of the belief that sooner or later fine engraving of the old type of printed pattern would return, but he felt that he could not help referring to the type of design which had been called for during the past five years. Feint outline was not the material upon which to train talented engravers.

A Working Printer’s Views

Mr. A. Hawley, a practical pottery printer of long experience, then gave his views upon common faults in regard to the printing of pottery patterns and ways and means of eliminating them.

He stressed first of all the great variability of the colours employed, their respective finenesses and coarsenesses, and the need for paying particular attention to such factors. There were certain colours, he said, which appeared to work better, in all stages of the printer’s work, when they were coarse; there were others which appeared to work in the entirely opposite direction. This meant that every pottery printer ought to be his own colour mixer. It was not progress, he believed, for the printer to have to fetch his colour from a colour mixer, from whom, in his experience, it was very often turned out only half-mixed.

Variable Factors.

There were some colours which seemed to have a greater affinity for oil than others. It was quite impossible, as some people would appear to think, to lay down a hard and fast law that for every ounce of oil employed there should be three ounces of colour. A printer who knew his job, if he were supplied with ready-mixed colour, would very often, if he had the opportunity, put in another ounce of colour without using any greater quantity of oil; whilst in other cases he would add oil, for the reason that he knew from long rule-of-thumb working that certain colours liked the oil and seemed to demand it.

There were certain colours which were terribly hard to scrape off the copper, and in connection with which the bossing was a most difficult operation. These were matters not of chemical analysis, but of practical experience. Cobalt colours proved fairly easy to the knife, whereas on-glaze black was one of the most difficult to deal with.

Hardening On.

In the old days, said Mr. Hawley, every piece of printed ware used to be hardened on before being sent to the oven, which did away with a good many of the discrepancies in printing, arising from poor ingredients — inferior linseed oil in particular. Nowadays, however, the ware was dipped in the glaze tub with the printing colour unhardened, and this meant that they had got to pay more attention to the quality of the oil, which must have holding power on the ware whilst yet remaining free to deliver the colour from the printing tissue. The oil with its colour content must be water-resisting; yet how many cheap oils could be dropped into the dipping tub and left over night.

Points to be Watched.

The first job of the printer, said Mr. Hawley, was to see that the oil and colour were well mixed, and it was the printer himself who had to do that. This applied equally to under-glaze and enamel printing colours. The colour must then be pressed well into the engraving; it must be pressed into the plate; not left on it. The bossing was highly important, and for this good flannel was required. The newspaper printer would throw flannel away as soon as the nap began to wear off. The pottery manager who demurred to give out a new flannel to the printer when it was asked for was not entitled to expect the best work from the printer.

Mr. Hawley also touched upon the work of the transferrers, and deplored what he said was a practice not unknown — the use of soap to make the rubbing-off a little easier. Difficulties arose frequently through washing-off in dirty water. Probably quite 99 per cent. of printing faults, he said, would reveal themselves in the washing-off tub. If the colour was found to be rolling off there, little hope could be entertained for the ware when it came from the oven.

An interesting discussion took place on Mr. Hawley’s contribution, and following this, in proposing a vote of thanks to the various speakers, Mr. Tom Simpson said it had been a unique meeting, inasmuch as they had had expressions of opinion from all sides of the subject under review. There was one point on which he could not see eye to eye with Mr. Hawley, and that was in regard to the colour mixer. He would much rather rely upon the trained and qualified mixer to look after the whole job than trust himself to the printer. The materials could be very much more easily controlled there than at the printer’s bench.

Mr. D. F. W. Bishop, in seconding, said he had very great sympathy indeed with the pottery engravers and printers at the present time, because it was unquestionably true that lithographs had hit them very enormously during the last 20 to 30 years; and he would be a rash man who would prophesy glibly for the future. He would, however, like to re-echo the hope which had been expressed by Mr. Latchford that the real, good old-fashioned English printing might once again come into its own. In the case of lithograph patterns the potteries were directly up against the Continental and American makers, but he really did not think anyone could beat Staffordshire so far as printing was concerned, either on china or earthenware. He agreed with Mr. Hawley when he said that dirty colour was very often due to inferior oil, and that usually the majority of the faults on a piece of printed pottery would be found on it when it left the wash-tub.

Labour Agreements at Swedish Glass Factories.

— A new labour agreement has now been definitely concluded with the workers at five bottle-glass factories in Sweden, employing between 600 and 700 hands, says Reuters Trade Service from Stockholm. The new agreement will be in force until June 30, 1937. The difficulties encountered in concluding this agreement were rather great, and the success, like the final success of the recent difficult negotiations with the lithographers, bookbinders and printers, is evidence of the good will in settling questions that has lately been a welcome feature of labour negotiations in Sweden.

Pottery:

Tiles:

Glazed Wall and Hearth Tiles

7,689

8,683

50,649

66,891

£12,730

£14,376

£79,871

£107,512

All other Sorts of Tiles

11,209

4,563

50,545

46,454

4,536

2,960

20,280

19,898

Sanitary Ware

51,426

46,043

283,009

264,627

61,381

57,979

309,925

322,978

China, including Translucent Pottery and all Pottery known as China or Porcelain, other than Electrical Ware

2,159

1,931

9,743

10,473

22,574

24,919

110,581

127,161

Electrical Ware (including Insulators)

4,132

4,761

16,939

28,578

11,283

12,200

50,543

76,737

Earthenware of all other

To Irish Free State

3,514

2,626

19,632

17,772

9,082

7,001

50,238

43,265

„ Union of South Africa

2,811

2,535

12,482

14,100

9,997

9,827

43,222

52,309

„ Australia

4,137

4,514

18,997

22,463

16,897

18,833

74,718

90,408

„ New Zealand

2,102

2,001

8,419

13,009

6,237

7,033

24,984

41,563

„ Canada

11,229

10,961

61,437

63,407

36,883

38,924

199,114

209,314

„ Other British Countries

3,359

2,591

19,157

19,283

9,132

8,698

51,755

57,528

„ Netherlands

1,819

1,681

9,015

7,389

6,339

4,984

30,416

21,921

„ United States of America

4,582

3,557

26,579

23,034

19,673

15,066

115,257

99,103

„ Argentine Republic

1,920

1,373

10,882

10,090

6,327

3,974

36,961

33,115

„ Other Foreign Countries

7,105

5,805

35,467

37,558

23,298

20,259

117,481

119,805

Refractory Goods, not elsewhere specified

146,326

138,545

639,813

850,371

34,631

34,220

131,969

189,002

All other Descriptions

4,499

3,818

27,326

25,288

4,821

5,248

32,298

30,570

Glass:

Scientific, and Tubing and Rod

—

—

—

—

13,004

12,573

45,572

45,922

Illuminating

331

299

1,817

2,036

3,547

3,187

18,659

23,960

Domestic and Fancy

2,639

3,339

13,453

13,524

17,571

20,468

83,850

95,760

Plate and Sheet, other than Spectacle :

To Irish Free State

2,174

2,927

15,166

13,724

4,222

4,711

25,565

26,142

„ Union of South Africa

4,919

4,087

23,615

31,930

11,700

10,602

53,208

75,317

„ Australia

2,729

5,354

20,470

28,371

5,111

10,126

39,654

51,325

„ New Zealand

3,136

1,688

13,473

15,649

5,356

2,820

23,087

26,576

„ Canada

9,016

8,561

75,349

69,378

9,067

8,974

79,523

64,228

„ Other British Countries

8,928

2,907

31,188

31,177

8,737

5,281

38,858

41,057

„ Japan

1,317

454

13,926

14,075

1,920

1,253

21,640

17,381

„ Argentine Republic

2,588

5,953

20,629

25,962

3,940

5,131

30,235

29,830

„ Other Foreign Countries

6,028

9,420

35,459

53,427

12,403

12,375

70,305

69,793

Bottles and Jars and Tubular Containers, not elsewhere Specified, other than Scientific Glassware

27,698

18,240

149,705

144,959

21,047

17,732

114,353

112,099

Glass and Glassware, not elsewhere specified

889

1,497

5,137

8,109

5,182

8,998

30,536

49,000

Pottery:

Tiles :

Glazed Wall and Hearth Tiles

23,642

31,559

144,385

185,021

£24,286

£30,510

£147,038

£169,581

All other kinds of Tiles

59,475

67,319

417,853

294,550

10,025

9,846

73,760

52,909

China, including Translucent Pottery and all Pottery known as China or Porcelain, other than Electrical Ware

2,694

4,927

9,387

23,993

17,050

24,143

57,846

123,531

Earthenware of all other Descriptions, as in Import List

2,455

872

20,361

6,952

8,932

3,082

75,761

19,886

Refractory Goods, not elsewhere specified

6,236

7,617

69,850

50,579

6,763

6,603

75,359

47,954

All other Sorts

4,373

3,372

27,720

25,681

6,769

7,412

44,108

51,510

Glass:

Illuminating

„

6,466

6,799

44,345

36,499

26,053

30,707

152,603

167,235

Domestic and Fancy :

From British Countrie

17

12

274

68

245

199

2,217

1,061

„

5,651

5,656

34,882

34,533

23,824

20,057

140,230

129,131

„

10,956

9,792

67,671

59,972

18,876

18,388

122,948

104,788

„

8,040

6,724

46,605

47,387

23,425

21,903

134,141

143,086

„

4,837

4,029

32,075

28,976

12,119

11,348

75,833

74,639

Plate and Sheet, other than Spectacle:

From British Countries

„

—

—

—

105

—

—

1

406

„

16,065

10,723

107,764

68,335

14,805

12,009

96,611

82,127

„

74,983

77,008

457,181

458,775

75,971

78,074

448,416

449,573

„

10,832

16,402

115,786

99,376

8,391

12,500

77,843

75,814

„

13,699

23,890

120,913

139,131

7,316

17,314

59,237

101,725

Bottles and Jars and Tubular Containers, not elsewhere specified, other than Scientific Glassware

37,178

57,275

220,137

288,409

16,854

24,997

104,843

140,537

Trade Notes