An Oven Opened. Photographed by William Blake.

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Date:1900 - 1940 (c.)

Description:Lantern slide looking into a hot oven. The stacked saggars can be seen inside.

This lantern slide appears to be one of a group used for a presentation or slide show by Blake entitled “Staffordshire Pottery.”

A small folder containing approximately sixty reader cards was found in the same box as the slides. The cards contain information about the images. The reader card entitled "Ovens and Kilns" reads;

"Kilns are distinguished by the narrow chimney above the bottle shaped portion, are fired daily, used for decoration only, require about 1 ton of coal and fire to cherry red heat about 700 degrees. Ovens are used for vitrifying body and glaze, have no chimney, and fire for three days at white heat".

There is another reader card that may correspond to this image. It reads;

"An Oven Opened. An oven when opened has already cooled greatly. But it still looks warm, and red hot bricks fall about the feet of the workman who breaks out the doorway. He tramples them underfoot with clogs and much indifference. The photograph was taken at night with no light save from the hot saggars."

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Creators: Mr William Blake - Creator

Donor ref:(40/11950)

Source: The Potteries Museum & Art Gallery

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