Description:Pottery factory interior showing workers in the process of saggar making.
The man on the left is making bases and was known as a saggar maker's bottom knocker.
The man on the right is joining sides to bases on a drum.
Saggars are containers made from fireclay which protected pottery in the kiln from the intense heat and smoke during bottle oven firing.
The saggar maker's bottom knocker made the base of the saggar by hammering a piece of clay flat inside an iron ring with a mallet.
The mallet had a long handle and a circular flat head. It was called a Mawl (pronounced mow).
The work was very hard and was usually done by the younger members of the saggar making team.
Taken from the Gladstone Pottery Museum Photographic Collection.
This photograph is part of the collections at Stoke-on-Trent Museums.