A saggar, sometimes misspelled sagger or segger, is a form of kiln furniture: a boxlike ceramic container used during the firing of pottery to enclose and protect the ware inside a kiln, with the name likely a contraction of safeguard. Saggars remain in use today to shield ware from direct flame, smoke, gases and kiln debris, and while they were traditionally made from fireclay, modern saggars are often made of alumina ceramic or cordierite ceramic instead.
Facts
Introduced When (Circa)Documented in Ming-dynasty Chinese porcelain manufacture by the 15th-16th centuries and in large-scale use in English Staffordshire potteries by around 1900. 1 OriginThe name saggar may be a contraction of the word safeguard; saggar production occupied a large share of space, labor and material at the imperial manufactory during Ming-dynasty porcelain production in the 15th-16th centuries, and by the turn of the twentieth century over 4,000 saggars were in use at Staffordshire potbanks in England. 1 Introduced era (class) In the Other Atlases
Sources
1. Saggar (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationSaggar, History section
The manufacturer of saggars in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries occupied a large proportion of space, labour and material (fuel and clay) at the imperial manufactory
Saggar, Etymology and history section
The name may be a contraction of the word safeguard.
View the Source Frequently Asked Questions
How widely were saggars used in historical pottery production?
By 1900, over four thousand saggars were in use at Staffordshire potbanks alone.
Saggars occupied a large share of the space, labor and material at the imperial manufactory during Ming dynasty porcelain production in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. By the turn of the twentieth century, over four thousand saggars were in use at the potbanks of Staffordshire, England.
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