These are saggarts. When a piece of ceramic is fired, it needs to be protected from the heat. A saggart is a very dense ceramic container that con withstand high temperatures (1200 degrees on average) while the ceramics inside are being fired.
This is the wood stove that would heat the kilns. Very skilled men would tend these stoves during the firing process. They had to be skilled- their job was to keep the fire at around 1200 degrees without the aid of a thermometer (they hadn't been invented yet)!
The kilns would be stuffed all the way full before they were closed for firing. The workers would stack the saggarts as high as they could to make efficient use of the space.
In order to stack the saggarts so high, men would balance the saggart on their head while climbing a ladder. On average, each saggart weighed about 50 lbs. These workers only job was loading and unloading the kilns. They often unloaded the kilns while they were still hot (200-300 degrees). They would wear multiple layers and place a wet cloth over their heads so they wouldn't burn. Can you imagine?
Needless to say (since I posted multiple posts on it), I loved the tour. It was amazing to learn how the plates that I study were made. I guess I had never really thought about all of the hard work that went into making ceramics 300 years ago. The hard labor caused countless deaths and injuries. I don't think I'll look at a beautifully decorated transfer-print plate the same way again.
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