sample60Selca · Upper Carniola

A letter written by the mining supervisor Lukas Polc to Sigismondo (Žiga) Zois

Polc begins the letters in a narratively dramatically way, since he first says that Gašper was not at home, he went to the Monte Santo di Lussari, so he scolded his wife, saying that his lord Zois was very dissatisfied with the local workers who did not do much and gave empty promises, therefore the plant suffered from the lack of raw material. The wife, says Polc, quietly objected that she was surprised by Zois' accusations stating that three carts drove off ten days ago, since the factory owner Sylva said himself that there was no need to drive it because the factory had not been built yet (which corresponds to Zois' mentioning the "processing" of Sylva's factory 1791 in the aforementioned short history of the factory, but it does not fit with the logic of an explanation which, twice contradictory, shows, politely speaking, the wife’s embarrassment) and, therefore, they immediately drove off three more carts and had three additional ready. Polc went later to see this dug clay and discovered that there was not enough clay for the three carts. However, the woman complimented Zois’ move that he sent a qualified miner to dig the clay, since the people there were really not prepared for such a work, nor were they paid, but Zois would certainly settle the costs for their hired miner (this Suzana was indeed a woman with a business gift) in Ljubljana. Afterwards, Polc describes the locations of the clay shown to him and in the end, also mentions that he met Gašper who accepted all the obligations that he agreed upon with his wife.

Sample 60 is clay from Selca (Upper Carniola). The recommended firing temperature is 900–1150 °C. The beginning of sintering is at 1150–1300 °C. At 1200 °C shrinkage is 9 % and porosity 4 %.