The term Bossierer is often used in connection with the production of figurines; it is often translated as a "sculptor" although this is not entirely accurate. Their main work is the process of assembling the individual pieces of a figurine; the job involves checking and manually cleaning complete (or partially fired) figurines after they have come out of the mold following the first firing.
Porcelain pieces sometimes tend to shrink and warp during the drying process while being fired. While simple figures can be slip cast, more complex figures require the construction of several parts, each of which is fired separately before being assembled into the final form. The Bossierer positions the pieces as required and then glues them together using porcelain slip to form the final figure. After a short drying cycle, the figurine is fired again to complete the production of its basic whiteware shape.
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