Holding vessel

A vessel for molten metal, wherein the vessel walls containing said molten metal are constructed of rigid ceramic plates, said vessel walls being connected together at joints with said vessel walls in the region where said walls are connected to form said joints being formed into a plurality of complementary joint surfaces such that adjacent joint surfaces formed at each wall edge for connection to another wall edge are arranged substantially perpendicular to each other so as to form a stepped joint, an intermediate layer of ceramic sealing material between each pair of mutually co-acting joint surfaces, and means for pressing said mutually co-acting joint surfaces against each other, said pressing means comprising individual fasteners located only at said joints and extending into said ceramic plates through respective joint surfaces and said layer of sealing material.