International studio (23.1904)

Notes on the Crafts

duction and decoration of pottery and porcelain
was recently but a weedy field of native art, and
not more through the incompetence of the artists
employed there, than through the superciliousness
of a public that had not sufficient independent
judgment to admire anything but what they had
been told by foreign critics (and their ancestors)
was admirable; and therefore, alas, to the exclusion
of new and vital
native products.
Nowadays this is
quickly changing, so
that to-day we find
many e n e rg et ic
workers in the field
of keramics, whose
labours, as valuable
and essential to the
art life of the nation
as those of any other
kinds of artists, are
fully appreciated
and honoured.
The tendency
characteristic of
American keramic
decoration to-day is
toward “formalized
nature,” if we may
so term it, as dis-
tinct from the natur-
alistic decoration
which was its fore-
runner. History re-
peats itself, and that
this is the right di-
rection for its evolu-
tion cannot be
doubted when we
consider that the
naturalistic in dec-
oration has always
been a sign of
either immaturity or decadence—in both cases
showing a lack of fitness in the artistic idea.
One of the chief influences in this wholesome
progress is that of Mr. A. W. Dow, the general
principles of whose teaching are not, however,
restricted to apply exclusively to keramics or to
any one particular branch of art, though they seem
to have been accepted as guides by most of those
keramic artists whose influence is being most felt
at present. One of Mr. Dow’s disciples in this
walk of art is Mr. Fry, whose class of keramic

students is in turn sowing a harvest of healthy
ideas. In the present number we print some
examples of the table-ware decorated by Mrs.
Leonard, who, while assimilating Mr. Fry’s teach-
ings, maintains her own individuality, both in the
conception and execution of her designs.
Mrs. Leonard is, we understand, the only
exhibitor of porcelain from New York, who suc-
cessfully passed the
International Jury
of the St. Louis
Exposition, where
her case in the Fine
Arts Building is ex-
ceedingly admired.
Mrs. Leonard’s de-
signs show the vigor
and orginalityofher
western and south-
ern associations,
where she opened
her career, a num-
ber of her pupils
following her to
New York when
she moved East. It
is thus not surpris-
ing to find that Mrs.
Leonard, at one
time a prime mover
in the building and
launching of the
Keramic Studio,
now mainly devotes
her time to a wide
educational connec-
tion throughout the
eastern States. At
her studios Mrs.
Leonard’s chief pro-
duction is table
ware; and we would
remind our readers
that some of the most exquisite modern designs
in dinner services, breakfast services, etc., are
to be found at the studios of the keramic artists
themselves. The china store is not the only place
where such purchases can be made. Mrs. Leonard
has recently completed a beautiful table service for
the yacht “Mineola,” with fitting design, greatly
to the satisfaction of her patrons. People who
have ideas should try to remember that nowadays
we need not put up with the same well-known
patterns of our forefathers; we can consult with


BY THE MISSES MASON, NEW YORK

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