International studio (23.1904)

Notes on the Crafts


people of knowledge and taste at the very studios
where our orders will be executed, and can be sure
of a result that they will be neither hackneyed on
the one hand nor outre on the other. Three pat-
terns of Mrs. Leonard’s table services we show in
our illustrations. Mrs. Leonard is a firm believer
in the ultimate estab-
lishment of a full-
fledged porcelain in-
dustry in the United
States, where the
clays, glazes, and all
materials are ready
to hand, only wait-
ing for enterprise to
turn the sod and cul-
tivate the fallow field.
Professor Bemis, of
the New York State
School of Keramics,
at Alfred, N. Y., is
doing first-rate work
in this direction. At
his establishment the
chemistry of keramic
processes in both por-
celain and pottery
can be studied, in
laboratories well-
equipped and under
teachers thoroughly
versed. This year
the summer school
has been attended by
not less than sixty or
seventy students,
anxious to acquire a
grounding in the
technicalities of their
craft.
Other followers
of Mr. Dow, in kera-
mics, are the Misses
Mason, whose con-
ception of the prin-
ciples of keramic de-
sign is derived from close association with his
work and teaching in general, and from a careful
study of the basic laws of design in Japanese art in
particular. The Misses Mason hope and believe
that the naturalistic has had its day in America,
and that a more tasteful and artistically inclined
public will demand The simpler and more formal

design. The whole aim and object of these ladies
is to raise the standard of taste in china and pot-
tery decoration from the low level which a too
exclusive commercial tendency had brought it.
Thoroughness is one of the keynotes of their suc-
cess ; and they hold that the most perfect results
can be obtained only
when the artist decor-
ates the shape which
he has himself de-
signed, producing a
complete work of art
— the harmonious
creation of one brain.
The foregoing ex-
amples of modern
keramic art in the
United States are, of
course, entirely hand
decorated. We now
pass to a ware that
combines mechanical
device and hand work
in its decoration.
The Honesdale
Ware, although
quite an innovation,
has already establish-
ed its claim to be one
of the most brilliant
successes in its field.
The vases and ves-
sels produced by this
new method are a
delight to the eye.
The process of manu-
facture is slow and
laborious, requiring
great expertness to
produce satisfactory
results, and trained
taste to successfully
bear the criticism
both of the artist and
of the technician. All
technical means of
refining, beautifying or decorating glass are em-
ployed, which the execution of any particular de-
sign may require. Engraving, cutting, etching,
frosting, application of enamels and gold are
among the methods used. We show in our illus-
trations three examples, and to enable our readers
to understand the working of the processes, we

VASE BY THE HONESDALE DECORATING CO., PENNSYLVANIA

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