International studio (25.1905)

are not far to seek. That the best and only the
best is good enough is easily said. But, natur-
ally, the best producers are acclaimed the best
judges; so that a jury of selection commanding the
unquestioned respect of the craft is fairly certain to
become famous for the enemies it has made. Like
it nor not, however, it is only when those at the head
take command that the column moves forward.
The ineffectiveness of the majority of associations
in serving the special art or craft to which they are
dedicated, may often be laid to a besetting sin of
charity. Better omens for progress a,re seen in
making membership, or at least recognition, the
reward of achievement rather than encouragement
towards it. That the New York Society of Keramic
Arts has come out unmistakeably for its highest
aspirations, testifies to the progress it has already
made in dignity and strength, and is particularly
suggestive for the future of American keramics, in
view of the substan-
tial results it can
already marshall.
Except in one in-
stance, the exhibition
made its impression
by displaying clearly
the skill that earlier
exhibitions had set
forth more confus-
edly. It must always
be a privilege and a
delight to see the
work of our foremost
keramists assembled.
There is no surprise,
however, in noting
the control in colour
and design of the
overglaze work of the
Misses Mason or
Marshall Fry, Of SOCIETY OF KERAMIC ARTS EXHIBITION
Mrs. Anna B. Leon- PORCELAINS WITH MATTE AND CRYSTALLINE GLAZES BY MRS. ALSOP-ROBINEAU

ard and a dozen others. In pottery, neither Rook-
wood nor Grueby, Volkmar nor Van Briggle,
made astounding departures. But in addition to
the assured charm of these former successes, there
was in store a sensational feature in the exhibit of
the Robineau porcelains. This group contained
the first satisfactory results that Samuel E.
Robineau and Mrs. Adelaide Alsop-Robineau, of
Syracuse, N. Y., have shown after two years of
experiment on a new process. Their method is
important in that it promises a new and serious
artistic manufacture of porcelain proper in this
country, and is particularly interesting as involving
the use of the oil fuse, a distinctively American
departure. The Robineaus began using an oil
kiln for overglaze work, and became attracted to
the possibilities of an oil furnace for porcelain.
They fire the bodies, shaped from American clays
on the wheel, at a temperature of 2400° Fahr., as in

SOCIETY OF KERAMIC ARTS EXHIBITION. OVERGLAZE DECORATION BY MARSHAL FRY

LXXXII