International studio (27.1905/1906(1906))

Studio-Talk



MEDALL10N BY W. J. NEATBY
She sets an example which is of the highest use
to needleworkers by reason of her inventiveness
and the variety of the materials which are pressed
into Service. A high decorative quality has always
controlled her work. The example which we give
now forms part of a scheme of wall decoration : it
is carried out in silk with applique, and in scheme
of colour is very beautiful and restrained.

We illustrate a silver panel by Mrs. Connell,
which exhibits a fanciful use of mother-of-pearl and
enamel which is wholly effective and pleasing.
The medallions painted by Mr. W. J. Neatby
which we reproduce are taken from a very interest-
ing scheme of decoration which the artist carried
out in the new Theatre Royal, Birmingham, for the
architects, Messrs. Runtz & Ford. Mr. Neatby
was responsible for the colour-scheme of the deco-
rations, which form a very important feature in its
effect. The medallions to which we refer are placed
over the ränge of boxes on each side of the house,
and are framed in wreathwork, which is painted in
gold-brown on an ivory-coloured ground. The
medallions give to some extent a history of cos-
tume, and the artist has carefully made the costumes
characteristic in colour, as well as in shape, to the
various periods, and he has successfully done this
without out-stepping the prevailing harmony of
the decoration. The decorations include a long
162

painting over the proscenium, representing two
aspects of the stage as a teaching institution —
grave and gay. The colour-scheme is a very rieh
one.
The lych-gate illustrated on the next page was
recently erected at the south-west corner of the
churchyard at Llanfoist, near Abergavenny. Mr.
T. S. Foster, builder, of that town, carried out the
work from the drawings and full-size Cartoons of
the architect, Mr. Henry V. Ashley, of London.
The materials used are local hard stone for the
dwarf siele walls, and English oak left untouched
from the saw; it is hoped that by this treatment the
work will tone a silver-grey colour. The gates are
also of oak, but wrought and oiled, with local-made
iron hinges. Old tiles were used for the roof. The
total cost of rhe work was about ^ioo.

Signor Antonio Sciortino, whose statuary group
Gavroche we here reproduce, is quite a young man,
having been born in Malta in 1881. He received
his first traming at the Technical School of Art
there, and in 1900 obtained a scholarship that
enabled him to complete his studies in Rome.
Here, although a foreigner and therefore excluded
from many competitions, he was successful in
winning many prizes, and received much encourage-

jVl ED ALLION

BY W. J. NEATBY