DOI issue:
No. 187 (September, 1912)
DOI article:Brown, Warren Wilmer: Theodore Hanford Pond, craftsman
DOI Page / Citation link: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.43450#0391
Theodore Hanford Pond, Craftsman
Theodore hanford pond,
CRAFTSMAN. BY WARREN
WILMER BROWN
While there are hundreds of
devoted men and women in the United States
each of whom is contributing more or less to the
great recreative force of the Handicraft Move-
ment, it is, as always the case, reserved for the
few to stand separated from their fellow-workmen
by reason of their own individual gifts and
achievements.
That Theodore Hanford Pond is entitled to
rank with these is obvious when his pronounced
ability in practically all of the arts and crafts is
considered, and also more particularly, in view
of the great amount of successful synthetic work
he has done as a teacher, and, in several instances,
as a pioneer.
Mr. Pond has been identified with the Craft
Movement almost from its beginning in this coun-
try, his career having commenced when he gradu-
ated from the Pratt Institute about twenty years
ago. For a short time after leaving school he
devoted himself to commercial designing of wall-
paper, carpets and rugs, stained-glass, furniture-
carving, jewelry, etc., gaining thereby a broad
experience that stood him in good stead in later
years.
But successful as he was as a salaried man,
he was lured by no Lorelei of Commerce; his am-
bition lay elsewhere and the turning point was
reached when one day he strode into the Rhode
Island School of Design, scarcely more than a lad,
with a portfolio of designs under his arm. What
he had to show created a favorable impression,
and the result was that he was asked to open a
class in Decorative Design at the School, nothing
of the kind then existing. He accepted and held
the position several years in conjunction with
the Directorship of Drawing and Design at the
Association Business Institute in New York.
The foundation of the reputation Mr. Pond
now enjoys was laid during the next few years
and his success as a teacher, especially at the
Rhode Island school, soon attracted wide atten-
tion, finally bringing him a call from Mechanics
Institute in Rochester, N. Y., where he organized
XLIII
Theodore hanford pond,
CRAFTSMAN. BY WARREN
WILMER BROWN
While there are hundreds of
devoted men and women in the United States
each of whom is contributing more or less to the
great recreative force of the Handicraft Move-
ment, it is, as always the case, reserved for the
few to stand separated from their fellow-workmen
by reason of their own individual gifts and
achievements.
That Theodore Hanford Pond is entitled to
rank with these is obvious when his pronounced
ability in practically all of the arts and crafts is
considered, and also more particularly, in view
of the great amount of successful synthetic work
he has done as a teacher, and, in several instances,
as a pioneer.
Mr. Pond has been identified with the Craft
Movement almost from its beginning in this coun-
try, his career having commenced when he gradu-
ated from the Pratt Institute about twenty years
ago. For a short time after leaving school he
devoted himself to commercial designing of wall-
paper, carpets and rugs, stained-glass, furniture-
carving, jewelry, etc., gaining thereby a broad
experience that stood him in good stead in later
years.
But successful as he was as a salaried man,
he was lured by no Lorelei of Commerce; his am-
bition lay elsewhere and the turning point was
reached when one day he strode into the Rhode
Island School of Design, scarcely more than a lad,
with a portfolio of designs under his arm. What
he had to show created a favorable impression,
and the result was that he was asked to open a
class in Decorative Design at the School, nothing
of the kind then existing. He accepted and held
the position several years in conjunction with
the Directorship of Drawing and Design at the
Association Business Institute in New York.
The foundation of the reputation Mr. Pond
now enjoys was laid during the next few years
and his success as a teacher, especially at the
Rhode Island school, soon attracted wide atten-
tion, finally bringing him a call from Mechanics
Institute in Rochester, N. Y., where he organized
XLIII