International studio (51.1913/1914)

A Designer of Stones Rare and Simple


THE FROG BABY—SKETCH FOR A GOLD FISH POOL

BY CAROLINE E. RISQUE

Under the tutelage of Mr.
Arthur W. Dow at the
Pratt Institute, Brooklyn,
followed by apprenticeship
to an Austrian craftsman
who studied twenty years
before attempting to work
out his designs, MissDavis
learned every phase of
chasing and repousse.
Though the Scandina-
vian period and the South
Kensington Museum col-
lections have been an in-
spiration, her true bent lies
in naturalistic design, help-
ed by her strong affection
for pebbles and flowers.
Every stone, every flower,
every client, suggests novel
treatment, novel ideas. A
brown-eyed girl with
bronze hair can wear to

gift from that of most of the sculptors of the day.
For the greater part, they show us a question an-
swered, a goal attained. If Caroline Risque will
cling to and develop her peculiar elusive quality,
her place in the field of sculpture should be a
unique one.
She studied under George Julian Zolnay, in the
St. Louis School of Fine Arts, and at the Academie
Colarossi in Paris, under Paul Bartlett. She is a
member of the St. Louis Artists’ Guild, the Society
of Western Artists, and after an exhibition of
some of her smaller pieces at the exhibition of the
New York Ceramic Society, given at the National
Arts Club, in 1911, she was invited by the Society
to become a member.
A DESIGNER OF STONES RARE AND
SIMPLE
BY W. H. de B. NELSON
Quite recently a studio exhibition
took place in which the jewelry designs of Lilia
Whitcomb Davis made a strong appeal to the
many who attended. It was not so much the
rare and precious stones in their varied settings
that occasioned delight as the quaint and unas-
suming pebbles of the seashore, which under Miss
Davis’s deft treatment have asserted their claim
to be considered as just material for design. From
earliest childhood pebbles and flowers have
swayed her tastes and indicated her life’s task.

advantage a necklace of cornelian set in copper;
it is this individuality of design that makes her
jewelry so attractive. Seaweed and shells, peb-
bles and flowers—these simple products of nature
are utilized by Miss Davis to the fullest extent.
In cut No. 3, an engagement ring, the opal was
set in gold, the design was seaweed, which came up
and covered the matrix of the stone, letting the
fire flash out through the gold. No. 4 is a gold
ring with a design of pond lily leaves which twine
around the finger. A tourmaline is set in the
blossom. No. 5 is a silver ring with bayberry
leaves and twigs as design, holding in place a
cabochon sapphire pendant. No. 1 is the pome-
granate design in silver, and is set with two large
pieces of Swiss lapis-lazuli,
intensely blue, to match
the eyes of the girl for
whom it was made. Pen¬
dant No. 2 was made for a
golden-haired lady; it is in
gold and the leaves are
southern smilax, while the


brilliant but soft green peridots which hang from
it appear like drops of bright sea water.

Though
Miss Davis
is no scorner
of precious
stones, it is


rather the iv

v

CLXXII