International studio (60.1916/1917)

The National Society of Craftsmen

The national society of
CRAFTSMEN
BY HAZEL H. ADLER
Note: Want of space has'unfortunately compelled thewith-
drawal of several cuts which should have illustrated this
article. They will appear, however, in the March issue.
There is a difference, which is coming to be more
and more generally appreciated between Exhibition
and Display. While the latter may be justified in
merely showing, the former incurs the further re-
sponsibility of “teaching”—of indicating some
unity of trend, some general definition of aim. The
tenth annual exhibition of the National Society of
Craftsmen, held from December 6 to December 29
in the galleries of the National Arts Club, betrayed
both on the score of its judicious selection and elim-
ination of objects, and its intelligent arrangement,
many evidences of genuine exhibition qualities.
In the jewellery and pottery as well as in the
embroidery, dyeing and general decorative aspect,
one perceived a breaking away from the beaten
path, a striking out for the fresh and adventure-
some, and an attempt through experimentation
to arrive at something vitally expressive of the
undercurrents of modern life.
The long gallery falls structurally into three
divisions and these were utilized by Marshall Fry,
chairman of the exhibition committee, as a foun-
dation for three general divisions of the crafts:
ceramics, textiles and metal work. Leading off
from the central gallery was a complete child’s
room designed by Fayette Barnum and executed
by the co-operative mural workshops. A little
over three feet from the floor a delicately painted
frieze ran continuously around the walls. It rep-
resents the animals passing in procession before
Noah prior to departure on the ark. Decorative
elements were never sacrificed for the pictorial,
and the landscape features of blue sky and flowery
trees lent a charming spring-like atmosphere to
the room, which was echoed in the quaint blue
furniture decorated with plum blossoms and
kneeling ladies in the ancient Persian fashion. A
commodious and thoroughly practical toy cabi-
net, painted blue to match the furniture and lined
with sulphur yellow bordered with orange, held
a fascinating collection of gay hand-made toys.
In an alcove of the rear gallery a chapel of a
pleasantly simple character was assembled by
Thomas Raymond Ball, one of the younger mem-
bers of the society. It contained a fine stained-
glass window by G. Owen Bonawit, representing

St. Louis of France; a remarkably beautiful choir
stall of old Gothic panels assembled by Carl von
Rydingsvard; an altar with painted panels by
H. E. Schnakenberg; and a frontal of gold yellow
and old blue. Mr. Arthur Stone contributed a
substantial silver chalice of beautiful workman-
ship toward the enrichment of the altar, and the
walls were adorned with a full set of green vest-
ments executed by Mr. Ball and loaned by St.
John’s Church of Roxbury, Massachusetts.
In the ceramic division several very interesting
tables were set with china, linens and glassware.
A distinctive blue and white tea service by Mrs.
O’Hara was displayed with exquisite filet lace
made by miner’s wives in Calumet, Michigan, un-
der the supervision of Clara S. Grierson, and with
the unusual opalescent blue glassware of Sarah
Ryel Comer. A grey wicker tea wagon and muffin
stand complete with suitable linens and china was
contributed by Nina Hatfield. The china was
grey crackled, decorated in mauve and yellow.
The tray cloth was grey linen with an embroidered
edge in the same colourings, while the napkins and
muffin doilies were of the yellow linen with a
mauve and grey border. Little covers for the
cream pitcher and lemon dish were weighted with
amethyst beads.
Another tea set of Airs. Hatfield’s was exhibited
on a black wicker and wood tea table. The china
was a highly lustred blue and the decorations and
linens were in blue lavender and yellow rose.
Other interesting sets of decorated china accom-
panied by suitable trays and linens were exhibited
by Marguerite Cameron, Sarah Draegert, Mrs.
Robert D. Hare, Esther Coster, Clara Wakeman,
Anna Leonard, Alice Dalmore, and Janet Law.
Many of the well-known hand-made potteries
were represented: Paul Revere, Penman-Harden-
burgh, Quaker Road, Marblehead and Newcomb,
and all showed many new adventures in forms and
glaze. Some of the new underglaze decorations
of the Marblehead are particularly happy, and
the work of Charles F. Binns of the Alfred State
University deserves especial praise, having achiev-
ed many of the subtler perfections of the best old
Japanese and Chinese.
Tile making has come to be an exceedingly
popular modern craft and the exhibition is rich
in examples of both revived and new processes.
Among the most interesting were those exhibited
by the Ethical Culture School, where the work is
carried on under the excellent guidance of Mr.

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