DOI Heft:
Nr. 46 (January 1897)
DOI Artikel:The Arts and Crafts Exhibition, 1896 (final article)
DOI Seite / Zitierlink:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.17298#0291
The Arts and Crafts
71L
......^
salesmen. The designer for
the trade has a double duty
—to art first, but also to
commerce. He must be
competent to produce
schemes which are capable
of being carried out econo-
mically, and do not repel
buyers. Mr. Silver's zeal
for art was perhaps only SjJWv^i''' y!f^iJ^^&^^^ i^f^^
fully realised by those who
knew him intimately, but not
even Mr. William Morris
himself was more eager to
beautify the articles of daily
life. And while the wares
of the one were out of reach
of the great middle and
lower classes, much of the
work of the other was ex-
pended on cheap material.
Owing to the anonymity of
the inventor being rigidly
preserved by most manu-
facturers, dozens of people
who bought and appreciated
Mr. Silver's designs, never
dreamed who was respon- SILK and wool tapestry hanging designed by samuel rowe
executed by a. h. lee
sible for them. A cretonne design, The Peacock
here illustrated (page 272), will suffice to show
the style of many of the exhibits, but it does
not suggest the gay and harmonious colour
scheme. No. 732 in the catalogue was a very
ingenious method Mr. Silver had invented of
cut kamptulicon backed by lacquered canvas.
Many experimental pieces in this method (not
sufficiently complete for exhibition) had shown
the possibilities of quite a new style of decoration
for billiard-rooms and the like, which might have
yielded in his hands some peculiarly gorgeous
effects.
One of the most prominent objects in the Cen-
tral Hall was a huge cartoon for sgraffito work
destined for the apse of the Lady Chapel, St.
Agatha's, Portsmouth, designed by Heywood
Sumner. It was a really fine composition, carried
out with the rigid simplicity which the medium im-
poses. Or remembering the efforts of others, it
might be more true to say that it respects fully the
limitation of its materials, and emphasises them to
the best ends. The same qualities were also ap-
design for cretonne by sidney haward parent in another sgraffito scheme. Four of the
275
71L
......^
salesmen. The designer for
the trade has a double duty
—to art first, but also to
commerce. He must be
competent to produce
schemes which are capable
of being carried out econo-
mically, and do not repel
buyers. Mr. Silver's zeal
for art was perhaps only SjJWv^i''' y!f^iJ^^&^^^ i^f^^
fully realised by those who
knew him intimately, but not
even Mr. William Morris
himself was more eager to
beautify the articles of daily
life. And while the wares
of the one were out of reach
of the great middle and
lower classes, much of the
work of the other was ex-
pended on cheap material.
Owing to the anonymity of
the inventor being rigidly
preserved by most manu-
facturers, dozens of people
who bought and appreciated
Mr. Silver's designs, never
dreamed who was respon- SILK and wool tapestry hanging designed by samuel rowe
executed by a. h. lee
sible for them. A cretonne design, The Peacock
here illustrated (page 272), will suffice to show
the style of many of the exhibits, but it does
not suggest the gay and harmonious colour
scheme. No. 732 in the catalogue was a very
ingenious method Mr. Silver had invented of
cut kamptulicon backed by lacquered canvas.
Many experimental pieces in this method (not
sufficiently complete for exhibition) had shown
the possibilities of quite a new style of decoration
for billiard-rooms and the like, which might have
yielded in his hands some peculiarly gorgeous
effects.
One of the most prominent objects in the Cen-
tral Hall was a huge cartoon for sgraffito work
destined for the apse of the Lady Chapel, St.
Agatha's, Portsmouth, designed by Heywood
Sumner. It was a really fine composition, carried
out with the rigid simplicity which the medium im-
poses. Or remembering the efforts of others, it
might be more true to say that it respects fully the
limitation of its materials, and emphasises them to
the best ends. The same qualities were also ap-
design for cretonne by sidney haward parent in another sgraffito scheme. Four of the
275