Studio: international art (9.1897)

The Arts

STENCILLED BOOK-COVER BY ILLIN'GWORTH KAY

Day. Mr. Reginald Hallward's banner was a
capital example of ecclesiastical design. Mr.
Charles Spooner's Writing-Table, a round Oak
Table, a Cabinet, a simple and entirely satis-
factory Sliding Book-Stand, and the Church
Pulpit, Font, and Lectern (in photographs), were
the only contributions of one to whom we look
for the most orderly and consistent advance in
modern furniture. Were all the cabinet-work
of the show up to his high level, and distinguished
by the same reticence and sense of proportion,
then, indeed, would adverse criticism be unsup-
ported by evidence. The Harpies, a colour print,
designed by J. D. Batten, and executed by F.
Morley Fletcher, was far and away the best example
yet seen of the Japanese methods adapted to
Western ideals. A Dining or Serving Table, by
W. Reynolds Stephens, was another good piece of

and Crafts

furniture, well planned and well wrought by F.
Cook and J. Welsh. The Hon. Mabel de Grey's
inlaid boxes have already been illustrated and
praised in these pages. A fine Oak Chest by Sidney
H. Barnsley has been selected by good judges
as the best piece of simple joinery shown in the
Exhibition, and if this is high praise, it is not over-
strained. The Oak Sideboard, by E. Prioleau
Warren, cannot be commended ; it lacked dignity,
and the carved trusses did not go well with the
Cairene lattice of its panels, Mr. Aymer Vallance
showed a clever scheme for the faces of a set of play-
ing cards, some good designs for their backs, a bold
pattern for an embroidered portiere, and another
for a book cover, with a beautifully designed silk
brocade. An iron four-post Bedstead, designed
by A. H. Christie, and executed by Shirley & Co.,
was a thing whose beauty impressed you more on
each succeeding visit. A number of most excellent

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