Studio: international art (15.1899)

Christopher Dresser

CANDLESTICK IN BRASS AND COPPER BY
(By permission of Messrs. Benham &" Frond)

The carpet designs, illustrated upon page 108,
lose much in the reproductions through absence of
colour. Absolutely orthodox in design, they pos-
sess the useful quality, exhibited by many Oriental
carpets, of according with almost any style of
wall decoration or furniture. The designs for cre-
tonne (pp. 107 and 109) show the modern note,
and one with a quaint ship and weird fishes recalls
Japan. And here one is almost tempted to digress
beyond all limits of space, to refer to Mr. Dresser's
visit to the Land of the Chrysanthemum, and to his
readable and admirable volume upon its art indus-
tries, and to tell of the treasures he brought back
to his house by the Thames near the railway bridge
at Barnes, notably of a full-sized replica of part of
the famous lacquer ceiling of one of the Temples of
Nikko, made for him by order of the Japanese
Government. But to do so would be to throw the
subject out of scale.
114

C. DRESSER DOOR-KNOCKER BY C DRESSER

(By pemnission of Messrs. Benham &* Froud)

It is strange that one so steeped in Japanese
art has not become a mere adapter of Eastern
motives, yet the reverse is conspiciously true. Look
at the curiously original shapes for glass vases here
reproduced, and you will find them as novel to
Japanese eyes as to ours. In pottery, or in metal,
the forms might be considered a little outre; but
in glass they are essentially a glass-blower's fantasy,
and whether you like them or not, they are vitreous
in essence as in substance. To give even a small
representative selection of Mr. Dresser's designs
would need, hundreds of illustrations, and many,
deprived of their colour and texture, would fail to
be convincing.

The designs selected for illustration are princi-
pally examples of his later style. Those who de-
sire to become acquainted with his earlier manner
cannot do better than refer to his published works
referred to above.