DOI issue:
Nr 76 (July 1899)
DOI article:Wood, Esther: The home arts and industries exhibition
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.19232#0122
Home Arts and Industries
INLAID CHEST DESIGNED BY THE HON. MABEL DE GREY
INLAID BY JOHN reason Pimlico Class
observable amongst the exhibits was the increased
production of useful commodities, and the corre-
sponding decrease in merely ingenious ornaments
and bric-a-brac. Hence we were spared that most
mischievous development of industrial shows, the
“utilisation of waste,” in which ingenuity and
patience are exhausted in applying remnants of
material to purposes for which they are wholly
unfit; and there were fewer of the bazaarlike
“ fancy articles ” in which fancy of the most
vagrant sort has closed all doors by which true
imagination might enter and fire the godhead of art.
A very encouraging number of exhibitors reached
that point of vision at which “the hand refrains,” and
through the discipline of reticence and sympathy
“ the soul attains ” some measure of its ideal.
LEATHER-COVERED CHEST BY ARTHUR SMALI.BONES
Leighton Buzzard Class
The workmanship in most of the classes improves
steadily year by year. The Southwold cabinet-
makers still rank high in this respect; their splendid
technique has already been commended in these
pages. In the metal-work there was greater homo-
geneity of construction and design, and there were
very few good things spoilt by bad setting. A
handsome repousse plaque from Five-mile-town
came rather dangerously near this mishap with
its commonplace fluted edging; and the little
screen from Yattendon, which we reproduce,
did not sit quite comfortably on its frame, though
its lightness and daintiness of execution in no way
belie the traditions of the class. But the oak chest
and cupboard from Mrs. Waterhouse’s design were
thoroughly admirable pieces of craftsmanship, and
their steel hinges and fittings, simple in
form and unspoilt in surface, made a rich
harmony with the natural surface of the
wood. The honours of the execution of
these works are divided between Charles and
George Allum, G. Bastow, Tom Green, Tom
Matthews, Alfred Pizzy, Charles Kent, and
Charles King.
A very promising class of metal-workers is
to be welcomed from Newlyn, whence came
the excellent fender we illustrate, made by
R. Hodder from J. B. Mackenzie’s design.
The construction was conspicuously good.
ioo
INLAID CHEST DESIGNED BY THE HON. MABEL DE GREY
INLAID BY JOHN reason Pimlico Class
observable amongst the exhibits was the increased
production of useful commodities, and the corre-
sponding decrease in merely ingenious ornaments
and bric-a-brac. Hence we were spared that most
mischievous development of industrial shows, the
“utilisation of waste,” in which ingenuity and
patience are exhausted in applying remnants of
material to purposes for which they are wholly
unfit; and there were fewer of the bazaarlike
“ fancy articles ” in which fancy of the most
vagrant sort has closed all doors by which true
imagination might enter and fire the godhead of art.
A very encouraging number of exhibitors reached
that point of vision at which “the hand refrains,” and
through the discipline of reticence and sympathy
“ the soul attains ” some measure of its ideal.
LEATHER-COVERED CHEST BY ARTHUR SMALI.BONES
Leighton Buzzard Class
The workmanship in most of the classes improves
steadily year by year. The Southwold cabinet-
makers still rank high in this respect; their splendid
technique has already been commended in these
pages. In the metal-work there was greater homo-
geneity of construction and design, and there were
very few good things spoilt by bad setting. A
handsome repousse plaque from Five-mile-town
came rather dangerously near this mishap with
its commonplace fluted edging; and the little
screen from Yattendon, which we reproduce,
did not sit quite comfortably on its frame, though
its lightness and daintiness of execution in no way
belie the traditions of the class. But the oak chest
and cupboard from Mrs. Waterhouse’s design were
thoroughly admirable pieces of craftsmanship, and
their steel hinges and fittings, simple in
form and unspoilt in surface, made a rich
harmony with the natural surface of the
wood. The honours of the execution of
these works are divided between Charles and
George Allum, G. Bastow, Tom Green, Tom
Matthews, Alfred Pizzy, Charles Kent, and
Charles King.
A very promising class of metal-workers is
to be welcomed from Newlyn, whence came
the excellent fender we illustrate, made by
R. Hodder from J. B. Mackenzie’s design.
The construction was conspicuously good.
ioo