DOI Heft:
No. 84 (March, 1900)
DOI Artikel:Studio-talk
DOI Seite / Zitierlink:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.19784#0140
Studio- Talk
HAMMERED SILVER STOONS BY OLIVER BAKER
(See London Studio- Talk)
the exhibits adopted on that occasion was followed
in the case of the recent exhibition, which was
divided into three sections. The first and most
important of these was devoted to examples of
contemporary Irish handicraft of original design ;
the second to a retrospective collection of antique
Irish silver, furniture and books ; and the third
to a loan collection of contemporary English
work lent and arranged by the English Arts and
Crafts Association. Owing to the fact that this
Society was at the time holding its own exhibi-
tion in London, the examples of English work
at the recent Dublin Exhibition were hardly
so interesting or so representative as they would
otherwise have been. The Irish section, however,
showed a considerable advance upon the first
exhibition both in design and technical skill, and
demonstrated the fact that the efforts of the Arts
and Crafts Society to encourage the production of
good work here have not been thrown away.
An interesting point about the Exhibition was
the very definite note of contrast that was observ-
able between the English and Irish contemporary
exhibits. Irish craftsmanship, admirable as it
undoubtedly is in many respects, is perhaps much
too prone to follow well-known lines and time-
worn conventions ; while in comparison with it
the English work, in its anxiety to escape from
conventionality of treatment and the demon of
accepted type, appears almost crude in its sim-
plicity. In the furniture section this contrast was
perhaps the most apparent. The Irish craftsman
is content if he can graft his modern shoot upon
the goodly tree of Heppelwhite or Sheraton, and
is well pleased if his marqueterie approaches theirs
in its delicacy of execution. While the severe
simplicity of plain oak or stained wood cupboards
would seem to have little charm for his Celtic
imagination, he has not yet found a method of
expression that is at once in harmony with it
and untrammelled by the conventions of the past.
The truth is that the hour has not yet struck for
the Irish artist, but for those who can sense the
SILVER CANDLESTICK BY S. C. SILVER
(See London Studio- Tali)
127
HAMMERED SILVER STOONS BY OLIVER BAKER
(See London Studio- Talk)
the exhibits adopted on that occasion was followed
in the case of the recent exhibition, which was
divided into three sections. The first and most
important of these was devoted to examples of
contemporary Irish handicraft of original design ;
the second to a retrospective collection of antique
Irish silver, furniture and books ; and the third
to a loan collection of contemporary English
work lent and arranged by the English Arts and
Crafts Association. Owing to the fact that this
Society was at the time holding its own exhibi-
tion in London, the examples of English work
at the recent Dublin Exhibition were hardly
so interesting or so representative as they would
otherwise have been. The Irish section, however,
showed a considerable advance upon the first
exhibition both in design and technical skill, and
demonstrated the fact that the efforts of the Arts
and Crafts Society to encourage the production of
good work here have not been thrown away.
An interesting point about the Exhibition was
the very definite note of contrast that was observ-
able between the English and Irish contemporary
exhibits. Irish craftsmanship, admirable as it
undoubtedly is in many respects, is perhaps much
too prone to follow well-known lines and time-
worn conventions ; while in comparison with it
the English work, in its anxiety to escape from
conventionality of treatment and the demon of
accepted type, appears almost crude in its sim-
plicity. In the furniture section this contrast was
perhaps the most apparent. The Irish craftsman
is content if he can graft his modern shoot upon
the goodly tree of Heppelwhite or Sheraton, and
is well pleased if his marqueterie approaches theirs
in its delicacy of execution. While the severe
simplicity of plain oak or stained wood cupboards
would seem to have little charm for his Celtic
imagination, he has not yet found a method of
expression that is at once in harmony with it
and untrammelled by the conventions of the past.
The truth is that the hour has not yet struck for
the Irish artist, but for those who can sense the
SILVER CANDLESTICK BY S. C. SILVER
(See London Studio- Tali)
127