Studio: international art (72.1918)

Irish Arts and Crafts

STAINED-GLASS ROUNDEL (OF ONE PIECE OF GLASS
WITHOUT LEADS). BY HARRY CLARKE

sweet refreshing restful-
ness, and sustain too the
exquisite mood of the
words that border the
flowery field—“ Take time
to thrive, my rose of hope ;

Sweet joy I call thee ; A
little rest and then the
world is full of work to
do ; Sweet joy befall thee.”

To see this Cot Cover is to
feel what those lines con-
tain. One is led to realize
the beauty of childhood
and what in sincerity
should respond to it
within us : to experience
that beauty which per-
vades the “ Songs of In-
nocence ” of a great
Irishman.

It cannot be said that
the work in this exhibi-
tion rises as a whole to
any exalted level. There
is a tendency, for instance,
inevitable perhaps at this
stage of the process of
development, to a senti-
mental regard for the an-
cient Celtic work, and to
attempts at its resurrec-
tion. This is to be depre-

cated, and indeed is contrary to th; aims of
the Society and frankly discouraged, not
merely because such work offensively de-
grades what may be in itself splendid, and
can embody no vitality of to-day, but also
because thieving of this kind, whether it be
open or stealthy, from the living or the
dead, is the sign of a mental attitude with
which Art will not associate. These things will
happen, however, in the train of a movement
conscious of past achievements, and this must
be passed by to seek rather the head of the
movement, to see whither it is tending, and the
nature of its products as it goes. The quality
of the work as a whole, however, is good and
one feels that something distinctive is in process
of evolution and that the future holds work of
increasing interest and merit. Respect for
sound workmanship is obvious throughout the
exhibition, and the mastery of technicalities

GREEN SILK WATCH-CASE, EMBROIDERED

BY GEORGIANA E. ATKINSON