Studio: international art (89.1925)

THE LAY FIGURE: A POSSIBLE
SERMON. 0000

It was an Archdeacon this time, and the
Plain Man introduced him with obvious
pride, explaining that he himself had the
honour to be a native of the diocese which
his friend helped to administer. His manner
was that of one who has acquired grace,
almost sanctimonious, in fact. 0 0

The venerable gentleman, for his part, had
a worried look, which suggested that some-
thing had gone wrong with what have been
justly called the " archidiaconal func-
tions." However, he sank into an armchair,
accepted a cigarette just like anybody else,
gave a sigh of relief, and twinkled an eye
at the company. " I wanted that," he said,
inhaling luxuriously. 0000

" Convocation?' " asked the Old Artist,
furbishing up a dim memory. 0 0

" No, sugar-basin," replied the guest
unexpectedly. The congregation gazed at
him respectfully, but with a decided round-
ness of eye and mouth. All, of course,
except the Young Highbrow who would
not be intimidated by the Equator itself.

He, too, was visited by a dim memory.
"A decent basin provided by the parish i ''
he ventured. 00000

The Archdeacon laughed. " No, a
wretched object provided by the Lowther
Arcade, I should say, in some long past
fit of artistic concentration. It's a sort of
silver-plated basket thing made of imita-
tion holly leaves and berries. It has three
miserable little feet tucked away under it
on which it is supposed to stand. There's
a round blue bowl inside it which they fill
with sugar, and then you upset it all over
the butter dish. I did, at breakfast. My
hostess was very nice about it. And when
I upset it again at lunch, and a cream jug
with it, she was still nicer. She said it was
a wedding present, and then led the talk
off tactfully into the way in which inani-
mate objects will acquire undesired momen-
tum. Of course they will, if they've got
nothing to stand on. The cream jug was
another instance. But it was all very awk-
ward. Something ought to be done about
it. That's why I made him bring me along
here. He said that you all pursued the
artistic verities. At least, that was what I
think he meant," he added, noting the

300

Plain Man's expression. " So I came to
lodge a complaint." 0000

" What do you want us to do i " asked
the Young Highbrow. " Cat burglary's a
bit out of our line so far, though I daresay we
shall come to it if prices go on dropping. But
would that sugar-basin repay the effort i "

The Archdeacon laughed again, and took
another cigarette. " Hardly," he admitted.
" But, seriously, isn't there something for
you men of art to do in regard to pots and
pans and the like i So many of them seem
to me to be the wrong shape, quite apart
from the sort of decoration they put on
their outsides. And the perfection of form
is part of your affair, surely." a 0

The Critic nodded agreement. " It's
rather like the question of furniture, which
we were discussing a while back. There
certainly is scope for the artist in these
matters, but the difficulty is to get him
introduced." 00000

" A sermon would help," the Young
Highbrow put in "—something about a
table flowing with milk and honey, or
sugar, anyhow." 0000

" Rot! " said the Plain Man with
severity. The interjection, he felt, came
perilously near speaking evil of Dignities.

But the Archdeacon did not mind. " I've
heard sermons based on less sufficient
foundations," he said. " But I'm afraid the
sermon as such does not carry the weight
it did in daily affairs. It's a matter for lay
treatment. Still, you could deal with it with
becoming gravity. The great increase in the
miseries of human life caused by crockery
errors—it's an attractive theme." He smiled
at the Young Highbrow. 000

" Yes," agreed the Old Artist, " and he
could go on to show how he and his young
friends would make fine missionaries to
Pottery land." 0000

" It's a good theme," said the Critic,
" but it won't do for him. It ought to be
taken in earnest. He might be convincing
on the errors, but we want more than that.
We want a more or less constructive theory
of the line of possible improvement both
in regard to form and decoration. And
there's another point of importance. It
ought to be shown that if manufacturers
generally called the artists in to help, the
public would appreciate the new step and
that it would pay." 0000