DOI Heft:
Division I. Great Britain
DOI Artikel:Halton, Ernest G.: Decorative and applied art in Great Britain
DOI Seite / Zitierlink:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.37423#0023
DECORATIVE AND APPLIED ART IN GREAT BRITAIN
the Frigate,” a sketch tor one of the panels which he has recently
executed for Lloyd’s Register in London (page 95). He is at
present engaged on an important scheme of decoration for the church
of St. Aidan at Leeds. From the studies in sanguine, which were
reproduced in facsimile in the February number of The Studio, it
will be seen that the work is of considerable interest, and promises to
be, when completed, one of Mr. Brangwyn’s greatest achievements in
decorative painting.
In wall and ceiling decoration much good work has been done
by Mr. G. P. Bankart, who excels as a designer and modeller of
plaster relief ceilings and friezes (pages 91 to 93). Here, again, we
have an original artist who has carefully studied the earlier examples
of his craft, and more especially the work of the Elizabethan and
Jacobean periods. The soft, graduating effects which he obtains, free
from all hard protruding lines or corners, are particularly pleasing and
restful to the eye, and show a right understanding of his material as
regards the purpose for which it is being employed. For his motifs
he usually goes to the animal or vegetable kingdom, while his designs
are nearly always original in conception and show considerable
restraint. Amongst workers in plaster Miss E. M. Rope has
developed a very agreeable style, especially suited to the subject she
usually adopts as the motif of her reliefs. The illustration on page 94
gives an excellent idea of the characteristic refinement and innate
daintiness invariably associated with her work.
The plain distempered walls and striped papers, so much in
vogue during the last few years, appear to have had a discouraging
effect on the wall-paper designers. Some of the new papers which
Messrs. Jeffrey and Messrs. Line have brought out are good, notably
those by Mr. Sidney Haward (pages 97 and 98), Mr. Horace
Warner (page 98), and Mr. Frederick Vigers (page 97),but otherwise
there is nothing amongst the recent designs to call for remark.
In considering the work which has been illustrated in this and
previous issues of The Studio Year Book we are disposed to think
that in domestic stained glass more originality of design has been
shown and more progress has been made during the last few years
than in any other branch of decorative art in Great Britain. This
may be accounted for by the fact that the splendid work produced
in the middle ages was executed almost entirely for ecclesiastical
purposes, and is therefore of little use to the present-day designers of
domestic stained-glass. To employ a stained-glass window to block
out an objectionable outlook requires considerable care, lest so much
light is lost that the interior becomes dark and gloomy, and we find
that many of the best designs show commendable simplicity and are
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the Frigate,” a sketch tor one of the panels which he has recently
executed for Lloyd’s Register in London (page 95). He is at
present engaged on an important scheme of decoration for the church
of St. Aidan at Leeds. From the studies in sanguine, which were
reproduced in facsimile in the February number of The Studio, it
will be seen that the work is of considerable interest, and promises to
be, when completed, one of Mr. Brangwyn’s greatest achievements in
decorative painting.
In wall and ceiling decoration much good work has been done
by Mr. G. P. Bankart, who excels as a designer and modeller of
plaster relief ceilings and friezes (pages 91 to 93). Here, again, we
have an original artist who has carefully studied the earlier examples
of his craft, and more especially the work of the Elizabethan and
Jacobean periods. The soft, graduating effects which he obtains, free
from all hard protruding lines or corners, are particularly pleasing and
restful to the eye, and show a right understanding of his material as
regards the purpose for which it is being employed. For his motifs
he usually goes to the animal or vegetable kingdom, while his designs
are nearly always original in conception and show considerable
restraint. Amongst workers in plaster Miss E. M. Rope has
developed a very agreeable style, especially suited to the subject she
usually adopts as the motif of her reliefs. The illustration on page 94
gives an excellent idea of the characteristic refinement and innate
daintiness invariably associated with her work.
The plain distempered walls and striped papers, so much in
vogue during the last few years, appear to have had a discouraging
effect on the wall-paper designers. Some of the new papers which
Messrs. Jeffrey and Messrs. Line have brought out are good, notably
those by Mr. Sidney Haward (pages 97 and 98), Mr. Horace
Warner (page 98), and Mr. Frederick Vigers (page 97),but otherwise
there is nothing amongst the recent designs to call for remark.
In considering the work which has been illustrated in this and
previous issues of The Studio Year Book we are disposed to think
that in domestic stained glass more originality of design has been
shown and more progress has been made during the last few years
than in any other branch of decorative art in Great Britain. This
may be accounted for by the fact that the splendid work produced
in the middle ages was executed almost entirely for ecclesiastical
purposes, and is therefore of little use to the present-day designers of
domestic stained-glass. To employ a stained-glass window to block
out an objectionable outlook requires considerable care, lest so much
light is lost that the interior becomes dark and gloomy, and we find
that many of the best designs show commendable simplicity and are
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