Examples of household taste . our homes really and truly beautiful. Perhaps one of the most astonishing examples of the adaptation of naturalmaterials to ornamental uses is given in the art of the potter. The fabricationof rude vessels from the clay of the earth is almost as old as the hills fromwhich the clay was dug. No traces of peoples or forgotten races have beendiscovered without the discoverer finding fragments of their pottery. Fromthese rude beginnings grew up, little by little, an art which is one of the mostuniversal in its use and employments of artizans of the industries of the wo
Examples of household taste . our homes really and truly beautiful. Perhaps one of the most astonishing examples of the adaptation of naturalmaterials to ornamental uses is given in the art of the potter. The fabricationof rude vessels from the clay of the earth is almost as old as the hills fromwhich the clay was dug. No traces of peoples or forgotten races have beendiscovered without the discoverer finding fragments of their pottery. Fromthese rude beginnings grew up, little by little, an art which is one of the mostuniversal in its use and employments of artizans of the industries of the world. INDUSTRIAL ART 45 For uncounted centuries China—that treasure-room in which we are constantlydiscovering methods and appliances which were thought to be the result ofour own modern civilization,—China has been making that form of potteryknown as porcelain. Its manufacture in Europe is of a comparatively recentdate, and in England still later. Nevertheless, English potters, with characteristic attention to detail and. Buffalo Hunt: Meriden Britannia Company, West Meriden, Conn. thoroughness of manipulation, within a few years of the establishment of theindustry among them, began to produce ware of a superior quality. Only inthe matter of design and ornamentation were they excelled by their morefortunate European brethren who were artists as well as artisans. But coming down to the present period of Exhibitions, we see in theartistic progress England has made since her first Worlds Fair, and in theeffort made to overcome her inferiority in the way of decorative china, one of 46 THE INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION, 1876. the most striking examples of the benefit of these great competitive exami-nations—for this, in truth, is what these huge shows amount to in their bestsense. Such illustrations of the art-work of English potters, as we give onthe preceding pages, is worthy of any Continental modern school. The Deco-rated Dessert Plates, shown on pages 43 and 44, are from the S
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1870, bookp, booksubjectdecorativearts
