16 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1909. 



ing motives and designs Avliidi may help to elevate the standard of 

 art Avorkmanship in this countr}'. Its growth has been exceptional 

 and it is hoped that its intent will be fulfilled. 



The contributors during the past year were Mrs. "William Bowie, 

 Mr. Edson Bradlev, JMiss Helen Amory Ernst, Mrs. Arnold Hague, 

 Mrs. James Harriman, Mrs. Robert R. Hitt, Mrs. Richard Morris 

 Hunt, Mrs. Hennen Jennings, Mrs. Morris K. Jesup, Mrs. Frederic A. 

 Keep, Mrs. William Kingsland, Miss Murray Ledyard, Mrs. L. Z. 

 Leiter, Mrs. Allan McLane, the Countess Carl von Moltke, Mrs. 

 Thomas 'Nelson Page, Mrs. James W. Pinchot, Mrs. H. K. Porter, 

 Mrs. Dean Sage, Mrs. William A. Slater, the Baroness Speck von 

 Sternburg, Mrs. Frederick F. Thompson, Mrs. AVilliam Wharton, and 

 JNIrs. Norman Williams. 



The following account of the collection has been furnished by Miss 

 Leila Mechlin : 



" The work, so ably begun a year ago under the direction of INIrs. 

 James W. Pinchot and a committee of ladies, of assembling and 

 arranging an exhibit of artistic handicraft, has not only been con- 

 tinued but enlarged during the past season. With discriminating 

 judgment and most excellent taste, many rare and beautiful speci- 

 mens of lace, textiles, needlework, china, silverware, jewelry, fans, 

 and enamels have been collected and displayed. The space at their 

 disposal has of necessity been limited, but in spite of this fact the 

 exhibition has been in character exceedingly comprehensive. It has 

 not been possible to show numerous specimens of the same type, illus- 

 trating variety in craftsmanship, as w^ould, naturally, have been 

 desirable, but the standard has been kept so high that significance 

 from the art standpoint, in every instance, has been made manifest. 

 And because of this fact the exhibit has derived special importance. 

 The purpose was not merely to show works rare and curious, repre- 

 senting the acme of skill in production, but to illustrate patently 

 the union of beauty and utilit}" and to make known to all how Avide, 

 indeed, is the field of art. The rich Italian brocades, the Genoese 

 velvets, the Venetian, Flemish, and French laces of earlier centuries 

 are not cherished to-day because they are old or because they were 

 well made, but because they are beautiful. Doubtless these fabrics 

 recall the splendor of bygone days and bring to mind the pomp and 

 magnificence of court pageantry, but, fortunately, they stand for 

 something less ephemeral. To them we turn for standards of taste 

 and for example in design. A great contemporary educator has said 

 that in this world but two things are permanent — art and ideas^ 

 and, reviewing history, we can Avell believe it. In the immediate past 

 an inclination has been showm to fence in. as it were, the fine arts, 

 but the trend to-day is tow^ard the obliteration of belittling distinc- 



