xiv MEMOIR. 



" shop " Art, or mere antiquarianism. The artist is the pro- 

 duct of his own time and of his own country, his nature 

 comes to him out of the past, and is nourished in part 

 upon the past, but he lives in the present, and of the 

 present, sharing its spirit and its culture. John Sedding 

 had great faith in the existence of this art gift, as living 

 and active in his own time, he recognised it reverently and 

 humbly in himself, and looked for it and hailed it with 

 joy and generous appreciation in others. Hence the value 

 he set upon association among Art workers. " Les gens 

 d'esprit," says M. Taine, speaking of Art in Italy, " n'ont 

 jamais plus d'esprit que lorsqu'ils sont ensemble. Pour 

 avoir des ceuvres d'art il faut d'abord des artistes, mais 

 aussi des ateliers. Alors il y avait des ateliers, et en outre 

 les artistes faisaient des corporations. Tous se tenaient, 

 et dans la grande societe, de petites socie'te's unissaient 

 etroitement et librement leurs membres, La familiarite les 

 rapprochait ; la rivalite les aiguillonnait."* 



He gave practical effect to these views in the conduct 

 of his own office, which was as totally unlike the regulation 

 architect's office, as life is unlike clockwork. 



Here is a charming "interior" from the pen of his able 

 chief assistant and present successor, Mr. H. Wilson : 



" I shall not readily forget my first impressions of Mr. 

 Sedding. I was introduced to him at one of those delightful 

 meetings of the Art Workers' Guild, and his kindly recep- 

 tion of me, his outstretched hand, and the unconscious 

 backward impulses of his head, displaying the peculiar 

 whiteness of the skin over the prominent temporal and 

 frontal bones, the playful gleam of his eyes as he welcomed 

 me, are things that will remain with me as long as memory 

 lasts. 



" Soon after that meeting I entered his office, only to 



* Philosophic de I' art en Italic (p. 162). H. TAINE. 



