3^4 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



September, 1910 



An American 



Potter, 



Her Home 



and Studio 



A reticulated lantern with flowers in medallions of 

 brown, blue and green on a brown background 



jMONG the many beautiful country homes 

 of America, not the least charming are 

 those designed and built by some of our 

 artists and sculptors. We find them 

 scattered over the land, on mountain top 

 and in sheltered valley, by rocky coast or 

 sand swept shore, surrounded by peace- 

 ful, pastoral farms or set in the heart of forests. Each 

 has its personal attraction corresponding to the individuality 

 and work of its owner and resulting from them. Unique 

 among these artist homes, is one located in the heart of the 

 lake and hill country of New York. Situated on the heights 

 which overlook the clustered roofs and spires of the 

 city of Syracuse and beyond to the lovely, encircling line of 

 hills, stands "Four Winds Cottage" and close beside it the 

 Robineau Pottery, the one the home, the other the work- 

 shop of Mrs. Adelaide Alsop Robineau, an artist potter to 

 whom belongs the distinction of having produced the first 

 true porcelain ever made in this country and whose work 

 bears favorable comparison with that of the best potters 

 of France. 



Possessed of a strong and forceful personality, not easily 

 daunted by obstacles, she is one of those rare persons who 

 has the wit and wisdom to seize upon every circumstance 



and condition and force them to the development of her life 

 work. Emerging from girlhood, she spent the first years 

 after leaving school in the general study and pursuit of art, 

 painting somewhat in water colors and decorating china in 

 a successful manner and with much originality. From the 

 beginning, however, she was dissatisfied with what seemed 

 to her a superficial art, the mere surface decoration of com- 

 mercial forms produced by others. The potter's instinct 

 and longing, akin to that of the sculptor, to create forms, 

 gradually awakened, but it was not until after her marriage 

 to Mr. Samuel Robineau in 1899, that events shaped them- 

 selves for the undertaking of really serious work. Mr. 

 Robineau, while not an artist himself, is, like so many others 

 of the French nationality, possessed of a wide culture and 

 a keen sympathy with things artistic. Under the stimulus 

 of his companionship, judicious criticism and practical assist- 

 ance, Mrs. Robineau soon relinquished the other branches 

 of work in which she had been engaged and devoted herself 

 to the potter's art. 



As an appreciation of native work and a sincere desire 

 for its advancement have scarcely yet sufficiently developed 

 among American collectors to make it possible for an artist 

 potter to live by the sale of his productions alone, Mr. and 

 Mrs. Robineau some ten years ago launched the magazine 



