3^S 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



September, 19 lo 



ever present jars and vases of flowers the only decorations an apprentice at a low table in front of a wide window Is 



are a high, narrow shelf running around the entire room, doing the first rough cutting of a dainty design in a delicate 



and on one side plain, glass-enclosed cabinets which hold the egg-shell bowl, an order for an electric lamp shade in por- 



finlshed pieces of porcelain in the interval between comple- celain with crystalline glaze awaits its turn, and at one side 



tion and going forth to exhibi- 

 tions. So well designed and ar- 

 ranged are the shelf and the 

 cabinets that a group of laugh- 

 ing, romping children gathers 

 for the twilight story hour with 

 never an anxious thought or 

 warning for the frail and pre- 

 cious porcelains on every hand. 

 An alcove of the room contain- 

 ing book shelves and a capacious 

 built-in desk is the retreat where 

 Mrs. Roblneau makes up her 

 magazines, and the drawers are 

 overflowing with a fascinating 

 mass of illustrative material, 

 copy and printer's proof. 



Though keen interest and In- 

 telligent thought go to garden, 

 home and magazine, the real 

 zest and joy of life for Mrs. 

 Roblneau lies In the Pottery, a 

 separate building at the foot of 

 the house garden on the summit 

 of the hill. This is a three- 

 story structure, the kiln room 

 occupying the whole first floor, 

 the real pottery and sample- 



Fig. I — Fusele vase eighteen inches high. Unfinished egg- 

 sheU cup and cover. Fiig. 2 — Fusele vase fifteen inches 

 high with stand and stopper. Very good example of 

 maize colored crystals. 



stands the whirling wheel over 

 whose plastic mass the artist 

 bends with intent eye and sym- 

 pathetic touch, turning and 

 shaping at her will the ever 

 changing form. Some writer 

 has said that no great creative 

 work Is ever produced without 

 love. In watching Mrs. Robl- 

 neau at her wheel one Is Im- 

 pressed by the fact that love for 

 her work is a dominant force In 

 her life, and the truth of the say- 

 ing Is surely verified by her 

 achievements. She Is wonder- 

 fully skillful in the handling of 

 the "body" on the wheel, having 

 r.een especially successful with 

 the long, slender "fusele" type. 

 Fhere stands In her cupboard at 

 this writing, waiting for the fir- 

 ing, a vase of this form, of 

 which M. Doat on a recent visit 

 said, that if it comes successfully 

 through the kiln. It will not have 

 Its equal In any European mu- 

 seum. He was astonished that 

 a vase of such height and slen- 



room on the second, with convenient sinks and lavatories, derness had been thrown in one piece upon the wheel. Not 



and in the third story, because Mrs. Roblneau is a modern only has Mrs. Roblneau produced the first true high-fire 



American mother as well as an artist potter, there is located porcelain of America, but her experiments with glazes have 



a play room. In order that the little ones may be near the resulted In the development of crystals, which M. Doat 



mother even when the turning wheel engrosses her at- acknowledges with enthusiasm are the equal of anything 



tention. done In France. Mrs. Roblneau uses two kinds of glazes. 



The workroom, with white walls and white shelves, the mat and the crystalline. The mat glaze has a soft and 



tables and cupboards is full of Interest to a visitor. Here exquisite texture, like the skin of a deer, of the loveliest 



in bins is the "body" In different consistencies awaiting the shades of cream and fawn. The crystal specimens are in a 



potter's hand and wheel, rows of shelves are piled with variety of colors, greens, buffs, clear yellows and pure whites, 

 molds for drying clays and glazes, and the cupboards are One of the most beautiful of Mrs. Robineau's completed 



filled with finished forms set aside till the day of firing. A pieces is an openwork lantern, carved, incised and finished in 



variety of work goes forward at one time. Cement jardi- a mat glaze of soft tan and green upon a cream ground, 



nieres for the decoration of the garden terrace are harden- Upon this piece of work she spent three hundred hours in 



Ing in the kiln room, upstairs In the pottery proper, tiles for the cutting and carving alone. This lantern, lighted from 



fireplace of living-room and dining-room are being molded, within, is a marvel and worthy of a place in any museum. 





Fig- 3 — A vase and mat of crystalline glazes. Fig. 4 — Crystalline glazed vase. Fig. 5 — Reddish brown jar; design in border is brown, blue 

 and green. Fig. 6 — The viking ship is used as a model in the designing of this vase. Fig. 7 — A vase stand and mat of crystalline glazes, 

 in the design of the crab and sea-weed. 



