Exhibition of Arts and Crafts in London 
ment may be compared to a 
river, which, gushing out from 
its source in the mountains, 
races away to the plains in the 
unrestrained vigor of new life. 
Here the simile abruptly ends, 
for instead of gaining strength 
as it has gone on, ploughing 
out an ever-deepening channel 
and bringing fertility to the 
soil along its banks, it has 
widened out and spread, its 
direction marked by no general 
flow of current, its shallowness 
increasing everywhere. Many 
pretty flowers grow up, bloom 
and die, but there are numerous 
rank weeds and but few great 
trees. The present exhibition 
bears out the impression that 
the movement is in want of 
some strong, guiding spirit, 
some motive power. There is 
no organic principle believed in 
by everybody. Arts and crafts 
have ceased to be a religion ; 
they have created a fashion. 
Each exhibitor has been so 
busy marking out a path for 
A WRITING TABLE 
Designed by Arthur IV. Simpson 
Made by Townson Graham and The Faulkner Bronze Company 
A PAIR OF BRASS CANDLESTICKS 
Designed by H. M. Fletcher Made by W. Shrivel! 
himself that he has not apparently considered 
its direction. Usefulness, fitness, beauty of 
form, thoroughness of workmanship, limita¬ 
tions of material are sacrificed again and again 
in the ambition to be novel, to be strange. 
Even this desire is not universal, for some 
have resorted to copying in one material 
patterns which were certainly designed by 
William Morris for another. 
The best furniture in the exhibition is 
that designed by Mr. Ambrose Heal, and 
made by the firm which bears his name, in 
Tottenham Court Road. The “ silver grain ” 
bedroom suite in particular is worthy of the 
highest praise. It has been designed with 
rare consideration for the use to which it is 
to be put, and its proportion, its nicely 
accented ornamentation in blue inlay, and 
its suitable metal fittings are all the result of 
care and appreciation for the best principles 
of design. The hall table shown here is 
another worthy example of Mr. Heal’s skill. 
It is odd to reflect how few of the pieces of 
furniture on exhibition are fit for the recep¬ 
tion rooms of a house. T he kitchen, the 
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