AMERICAN GARDEN POTTERY 
By SAMUEL SWIFT 
A LMOST a necessity in the modern 
. country estate, garden pottery is yet 
so new a factor here that its production is 
what tariff-framers might accurately describe 
as an infant industry. Much as we like 
to forget the Egyptian darkness out of 
which we have lately emerged, it is fair to 
assume that the terra-cotta vase or urn or 
tree tub is the immediate successor (though 
surely it marks a change of dynasty as well 
as of ruler) of the cast iron receptacle with¬ 
out which no man’s garden was once com¬ 
plete. And these were contemporary with 
the lurking dogs, the frightened deer and 
other fauna imperishably preserved in this 
merciless substance, whose coats were fresh¬ 
ened once a year with new paint. Survi¬ 
vors of this style bear dates shockingly re¬ 
cent, and it is this that one must keep in 
mind when tempted to grow restive under 
the present limitations ot American garden 
pottery. After all, public taste has made 
great strides of late, and it cannot be forced 
ahead too fast, without danger ot diffusing 
and nullifying its power. Patience must be 
exercised, for it is upon the public that the 
raising of this industry into its proper place 
as one of the minor arts must ultimately 
depend. 
That little short of a miracle has been ac¬ 
complished, nearly any country place laid 
out within the past ten years will prove. 
Urns and tree jars are used with frequency 
and aptness as accessories in schemes of 
GARDEN POTTERY AMID SHRUBBERY 
29 
