An American Designer of Jewelry 
ency, and equally so, in consequence, she is 
a thorough believer in perfect workmanship 
in all the details. Beyond this, her work 
shows a wide divergence from most of the 
Continental productions, though many pieces 
have a strong family resemblance to some 
of the English examples. Indeed the 
work of Mr. C. R. Ashbee, in par¬ 
ticular, represents very fairly 
the same underlying ideas, 
and would certainly 
appeal to the same 
taste and judgment. 
The self complacency 
ot a French section in such 
a congress would in a sense be 
justified by the very strong and ap¬ 
parent French influence noticeable in al¬ 
most all the Continental examples and 
in many of the British, and yet I, a 
Philistine, from what they doubtless 
consider the new and still barbarous 
land toward the setting sun, dare to 
question the foundation for such com¬ 
placency. It becomes again the old 
question whether “L'Art Nouveau ” is 
good art, or perverted art, for surely 
most of this Continental jewelry is 
strangely tinged with “L’Art Nouveau." 
And though it is true that the violent 
exuberance of fancy associated with that 
school is less objectionable in a small 
piece of jewelry than in the facade of a 
five story building or the walls of a living 
room, it still remains a very open ques- 
clasp of t j Qn w h e th er restraint, simplicity and 
silver and p Ure ornament even in jewelry are not 
We are apt to date our artistic awakening 
to the Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia, 
on which occasion very many of our people 
first had an opportunity of seeing a large 
collection of artistic articles of all kinds at 
the same time. In any case, our architec¬ 
ture, as well as other forms of artistic 
expression, suddenly took on a 
lease of a new and better life. 
This rejuvenation in the 
art of smaller and more 
domestic articles re¬ 
ceived its greatest stim¬ 
ulus, however, from the 
influence of William Morris 
There are today in many cities 
and towns throughout the country, 
associations of Arts and Crafts, to whom 
Mr. Morris stands as a kind of patron 
saint; and whose members bind books, 
carve furniture, pound brass and set 
jewels, to the inspiration of his memory. 
That much of the product is crude, 
amateurish and faulty in design and 
workmanship is apparent, yet the influ¬ 
ence of the enthusiasm engendered is 
entirely healthy and promising, and the 
time is not far distant, if not already here, 
when some of these workers will develop 
traits that will raise them into a position 
demanding notice. 
It is probable that the United States 
“consumes,”—to use a favorite Ameri¬ 
can commercial term,—more jewelry— 
that is, buys and wears more jewelry, 
than any other nation; and most likely A 
it is because such a mass of bad pro¬ 
duction has obscured the little good TUR QT OISE more to be desired than results that 
that is struggling for recognition that 
America may be slighted in an in¬ 
ternational congress of jewelry design. 
This purports to be an article on the work 
of an American jewelry designer,—Mrs. 
William FI. Klapp, whose work exhibits 
artistic characteristics, the exact antithesis of 
the already described commercial American 
type, and yet very different in ideal and 
feeling from the European type. 
In that Mrs. Klapp believes that gems 
are to be used only as ornaments for the 
jewelry, as partners, if not in many cases as 
mere assistants, to the setting, she is in close 
accord with the prevailing European tend- 
Designed with 
Persian feeling 
are at best sportive and frivolous, and 
at the extreme approach closely the 
grotesque imaginings of an opium dream. 
La Lique, being a genius, may do as he 
pleases; we may wonder at times but dare 
not criticise; but his imitators copy only his 
extravagances, and of course fail to catch his 
—what shall 1 say,—his genius? And this 
is hard to define and very elusive. 
It would seem as if the nude female figure 
is used much more than is desirable, the 
designs of some Europeans containing this 
motif in every example, which besides being 
very tiresome, makes many of the pieces 
almost impossible to wear. I his brings me 
