Vol. XV. No. 7. 
SYRACUSE, NEW YORK 
November I9I3 
HANKSGIVING will soon again be 
with us, a,nd we are counting over 
our blessings as an antidote to our 
usual grumbling humor. Among 
other things we are giving this month 
a number of nut sketches which have 
been long awaited by many sub- 
scribers. We are always thankful 
when we get one of these requests off 
our mind. Then we have, as you can 
see, an unusual Thanksgiving turkey plate and a fruit pi ate that 
suggests good cheei', some childrens' mugs that ought to prove 
helpful as well as amusing with the Christmas season coming on, 
and a unique fish platter among other good things. We had to 
put off the designs from the Four Winds Summer School un- 
til a later date as the color study could not be finished in time 
and for that we ought to be thankful too for we will know that 
we have something good still coming to us. 
We are also thankful that we have a few "drawbacks" 
for we don't have to keep rapping on wood, and that we have 
a few "dislikers," for that proves that we must be geniuses. 
It is only on the dead level that there are no jolts. And, any 
way, we are thankful if just for contrariety because we 
would very much like to be scolding the powers that be in the 
heavens above, the earth beneath and the waters that are 
underneath the earth. But that is an old story. At least 
we are thankful that we can shut our eyes to the dust on our 
mantlepiece and the weeds in our garden and that we can 
make a soup bone last three meals and maybe four, but we'd 
be still more thankful if we could find among our subscribers 
some nice girl or woman who would take the burden of the 
housekeeping and domestic hiring and managing off of our 
shoulders and give us a chance to do something worth while. 
Now this is no joke, it is a real business proposition. If such 
there be let her write to us and we will tell her what nice folk 
we are and what a nice work room she could have in which to 
paint china or make jewelry or do whatever stunt she prefers 
in her spare time and what renumeration we could offer and 
all the other inducements that we could rake or scrape up. 
A correspondent wishes to know the real status of china 
decoration as she has heard that it is not on a par with arts 
such as oil and water color painting. This is a difficult ques- 
tion to answer as so much depends upon the quality of the 
work. A technically clever ceramic decorator who is original 
in design, has good taste in color and has a feeling for fitness, 
is certainly much the superior of an average painter in oils 
or water colors. If she does the best possible work in that 
line, we cannot see why she would not be the equal of any 
artist or craftsman of the same amount of talent. But the 
world at present is laboring under the idea that only painting 
is art. It is gi'adually waking up to the genius of the artist crafts- 
man, and in late yeai's the decorator of cei'amics has taken, 
and is taking, such vast strides in advance of the work of 
former years, that ceramic work is rapidlj' taking its true 
place with the art crafts of the world. It has so long been 
the plaything of woman's idle hours, that men have come to 
think it can never be anything more than any other fancy 
work, but so many are taking up the work seriously that no 
one need feel anything but honor in being in the ranks of cer- 
amic decorators. 
In the illustrations of work of the Four Winds Summer 
School in October issue, the following errors of names were 
made: On page 128, center section, a Satsuma Box, large 
middle plate and smaller etched plate, credited to Mrs. Van 
Pelt, are by Katherine Flood of Hudson Falls, N. Y. So is 
the large Chop Plate on page 134, center of first section. 
The Autumn Competition is closed. The quality, as 
well as quantity, was exceedingly good. We have been obliged 
to return much material which in former years we should 
have purchased, because the editorial drawers are overflowing 
with more designs than we can use in a year. We are becom- 
ing every year more strict in our judging so that the standard 
of designs published is continually averaging higher. The 
first prizes Class A and B awarded to Albert Heckman were 
awarded especially for the fine work in conventionalizing the 
flower forms and for the designs so beautifully executed, al- 
though many others send more exact and detailed drawings 
of the flower itself. It is a delight to the editor to open a 
package of Mr. Heckman's work, every detail is so exquisitely 
executed and so neat and if one may use the word here "self 
respecting." The pages are beautifully arrayed, marked 
and numbered and a careful typewritten list sent of all pages 
with titles so that no mistake can be made. The brush marks 
are so clear, the washes so clean and even; the black so fine; 
the drawing beyond criticism and the designs themselves so 
carefully thought out and so satisfying that the editor's du- 
ties are not only reduced to a minimum but also transformed 
to a pleasure. 
The work of Henrietta Barclay Paist, who received first 
prize in class C, while quite different in style, is equally well 
executed with a firm and assured hand. Mrs. Paist is writing 
a book on design, which is soon to be published and which 
will be beyond doubt of great value to the student. The 
awards in the competition were as follows: 
Prize Class A — Albert W. Heckman. 
Prize Class B — Albert W. Heckman. 
Prize Class C — Henrietta Barclay Paist. 
Mentions: Mrs. V. T. Kissinger, Lucile W. Sharpe, Ida 
Upton Paine, Mrs. M. H. Watkeys. 
A new" "Stained Glass Tour" this time in Italy has just 
been published by the John Lane Company. The author, 
Charles Hitchcock Sherrill, has studied the subject of stained 
glass very intimately and writes about it interestingly. The 
book is illustrated with thirty-three photogravures of the 
various cathedrals and churches where the best examples of 
stained glass can be found. This is the third of a series, the 
other tours being in France and England. 
