86 
RERAMIC STUDIO 
how woman at the dawn of the twentieth century is asserting 
her place in the arts and crafts from which for nearly a 
thousand years she has been banished among the nations of 
the West, but in the development of which on more graceful 
and useful lines she has been asserting her influence with 
growing power during the last half-century. Do you ask me 
how I know that at least among the primitive peoples of 
America woman was the potter? I can tell you that to-day 
among the Zunis all the ware is made under the roof of 
the household by the hands of women and girls, and that 
in every well regulated Zuni household there is an oven for 
the baking of pottery ware, which is considered as indispens- 
able an adjunct of domestic economy as the oven in which 
food is cooked for the household. The Zuni housewife makes 
the dishes in which she places the food with which she feeds 
her family. This is a reflection, no doubt, of primitive man- 
ners and customs, which have in the past prevailed more or 
less over the entire continent among our aboriginal races. 
WILLIAM A. KING of Buffalo gave the opening address at 
the convention of the National League of Mineral 
Painters. He spoke at length upon "The Poetry of Pottery," 
conveying to his audience a greater sense of the beauty of 
pottery than is generally felt. It is scarcely realized how 
much poetry and romance, how many gems of beautiful 
thought in ancient and modern literature are hedged round 
the inanimate objects evolved by the potter and his wheel. 
Pottery antedated literature and painting and may be said to 
have been the forerunner of sculpture. Before books were 
made, the potter turned his wheel; and long before the pot- 
ter's wheel was dreamed of, necessity had discovered the 
making of rude vessels fashioned by hand of mud and clay 
and baked in the sun. Utility has ever been the forerunner 
of art, and the cooking and baking dish eventually led to the 
vase and tablet. On these frail creations, which came from 
the hands of the primitive artist-potter, was written much of 
the history whose records were thus preserved. Beautiful 
legends of mythology would have been lost had not the potter 
saved them to posterity on the surface of vases of almost pre- 
historic ages. 
As a type of the Creator, the potter has figured far and 
wide in the literature of the world, from the Hebrew prophets 
to the present time. Among the Egyptians certain gods 
were represented as making man from clay, on a wheel. 
The weaving of fanciful, poetic, historic or legendary 
thought runs well through the entire range of Oriental pot- 
tery, which often bears quaint inscriptions. Mr. King illus- 
trated his talk with many beautiful verses from writers of 
every age and related a number of pretty Japanese legends of 
pottery. 
ORANGE CUP DESIGN 
Anna B. Leonard 
THE design looks well carried out in flat enamels, with an 
outline of reddish brown, obtained by using a little 
Brunswick Black and Pompadour Red. 
For the oranges use Aufsetzweis, with one-eighth flux; 
into this mix a little silver yellow and touch of black. The 
tone may be deepened by adding a little Orange Yellow and 
Yellow Brown. For the leaves use flat tones, obtained by 
mixing Yellow, Brown Green and a touch of Black. Add one- 
eighth Aufsetzweis and use almost as thin as paint. The 
stems may be a lighter tone of the same green. 
The design may also be carried out effectively in lustres, 
using a black outline. Orange lustre for the first fire with 
Yellow lustre over that for the second fire. Leaves in Dark 
green lustre (two fires). The background may be white, or 
gold, or a powdering of small gold dots may be used. The 
lower part of the cup may be white, or Yellow lustre, or a 
tint of Silver Yellow. These cups are used for ices also and 
make a pleasing addition to a dinner service. 
LOST MONOGRAMS 
Will those subscribers who have missed their monograms 
kindly send them again, as they were lost at the time of 
moving the Magazine Office to Syracuse? 
jA.V.u) 
