190 
KERAMIC STUDIO 
ROBLIN WARE 
Of Mrs. Li una Ire I an 
THE clay deposits of the State of California are marvelous 
in their magnitude and variety, and only the lamentable 
lack of enterprise, the prejudice against all industry has left 
undeveloped what should, years ago, have become a generous 
revenue to the state. 
The material of which the Roblin Ware is composed is 
absolutely Californian. The glazes also are entirely native 
material. The fuel used is coke with a little coal. 
Mrs. Irelan's work, designs and application of idea, is 
entirely her own. She models from nature, creating as she 
works, no set pattern to guide her, just the shape of clay, as 
it comes from the Master-Thrower's wheel. Mr. Alexander 
William Robertson and Mrs. Irelan work in harmony. He 
uses his wonderful skill on the old " string wheel " to create 
the shapes which delight all who see them. He is the Master 
Thrower and particularly excels in the pure classic, especially 
Grecian forms, which Mrs. Irelan rarely decorates unless it be 
to carve or engrave a suitable design. Frequently she directs 
the throwing to get some particular forms which she desires 
for some fancies for modeling. Usually she touches these up 
in some way or other, pinching and coaxing the tractable clay 
to suit herself. Her particular aim is to have original ware 
and she follows her love for nature and its handiwork as she 
has always done before she " took to clay." The dainty 
lichens, mushrooms and toad-stools, the graceful lizards, the 
wide-eyed frogs, etc., have the greatest charm for her, and it 
is particularly the fungi in their quaintness which have, so to 
say, taken the public by storm. She uses no moulds, just a 
few simple wooden tools, a bit of sponge and her hands and 
finger-tips, arranging the modeled bits as simply as she can, 
keeping within the lines of her model's habits. To retain the 
delicacy of the moulding as much as possible she leaves her 
pieces in the bisque, although, to allow for difference in taste, 
she glazes many pieces. 
She has also done a good deal of slip-painting with 
splendid results. 
The name " Roblin" is a compound, the first syllable of 
Mr. Robertson's (brother of Hugh), and the first syllable of 
Mrs. Irelan's Christian name. 
