KERAMIC STUDIO 
great display gave any impression other than of unbearable 
coldness. China had remained deaf and had jealously kept for 
the eyes of adepts and the touch of the initiated, its treasures 
of idealism and good taste. 
Among the imposing displays of the Belgian ceramists, 
the factory of Boch Brothers, of La Louvi^re, showed its 
serious artistic tendencies, while it revealed curious and unique 
quadrangular crystalline glazes, with soft iridescence, due to 
the researches of its energetic technical director, Mr. DifBoth. 
Berlin. Hard porcelain. Two recent pieces showing the influence of 1900 and 
the transformation in the processes of decoration. 
The United States, for which Mr. Bing had reserved a 
small room, had not taken part in the ceramic evolution. 
However it would be unjust not to mention the potteries of 
the Rookwood factory, which is so brilliantly managed by the 
eminent Mr. Taylor, with their flowing glazes, so charming to 
the eye and pleasing to the touch, also the greenish faiences of 
Mr. Grueby, of an art peculiarly attractive. 
This conscientious study shows that what dominated as 
a whole in the ceramic Exposition of 1900, was the rational 
use of grand feu colors, the palette of which, necessarily re- 
stricted at first, has been markedly enriched in the last 25 
years and makes new conquests every day. Also, as well on 
gr^s as on porcelain, the charming display of crystalline glazes, 
discovered at Sevres but developed at Copenhagen ; the com- 
ing of mat glazes, more similar to the manifestations of 
nature, as nature is almost always mat, in fruit, flowers, 
plants, shells, insects, etc.; the use of grfes in monumental con- 
struction and the giving up, especially in France, of this over- 
glaze mufifle painting, which, if it has had its use in a period 
of transition and expectation, has delayed considerably the 
most important discoveries. 
The Exposition has undoubtedly demonstrated the super- 
iority of the mat effect of gres in sculptural works, the 
unquestioned supremacy of porcelain in everything which 
charms the eye by the beauty of its finish, and the unsuita- 
bility to our damp and disintegrating climates of the faiences, 
which, with their glorious history and rich palette, can satisfy 
only the civilizations of more sunny climes. 
And we have been glad to find that, notwithstanding 
storms, Sevres is always in the first rank of the ceramic fac- 
tories of the world, although it has in Copenhagen a most dan- 
gerous competitor, because, firing at a higher temperature 
(i470-°C., Seger cone 17) than that of Sevres (i4io-°C., cone 14) 
and of Limoges (i390-°C, cone 13), Copenhagen has a finer 
material, also because its artistic creations are generally, by 
their scrupulous observation of nature, closer to great art. 
A SEVRES VASE 
The French Minister of Public Instruction and Beaux 
Arts has just made a present of a Sevres vase to Mr. David 
Francis, President of the St. Louis Exposition. The vase 
was conceived and executed by Taxile Doat, and its value 
was figured at about $800. Subject, The Kisses. 
^ ^ 
CLUB 
'. Diffloth, La Lomnere, Belgium (Boeh Bros.) Gres tile with quadrangular 
crystallizations, Taxile Doat collection. 
The Keramic Club of Bridgeport, Conn., 
NOTES ^^'^ ^" interesting monthly meeting, the guest 
of the day being Mr. George A. Williams. 
Mr. George A. Williams, who has classes in New York 
and Newark, in Composition and Design, is also an illustrator 
of note, illustrating for the Century, McClure and Scribner's. 
He also illustrated the two books "Ten Boys from Dickens" 
and "Ten Girls from Dickens," written by Kate Dickinson 
Sweetser, and is now making extensive Shakespearean illus- 
trations. His talk was very interesting, illustrating as he 
went along his idea of good designing, saying that the most 
important thing to be considered is good balance from the 
standpoint of the relation of space division, that is, the rela- 
tion of each space to the other in the composition. " In 
design," says Mr. Williams, "get away as far as possible from 
detail." "Insist upon broad construction," "work down if 
necessary to minor detail." 
The New York Society of Keramic Arts held its monthly 
meeting at the Waldorf-Astoria April 14th, when the follow- 
ing members were elected to ofifice : President, Mrs. Lois 
Anderson; First Vice-President, Miss L. W. Holcomb; 
Second Vice-President, Mrs. T. M. Fry; Third Vice-President, 
Mrs. Mary Alley Neal; Recording Secretary, Mrs. DeWitt; 
Corresponding Secretary, Mrs. Hibbler; Chairman of Art, 
Mrs. L. Vance Phillips; Chairman of Eligibility, Miss M. 
Mason; Chairman of Finance, Mrs. Sarah W. Safford ; Chair- 
man of Printing and Press, Mrs. Price. 
