VoL XIV. No. 10. 
SYRACUSE, NEW YORK 
Febrttary 1 91 3 
HE exhibit of decorated porcelains 
by members of the New York 
Society of Keramic Arts, in Decem- 
ber at the Galleries of the National 
Arts Society, New York, was very 
small and with a few exceptions of 
little interest. It is to be feared 
that the absorption of that society 
into the National Society of Crafts- 
men has had the effect of dampen- 
ing the ardor of the real workers and destroying the morale of 
the whole society. It would seem that the social side of club 
life has taken hold to the detriment of original production. 
The only exhibits of any importance were a collection of 
decorated pieces by Mrs. K. E. Cherry, of St. Louis, whose 
beautiful design and execution we have illustrated so many 
times and especially in the account of the Art Institute 
exhibit in the January issue of Keramic Studio, the work of 
Mrs. Dorothea Warren O'Hara which we illustrate in this issue, 
and some quaint and truly harmonious tableware by Miss 
Voorhees of New Brunswick, N. J., which we hope to 
illustrate in a coming issue. A few scattered pieces by other 
decorators were good but nothing notable. The whole exhibit 
was contained in an alcove about eight feet square. There was 
beside this, however, quite a large exhibit of Marblehead pottery 
with some new and very attractive effects in plaques suitable 
for wall decoration or fruit sets. One especially harmonious, 
had a design of a cock with flowers and fruit, centerpiece and 
border effect, the ground a dull orange, the design in various 
colored glazes, blue, green, red, etc., all with the effect of hav- 
ing an envelope of the same dull orange color. The control 
of the glazes shown in the cleai'ness and minuteness of the 
drawing in this and other examples is really an achievement 
worthy of remark. There is, however, the danger that with 
such skill in juxtaposing the colors the tendency will be to 
too much minuteness of drawing and detail which is not appro- 
priate to the medium. 
A small panel of castle and landscape in a fired mosaic of 
colored clays by Miss Alexander, was a new departure and 
opens up some interesting possibilities. There was a quantity 
of other low fire pottery work but not of great interest except- 
ing, perhaps, some bowls from the "Bowl Shops" with simple or 
child-like designs, not so much of interest from a keramic stand- 
point, as from their educational value. We understand that this 
work is done by poor girls as a sort of club amusement and 
instruction — as such it commands attention. 
An idea has been gi'adually forcing itself on our attention 
and late events confirm the idea. It is that ceramic workers 
do not realize at all the proper value of combination in club 
work. As soon as a club is formed, instead of searching out the 
advantages together, a struggle is immediately begun for 
supremacy in the matter of office holding or social position and 
the club soon degenerates into a game of follow-the-leader until 
it is led to extinction. This is not intended to be personal but 
is the case with nearly every club we have ever known even 
those that start originally with the idea of self -improvement. 
If we were to be asked — first, "What are the advantages 
of a ceramic club?" — second, "How would you organize it to 
gain these advantages?" we would answer somewhat as fol- 
lows: The advantages of a ceramic club should be, — 1. Fin- 
ancial; 2. Educational; 3. Social. 
We put first the financial question since bread is the staff 
of life and comes before cake. Each china decorator, however 
limited in knowledge, has a certain clientele and earns something 
in the way of pin money. If her circle of acquaintances were 
larger she would earn more. Alone, she cannot get together 
enough pieces to make an exhibit of importance which would 
draw a crowd; if she combines with the other decorators in her 
town, together they may be able to hold an exhibit and sale 
that would be profitable all around and teach the public where 
they can find small objects in porcelain at moderate prices and 
larger ones in proportion. In this way each one enlarges her 
circle. Here some will object that those that do the better 
work will draw trade away from the others, or that the one who 
does cheap and tawdry things will overpower those who do 
refined aesthetic work. No, there is a certain public for each 
sort of work. What the club members have to keep in mind 
is that it does not pay to run down any one's work to another 
person. They will think jealousy is the actuating cause. If 
each one makes a practice of calling attention to the good points 
in another's work, her listener will naturally conclude that she 
can afford to be generous because of her own superexcellence. 
This is simply good business pohcy. 
Supposing now that A, B, C, D, E, F and G have decided 
to form a club for mutual advantage. They will decide first 
that they will avoid any clash of personal interests by giving 
office alphabetically and in rotation. Each one will then strive 
to show that she is equal to any one in gaining advantages for 
the club so that her administration will be referred to in the 
future as "That year we had such a successful exhibit at Smith's 
store, etc." So then A is appointed president, B vice-president, 
C secretary, D treasurer, E, F, G committee for jury work. 
Next year B is president, C vice-president, etc, etc., which 
makes F, G, and A jury. Now then the decision is to have a 
Christmas exhibition and sale each year about the first of 
December. If the work is really worth while, some merchant 
in the center of the city can be induced to make room for the 
exhibit on account of the extra crowd brought to his store — 
a jeweler, crockery or art store or even a furniture store would 
be a good place. Possibly some member may have influence 
with the manager of a first class hotel. But the main thing is 
to get as good a place as possible costing as little as possible. 
The mistake so many clubs make is to hire some expensive 
room so that the profits are eaten up in expenses. This is 
where the "society bee" gets into the club bonnet and makes 
much buzzing for comfort and profit. Having settled on a 
place for exhibition, the decision is made to draw, say ten per 
cent, of the sale price of each piece toward expenses; if expenses 
are greater fifteen per cent, or even twenty per cent, can be 
taken. If the expenses are less the surplus goes into the 
treasury for future needs of the club. Having selected a place 
where a window can be used for display if possible, get your 
social directory and send out announcements and have a few 
prominent advertisements in the local paper. Then divide your 
china into two distinct sections, the exhibition and the sales. 
The exhibit should be small and choice showing the best effort 
