172 
KERAMIC STUDIO 
"Walkyrie" — Dish in hard porcelain. Figure in polychrome glazes on a sea green 
ground. Center and rim with iridescent crystalline glaze. 
cestors. It is Vart nouveau indeed, the work of the un- 
trained, undeveloped, unstocked brain and the faltering 
hand." 
At the conclusion of this straightforward criticism — 
surely the result of much courageous thought — the jury 
of the Boston Society thus formulates the requisites of the 
objects upon which it is willing to pass judgment : 
"We desire each piece, however small, to be done with 
skill of hand, to be finished and not left crude, and for the 
designs to show study of the simple fundamental principles 
of applicability to material, scale of areas, and of organic 
planning." 
In these words, if they be restricted in their reference 
to the sole field of ceramics, we have a condensed technical 
description'of^the work produced by M. Taxile Doat, as may 
be shown by a mere passing allusion to our accompanying 
illustrations. 
These, at a first glance, are found to fulfil the two 
great essentials of well-designed vases; while, unhappily, the 
superb technique of their originals must be imagined rather 
than perceived. The two essentials mentioned, it is per- 
haps trite to insist, are good proportions and a clear pro- 
file; but since, although theoretically well-known, they are 
often disregarded by designers, it may not be useless to 
indicate how they are fulfilled in our present examples. 
If we select for study the ovoid, or cup-shaped vases, 
we shall find in these the height so far dominating the 
breadth, that the eye does not hesitate as to the relative im- 
portance of the elements of form; rather, it at once starts 
upon its agreeable journey of following the long, graceful, 
vitalized line springing from the base to the mouth of the 
objects. By such decisiveness of proportion the impres- 
sion upon the mind of the spectator, received through the 
visual sense, becomes simple, clear and strong, or, in other 
words, pleasurable. These vases, therefore, are eloquent 
examples of the "organic planning" demanded by the 
Boston Society of Arts and Crafts. 
Again, the more subtile forms occurring in the spindle- 
shaped and in the ear-of-corn vase, while much more dif- 
ficult of attainment, are no less successful. In the first 
instance, equality of division between the body and the 
neck of the vase is not even suggested, as, owing to the 
constantly, imperceptibly diminishing swell, it is impos- 
sible to detect the point at which the one ends and the 
other begins. This form apparently so simple, is in reality 
a tour de force, and in some mysterious way recalls those 
triumphs of beauty in plant-life which Nature herself at- 
tains but occasionally in certain species of orchids. As to 
the ear-of-corn vase, it might have been designed by a 
Greek. In this we find great delicacy without weakness, 
and great richness of line without a hint of decadence. The 
bending of the husks about the upper part of the body is a 
beautiful artistic device, adjusted with extreme cleverness, 
yet addressing the eye so naturally and spontaneously that 
the spectator wonders why he has not seen it employed a 
hundred times before. This detail of treatment was plainly 
adopted from the suggestions offered by antique amphora 
of the best period, which thrust out small handles at the 
same relative point; while the later, more elaborate and 
decadent types projected these parts far above the neck, 
thus presenting an aggressive and fantastic profile. The 
vase of M. Doat is really a masterpiece. Its charming 
effect is due to a combination of the most refined, yet easily 
conceived lines : the body being a variation of the egg-form ; 
the simulated handles showing the curves of corn-stalks 
moved by the wind ; and the neck composed upon an un- 
usual, but beautiful and suggestive motif, adapted from 
the "tassel" or mass of silky fibre crowning the ear. 
As the vases already noted are, first of all, examples of 
exquisite forms, so the remaining pieces show technical 
skill as the chief of their many remarkable qualities. 
The apple, grouped with the spindle-shaped and the 
ear-of-corn vases, offers an admirable field for the display 
of the crystals which have gained a world-wide reputation 
for M. Doat. In this instance, their brilliant effect against 
the sea-green background is not unlike that of newly-fallen 
(concluded on page 193) 
ground. 
mazones" — Vase in hard porcelain. The cameos are raised on » 
ments are in platinum grey pate sur pate, Lower : ,part of vase in mat yellow 
brown. ^.The vase is entirely glazed, 
