Vol. XVIII, No. 2. 
SYRACUSE, NEW YORK 
June 1916 
EARS of a scarcity of white china 
which were expressed at the be- 
ginning of the war were not justi- 
fied. Of course stocks are more 
or less broken and assortments are 
not as plentiful as they were a year 
10, there is a scarcity of brush 
and comb trays, and china dinner 
sets in general, and as time goes on 
this scarcity will be felt more on 
items which are used extensively, especially on flat pieces. 
But altogether it may be confidently expected that there will 
be supplies enough to last until the end of the war. 
At that time a large quantity of German china will be 
released. German factories have kept working full time in 
making china and the china in the white is stored and ready 
for shipment as soon as the opportunity is given. Of course 
for the present no German china is available. 
French china is coming regularly but French factories 
have advanced their prices considerably and the quality is not 
what it was before the war. Besides they are contemplating 
another advance due to the scarcity and high price of coal. 
So that china decorators must make up their mind that they 
will have to pay more for the ware at least until the war is over. 
But everything else is going up in price, not only colors, glass 
vials and other materials which they use, but also the general 
cost of living. They must simply adjust themselves to new 
conditions by raising the price of their finished work. 
The Japanese white china of which some shipments have 
been received this year has been veiy well received, but it is 
doubtful if large shipments will come over at any time and 
commercially it will not rank with the French or German 
china. Some of the shapes are copied from French and Ger- 
man shapes and are a close imitation without having the fine 
modeling of the French ware. However a great drawback is 
that most shapes are the same shapes which the Japanese them- 
selves decorate and send over at very low prices, so that ama- 
teur decorators have to compete with a cheap decorated ware 
sold in the department stores. 
Nothing has been done so far for a white china of Ameri- 
can make. It may be that this question will be taken up after 
the war but under present conditions, when factories are two 
or three months behind with their orders, there is no likelihood 
that any regular pottery will experiment with white china. 
As a result of the scarcity or rather fear of scarcity of white 
china, it is interesting to note that a number of china decora- 
tors have resorted to glass decoration and have been very- 
successful. This is very interesting work and worth trying, 
and it reminds us that we receive quite often letters asking us 
where materials can be obtained for this work, glassware, col- 
ors, etc., and as none of our advertisers mentions any of these 
materials, we are unable to give the requested information. 
We think that there is quite a field for decorators in glass work. 
It will require some experimenting to find the exact point of 
firing. The firing should be stopped as soon as there is color 
in the kiln, but how much color will vary with different kilns 
and this will have to be regulated by practice, otherwise the 
work is not more difficult than china decoration. We expect 
to have in the July issue advertisements of both glass shapes 
and glass colors. We understand that the demand for deco- 
rated glass is growing rapidly and we consider that this field 
of amateur decoration will be. a permanent field. We also 
expect to publish articles on this work especially written for 
beginners. 
* * * 
Additional interesting letters in answer to V. S. P. are 
here given: 
Now while I do not agree with the author of the letter in all that she says, 
I do know how she feels about using the realistic designs on her china instead 
of the severe conventional designs. I believe it is her strong love for beautiful 
flowers that makes her feel that way, being somewhat of a lover of flowers myself 
I can get her view point exactly. But, strong as my own liking is for nature 
just as we see it, yet we must know that to reproduce nature on canvas or a 
piece of water-color paper is a very different thing from reproducing it on a 
piece of china. If we can't within ourselves feel and know that a simple con- 
ventional design is more suited to a dinner plate than a rose even though we 
are able to paint it as beautiful as it is possible for human hands to do so, then 
we must train ourselves to know which is right and I believe if we follow the 
good designs given in Keramic Studio we won't go far amiss in our training 
either. Surely I, for one, am willing to take the judgment and word of those 
who for years have been endeavoring to give the best of their talent toward 
helping their fellow workers. In my own experience in teaching and paint- 
ing for orders, I will have to admit that conventional designs aren't always 
as popular as I wish they were but I am happy to say I have very little call 
for the old naturalistic way of painting. Keramic Studio certainly has been 
a great help to me because it is very hard to keep an interest in art of any kind 
here and the designs given in the magazine must be right or they wouldn't 
be there. So, dear Editor of Keramic Studio and all your co-workers that 
are trying to give us the best of your talent, here's a wish for 1916, a wish full 
of encouragement and best wishes for a greater success than ever before. 
LUCY M. BROWN. 
I think that to compare naturalistic and conventional manners of de- 
signing, one must well understand each kind. Many naturalistic designs give 
me by color, rhythm and spacing, just the same thrill of pleasure that I feel 
from good conventional designs. Anything through which flows that "Pat- 
tern from the Infinite" cannot fail to touch an appreciative mind and to some 
extent we all of us have a touch of that gaining slowly. One can sometimes 
see that the naturalistic is a mechanical copy from nature and sometimes ideal. 
The conventional is also made with or without ideality. Each kind (real 
or ideal) may be naturalistic, conventional, Japanese or from any source. 
Our own nature must decide upon the proper application. On many table 
dishes the naturalistic would not please me, but on a bon bon dish or any other 
where a flower itself would not be distasteful, I can see no reason why a well 
painted flower is not appropriate. It seems to me a more correct and higher 
division of classes to say instead of naturalistic and conventional the ideal 
and materialistic, many of course are partly of each kind. We see these same 
kinds in e\ ery art. Many figures, landscapes, flowers and still life represented 
give always an exquisite thrill of pleasure and we love them, while the ma- 
terialistic kind sometimes makes us feel how well that was painted but not care 
for ownership. Real art has something about it beyond the material. You 
gave the same thought in speaking of the passage of the eternal thought 
through us, with strong belief in eternal progression. F. N. R. 
The people who are trying to uplift any art or science usually must stand 
a great deal of criticism; and so with the editor of the Keramic Studio. Those 
who criticise conventional designs on account of the rigid fines and all this 
and that, show that they still have something to learn. When a student 
takes up the study of art and intends to become an artist or designer, he must 
have natural talents. The most essential are imagination and idealism. 
Usually, he loves nature in all her forms and beauty, and soon can copy what 
is set before him but somehow or other his study always looks stiff; he studies 
