November ?g, 1917 
LAND & WATER 
Folk Art 
By Charles Marriott 
19 
m; 
Pottery 
■OST musi- 
cians would 
-find it hard 
to define exactly 
what constitutes 
I'~olk Music, and 
there is the same 
difficulty about 
defining Folk Art. 
as commonly ex- 
isting in the village 
handicraft or in- 
dustry. One char- 
acteristic, however, 
they have in 
common. Folk 
Music is alwavs 
eminently singable 
or playable on 
particular instru- 
ments, and Folk 
Art ii always pecu- 
liarly well adapted 
to particular ma- 
terials. Generally 
the material is one 
common and plentiful in the country or district that 
produces the particular form of art ; and wood-carving 
in Scandinavia, knitting in Shetland, and straw-plaiting 
in ffertfordshire seem a 
■ natural " as cider in 
Hereford and cheese in 
Somerset. If the material 
is not native to the country 
or district there is marly 
<ilways some simple human 
.reason for the development 
of that particular form of 
art ; and lace-making is 
mote a product of social 
conditions in Ireland and 
Devon than it is of con- 
scious artistic enterprise in 
thosp places. • Therefore, 
we may say that not only 
is Folk Art always jhcu- 
culiarly well adapted to 
particular materials, but 
that the local form of it is 
nearly always determini d 
by prcstncc of the material. 
'>r by social conditions, or 
by bf)th. 
Without going so far as 
to say that Folk Art is the 
onlv real art there is — 
though that view might 
be upheld with some reason 
— there can be no doubt 
that an art or a craft that 
obviously comes from the 
people and the soil gives a 
satisfaction and a con- 
lidence Ix-yond any other 
form of art. There is no 
reason why a young quarry- 
man in Cornwall should 
not show a talent for paint- 
ing in water-colours, but we 
should feel more con- 
lidence in his artistic 
future if he took to 
.uTanite ca^^•ing. Whether the art or craft be popular or in- 
<iivKlual It has always a sjx.cial character of soundness, per- 
ccptib ,, ,n the fmished work, when the artist has a familiarity 
wth the materials Ijeyond his professional use of them. It is 
astomshmg how the .sense of this has grown of recent v^ars. 
in my childhood even in enlightened households it was 
enough to mdicate an artistic career for a youth if he showed 
a tonclness and an aptitude for drawing or painting particular 
hlTT\ , ^ ^■^""'■'^ *'''''^ nowadays^at any rate, in wise 
lious<holds-thc <iuestion asked would be : " Has he a fond- 
ness and an aptitude for handling paint or pencil ? " To 
jnit It crudely ; as a sign of artistic ability a fondness for messing 
Essex Tambour Lace 
about with 'the materials is much more important than the 
desire to represent anvthi.ng. 
These remarks are prompted bv the exhibition of arts and 
handicrafts recently organised by I he Enelishitoman in 
\\estminster. A large proportion of the exhibits came from 
bodies fonned to revive or encourage village and cottage handi- 
crafts, and most of the works by individual artists belonged 
in kmd If not in circumstance to the class of Folk Art 
Always important, the subject of village and cottage in- 
dustries has become very much more so in consequence of the 
war. VV hether we are prepared for it or not, there is going to 
be a great increase in village life. As " Jason '■ pointed out 
in his article on " What is Reconstruction ? " in Lanij cV 
U.viER for October irth, " capturing German trade '■ is the 
east important part of the business. The important ques- 
tions are : ^\l,at is it that men and women need in order 
to make the most of their lives ? What are the conditions of 
human freedom and happiness and development ? And how 
best cansociety secure these conditions to every class and 
every citizen ? Not a bad short answer to all three 
questions wculd be : ' the provision of a handicraft." With 
the most intensive cultivation of the soil there will always 
remain m every village a number of people who from age 
or sex or physical disability are bertef ernployed either at 
home or in worksh. ps under easy conditions. Grantin- this 
and observing that on the whole the admirable enterpises 
encouraged by The E, ghshu^man seem to have escaped 
hem. one perceives certain dangers. There is always 
the danger that seme, irresponsible " artist " or group of 
artists will go down and 
start a village art or handi- 
craft regardless of whether 
the local conditions are 
suitable. Also there is the 
ever present, and in \iew 
of "capturing German 
trade," pressing danger cf 
commercialism. You may ' 
take it as an axiom that 
when a man talks about 
capturing German trade he 
means for the benefit of 
the person who " ddals in " 
rather than the person 
who makes the article. 
There is no reason what- 
ever why village handi- . 
crafts should not be pro- 
fitable as well as pleasur- 
able, but there is every 
reason why the pro!its 
should go to the right 
ix-rsons. Not merely fo'" 
sentimental reasons of 
equity ; but for the hard 
practical reason that a 
hancUcraft controlled or 
even influenced by the 
dealer is bound to de- 
.generate. A very wise man 
once said to me that the 
standard of taste is set f)y 
the " buyer " for the big 
shop. He, and not " the 
public," decides what shall 
ix' worn or used ; and 
therefore the standard of 
taste as actually repre- 
sented is always below the 
average real taste of the 
people. 
Therefore, it seems to 
organising any village handicraft 
me, the first care in _„ ,^ _..^ ^„ „ 
should be to bar the dealer absolutely, and keep the 
iptcsponsible artist severely in his place. Though it may 
not be obvious, the best way to do both is to make 
everything secondary to the material. Once establish a 
community of workei-s in w'ood or wool or wicker, and you 
have secured a basis for the co-oi>erative trading that makes 
the dealer superfluous, and in the same breath you have set a 
tradition of design proceeding from the stuff itself. Nothing 
is more healthily stubborn than a tradition so established'; 
and he would be a sanguine person who trieil light heartedlv 
to impose new designs on a l.ice-making district. The 
