San Marcos free press. [volume] (San Marcos, Tex.) 1877-1892, 1878-05-04
" Keramics and WOman's
Work.


Work.
The desire to decorate pottery for pur-
poses Of household adornment seems to
DO a kind Of chonic inclination which
suddenly affects large numbers OF peo-
pie at the same time, and as suddenly
disaffects them. The influx of paste,
paint, and vsrnish pots, of jars and vases
of glass and crockery, of sheets of gayly
colored pictures, into that part of the
domicile sacred to the feminine men,
bers of the family usually indicates the
beginning of the attack; the prevalence
of said jars and vases (Which too often
are liquid backing bottles or ginger pots
artfully disguised) in the parlors marks
its advanced stage; and the contemptu-
GUS removal of the same to the attic, un-
der the stigma Of shocking cheap" de-
notes its termination. Thus far the
mania has appeared in three forms.
About fifteen years ago it bore the name
of pot.chomanie, and it took the form OF
pasting scrap pictures inside OF clear
glass jars, backing them with thick
white paint, and then persuading your
self that an accurate counterfeit of ORR
entail porcelain had been produced.
This gave place to decalcomanie, use
full species Of decoration which enables
colored pictures printed on gelatine
films to be applied to any smooth sur
face. It is much in vogue yet for
decorating cheap furniture, carriages,
and safes; but during its fashionable
prevalence no object of household use
was safe from its incursions, and the
marble comfortable or the kitchen pals
were beautifed with discriminating
impartiality. The term keramics has
lately been twisted out of its proper sig
MITIGATION to be popularity applied to the
sticking Of paper pictures on pottery OF
any kind, and adding coat Of varnish,
an alleged imitation of painted china be-
ing the result. .'
Upon the broad general principle that
any thing which tends to increase the
popular taste for beauty is to be en-
couraged, the above named manias may
be beneficial apart from their obvious
utility as a means of amusement; but,
on the other hand when it is remember
ed that the same inclinations, directed
in the proper channel, may with little
or no more labor produce objects OF
artistic merit and of far more value as
educating and refining the tastes, it
would almost seem that time and tai
ents are being wasted. Nothing that is
false is artistic. Decorated ginger-pots
are in truth but ginger-pots; backing
bottles can not be foisted upon the
world as Etruscan vases or Haviland
faience. A certain amount OF falsity is
conventionally accepted, such as imita-
ton wood and sheet-iron architectural
ornament; but when an object is divert
ed from its recognized use, especially If
that use be humble, the deception is
only tolerable for time, and eventually
is repudiated; and the pity of it is that
SO large an amount of the female ener-
gy in the world seeking an outlet finds
it in such way. The legitimate result
is the degradation of woman's work as
a unit in social economy. for while no
one would wish to do away with the
numberless delicate devices which the
feminine mind delights in conceiving,
or would remove one source of pleasure
to the gentler sex, all must agree that if
that work were, as a rule, directed to
the production Of objects, no matter
how intrinsically trivial, which satisfied
the precepts of correct artistic taste,
and were capable of affording perma-
nent qualification, there would be less
baord about the lack of openings for