Smyrna times., 1878-03-27
Decorative Art and Pottery,
WILLIAM c. PRIME AT THE woRKINGMEy's rppp
READING ROOM.

, w llllam Z. Prime delivered lecture Ios
week IN the Workingmen's Free Rood;n,
noon, New York, on decorative ART on5
MI Frlme began with the explanation ot
no" the decorative objects and pottery
now vast the number Of men, women and
Ihlu[eh employed to produce beauty. and
no" large was the sum of money paid an.
nuaily for it. Beauty, he said conld ho
produced without art knovledoe RriIIiont
colorS were beautiful in themselves ond
thousands of children were emplovod IN
PiacIhg a few spots of brilliant color on
"hIte cups. Art was not simDly luvnr,,
ArI pursuits, are museums and art stndios
were as important for the industrial ,yorId
as the manufacture of the most s;nnia
useful article. Beauty paid well. and he
VINO could produce it was certain to receive
g0oo pay Tor his labor Pottery was an art
"hlch mad probably engaged the work of
more men than any other. Adam might
nave discovered 1t when he built his first
nFe on the ground. For pottery was moth.
"s out baked clay, and every savage tribe
t a,i Tue world had learned how to make II
"Ii.ce ~ ~ was the oldest and the most widely
A.0lueu ol an arts, 1t ought to be studied
as a part OF the history of the buman 80
Ills hearers probably could not tnII Go
Sald, wherein porcelain differed fro,,
pottery. This was not to thair d;so,aI;t iiGin
because he ventured to saw. there w. fa,,'
college professors who could give tr,tbf,,I
on-hand explanation. In simnIe tern,s
pottery was anything made Of CLAW and
oaheu until 1t became hard Brick was
hothing but soft pottery. By grinding tho
clay hner and putting sand in with it. fire.
pIlch " were made, and this was hard potterv
Iorceiaih could be made only of n norticT.
lar clay called kaolin, after the name given
70 IL oy the Chinese. And with this CLAW
~ was necessary to mix ground feldspar,
KIND OF rock. 1t was easy to tell nnttorI,
from porcelain by holding It up to tho svn.
hght. If the shadow of the hand conId ho
seen through it, then the article was norco.
lam, which was a translucent bodv Will
pottery was opaque and did not let the
hight pass through.
In pottery and porcelain there were two
KINDS OF beauty, that of form. and that of
color. Mr.. Prime charged his hearers 10 |
remember that their own taste would decide |
ior them what was beautiful. Indenendent |
taste was their perfect right. They might |
no" II think that certain object was beanti. |
~ anu some time to come they might
1ninN inherently. If they liked onions
"Itn 'nelr lood, he did not, but he had no
irriS"U 10 quarrel with them on that score.
.iia were standards of art suited to
people and different nations. It
would be folly for a Frenceman or FncIisb
man OF an American to tell an Arab or n
Japanese that they could teach tbo,o
better taste. They might teach them
another taste, but if the Arabs and lana.
lese were equally cultivated in their own
taste, the former could not teach the latter
= better taste. IL was his own impression
-hat beauty OF form and color were renra.
sen htallVes OF standards in Nature He
.ouoIeu II any vase was ever made the
orms OF which could not be found in
Nature. The sections of an egg were the
'ommonest forms found in vases. II yvoo
Nature that made the first bowls Aftor
III, God was the teacher in regard to utilitv
md beauty. In the workmanship of ali
natlons, simple forms were first found :
u ne art OF beautifying was of slow growth !
ne nrst beauty attempted to be wrought
~ ~ pottery was about $500 years before T
,hrlst. A piece of pottery had not vet !
'eeh Iound which was 5000 years old.
Sot piece OF pottery or a scratch, trace.
0le 10 human agency, had yet been found p
'hlch was 0,OOO years old. This was the n
hs"er OF art study to all human race. If q
neh ,eh hVed on the earth before that time. I
hey never made anything. Mr.. Prime r
lid that more had been learned of the /
,story !, OF nations from pottery than from |
II the relics of mankind. If he wished to v
tudy the habits of people he would 7
ather see the pictures made in their time. h
found upon their pottery, than their h
oooks, because pictures were made 10 ii
lease the people and books were made to
lease the authors.