The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-10-10
ART IN TABLEWARE.
Fashions in China and Earthenware
Decoration.

New York Commerce : Gvertiser.
In the dress of a woman in the color and
set of a Well-trimmed bonnet, the artist IN
Tableware designs finds the ideas which
inspire the decorations OF the new services
which appear in the china departments OF
ware are subject to two dlstlnct seasons:
that which begins about Feb. i, ana the
fall season. beginning Aug. 10. For eacn
the manufacturer must not only produce
new designs; he must employ, to certain
extent, new methods. me decoration OF
tableware, paradoxical as 1t may seem, is
dependent upon the thermometer.
ITO take the design printed on plate
or a saucer" said one of the members or
a Warren-street china firm yesterday, and
to attempt to trace it back logically to Its
source would be well-ngh hopeless task:
Where do the fashions in dress come from?
Some say that they are set by the Prin-
cess of Wales just as 1t was said that the
Empress Eugene set them thirty years
ions in color and design are more or less
in the atmosphere, and each seasons out
put of tableware is generally reflection
of the regning taste in dress
Every manufacturer of china or earthen-
ware is dependent on his corps or artlsts,
whose occupation is one of observation as
well as execution. The successful table
ware artist must have the faculty of know
ing just what the public wants. To this
end he must walk the streets, study, the
fashion plates, watch the florists windows
and divine the tendency of dress Beyond
this, he must watch carefully the table
ware output of France, for while his de-
signs may be purely local, his method of
work is SuD1eCI TO fTencH lIllu6uCG.
There are few Americans who would not
be surprised to learn that to the art of
Ores 'en and Sevres American manufac-.
turers owe practically nothing. In spite Of
the really high degree. of artistic excel
lence to which the craft has been carried.
there is very little china made in the
United States People who are willing to
pay fashionable prices for their tableware
demand the tradition that is attached to
quality. bearing a St. Louis, Jersey City
or a Cincinnati label, Is always regarded
with certain amount of distrust by Amer
lean buyers. In consequence American
manufacturers turn their attention to the
Opaque earthenware output following
closely the changing methods of Lii
Strange as it may seem. art in Dresden
and Sevres china has been practically at a
standstill for the last century Both are
government institutions and both adhere
to the old designs and methods. Dresden
floral decoration. It's designs of peasants,
innkeepers and huntsmen are made from
eighteenth-century models. Innovations
are spasmodic and short-lived. sevres is
repeating its achievements OF the red
heeled days of seigneurial France. Its
artists are reproducing the Trianons, the
great ladies' the men with their queues
features of the court life at Marty and Yer
sailles prior to 1889. The presiding deity of
the art of Sevres is the Belle Marquise
The designs of Limoges, on the other
hand, reflect the spirit and fashion of the
day. The isolation of particular designs
in the tableware of cheaper American make
has always been more or less or a puzzle
to the observer. man may buy himself
a set. search in vain for duplicate in the
houses of his friends. and yet stumble on
half dozen sets of similar design in out
of-the-waY places in the South and West.
The manufacturers and dealers partially
account for this by the fact that large re-
tail houses that deal in china and earthen-
ware are particular about having a monop-
oily of E certain style of decoration within
their immediate district Thus, a house
keeper in New York wishing 10 match
certain set can only Go 1t at the house
where he made the orieiual purchase, and
then only with certainty during the same
season.
During the last quarter of century the
English have made great strides in the
making and decorating of the cheaper
forms of tableware. Little of the trans
lucent ware is manufactured there, but the
eafthenware of StaffordShire, Lambeth and
try than the American make. English
manufacturers have shown themselves
more in touch with the current fashions in
designing. The great variety of tableware
decorations in the work of the present day
is the result of competition and the re-
decorating methods. printing is now almost
entirely used in the production of the
cheaper ware. In the case of pottery the
decoration is usually applied on the biscuit
ware before it is glazed by the transfer
printing process. The design is engraved
on copper plates. the pigment is ground
fine and mixed with a tenacious compound
of oil and gums. An ordinary rolling press
is used TO print the engraved patterns and
oily pigment upon strips of tissue paper
which are carefully. applied and pressed
face downward on the biscuit ware while
the oil is wet The pattern is thus trans
ferred and the paper washed off before the
ware is baked.