The times., 1899-04-23
THE ONLY WOMAN =
SILVERSMITH
She Can Work Wonders in
Crude Metal.
She Also Writes Clever Stories and
Paints.
Father, Who Invented the Fa-
nous Yale Lock.

Fancy being able TO go to your own forge
and create miracles in gold, silver, and
enamel jewelry 10 match any scheme OF
color you choose to wear. This is exactly
what Mrs. wynne can do. You should see
her wonderfully picturesque effects in
filmy Oriental or iridescent textiles, set
off by buckles, brooches, buttons, girdles,
hair ornaments, etc, Of her own design and
manufacture, and this is but the alphabet
of her metal work, for it embraces lamp
shades, sconces, boxes, ladies', apoons,
| tankards, bowls, trays-in fact. anything
and everything that was ever made of gold,
silver. copper. or brass. Indeed l doubt
/ if since the days of Bencenuto CeiIiEi any
one has brought such love of handicraft.
such passion for creation. and such indf-
viduality of expression into metal work.
She is without doubt the only woman
silversmith in the world. There are a few
clever women designers of jewels, but Mrs
Wynne actually does every bit OF the work
| herself, from the time that the metal is
crude ore until II is finished work of
| art"
Although Madeleine Yale wynne Puthor
! Of the much talked-of Little ROOM" and
other clever stories, frequent exhibitor OF
+ paintings at the Art Institute. a brilliant
society woman, a modeler and designer,
| was by no means unfamiliar to me, Made
! leine Yale Wynne. silversmith. sounded SO
| unique and interesting that I imm sdiately
i sought to learn more about her latest
expression in art at her beautiful home in
| Ritehie Place.
The work l do said Mrs. Wynne. is
practically what the old workmen OF In
dia, and. indeed. all other nations. lid be-
fore machinery came to corrupt and inven-
ton took the place OF imagination. Some
one has said that | work like native who
has taste but not education the
crude ore just as il comes from the mines
when | can get ii. but more often nave TO
take the metals from the rolling mills.
where they have been melted and rolled
into sheets. From that moment my per-
sonality alone determines what form the
metal is to take. | heat and hammer, heat
and hammer burnish, press. and shape
my imagination leads, unhampered by the
academic. or the demands of manufacturer
and dealer.
Metals have temperaments just as much
as people, and | should consider it a sin
! TO warp one into form antagonistic 10
its nature. From the time metal comes
into my hands We are cooperative, and
never ask it for anything that does not
| belong to il temperamentally. But now
you would perhaps like 10 see some OF my
! work" bringing forward a basket filed
with all sorts OF quaint and bizarre hand
| wrought ornaments.
Everything that 1 do is in color and
from the basket came delicious study in
brown. heavy silver twist irregular en-
| ameled in brown, to which was attached
an ooze belt OF the same shade; tn n sone
| queerly twisted silver buckles enameied
in strange blues and green's; here was
delicate clasp of transparent b-ue enamel
| TO harmonic with u crush belt OF change
able silk This is simply sehsm in
color with a tendency to irideseenee."
explained the clever woman. Color for
me expresses the whole gamut of the
emotions, while form is purely intellec-
: tual'
i But perhaps the most fascinating OF
these archaic creations were some gor-
geous cloak fasteners in copper studded
over with brilliant hued enamels, to be
held together with thongs OF braided
leather. which might easily have been
made to fasten the cloak of a Boadieea.
or an Egyptian queen. In contrast TO
these was u beautifully hammered and
beaten dd-shaped silver buckle with de-
pressions and open work, giving the effect
of exquisite embroidery or lace.
These depressions and open work,
said the silyersmith in reply to my ques-
tions, Il make according to my eye with
| a kind of awl while the silver is still hot.
You have to exercise great care in work
ing in silver; it has a decided temper OF
its own, and if you undertake to force it
! or subject il to the heat for too long a
| time it stiffens and becomes obduTate; IL
| may deceive you and yield TO the hammer
| for little, but ii eventually breaks and
| loves labor's lost If, however, yCu keep
it under the blowpipe until it is just
cherry red, all its particles readjust them
| uNfr l.
| condition and you get that plastic quality
that makes it as clay in the hands of the
potter These depressions and openings
are exactly what light and shade are in
\ picture"
| After this of course, must come a visit
to the little shop at the top of the house.
overlooking the blue lake, where Mrs.
| Wynne makes her beautiful dreams come
true Here were found the few simple i'm
plements that served the fifteenth and six
! teenth century artists for their immortal
| handiwork in metals A forge, blowpipe.
| huge pair of shears, hammers, files, avis,
| burnishers, and polishers.
| Mrs. Wynne's work is indeed COM
| plete getting away from the conventional,
smooth, artificial machine work OF the
present day, with its endless repetition of
| the same patterns. 1t has altogether an
aboriginal air, reminding one Of those Won
ders OF prehistoric times. for which people
| in these days are willing to pay fabulous
| prices; yet il cannot be said to be Aztec
Byzantine, Renaissance. or FIorentine. but
has quality all its own-the individuality
| os its creator.
Mrs. Wynne's remarkable versatility Of
fers pleasing study in heredity. Daughter
| of the inventor of the Yale lock, she has
inherited his mechanical skill along with
his artistic tendencies, for he. too. was a
painter Moreover, as a little girl she had
the same manual training as her broth
| ers.
| When only ten years old. her father took
! her one day into his shop. saying: My
| daughter, ii is time that you learned to
use TOOLS" and presented her with Il lathe.
| The next day she cut herself rather Sc
| verely in the palm OF the hand. and upon
showing the wound to her father, he said
! Yes. that is the mark of workman, and
| you will carry that honorable scar TO the
| end of your days. When she had mastered
the lathe. she had a long course in me-
chanical drawing, and afterward under her
| fathers instruction learned to draw buds,
| leaves. and flowers in the most minute
manner, so that as young girl she was a
good draughtsman. From her mother, who
was constant contributor TO the periodi-
| Gals, she inherited the literary talent IsGich
has voiced itself in her finely imaginative.
most enticilg and elusive stories. George
| Cable said Of her paintings that they were
| like Hawthorne's stories. and a distin-
| guished French artist upon seeing one OF
| her ornaments in metal said: Madam, one
| does not need 4 great canvas to make
| picture: you have made picture with this
| bit of enamel"
That Curl on tier Forehead.