The sun., 1919-08-31

to be a thing apart. the product Of
picture painters and craftsmen and
similarly gifted and lucky persons. 1t
is spelled with big A. 1t is a deco
rative and purchasable luxury, to/be
hung up, stood about, and applied to
things. 1t is applied or fine (two
of the most ignorant and misleading
terms ever invented) according as It
is useful or not; but It concerns the
people only so far as they can afford
to buy some OF 1t as a demonstration
of the possession Of taste-or money.
We must work for the restoration Of
the broader meaning of art, for the
reunion Of the many subdivisions of
Art into art-one and indlvisible in
Its association with life and work. it
must be recognized as a necessity to
give us a truer appreciation and use
OF bur country and ourselves"
1t is useless to reiterate. 1t is use
less to criticise. 1t is necessary to
act. 1t is necessary to act imme-
diately. No one can keep us out OF
this new war None of us can be
too proud TO fight in this battle. And
fight we must, with subtler, keener,
more heroic. more invincible weapons.
There is enough talent undeveloped
in this country" NJ. d. c. Crawford
wrote a short time ago, ito make in
dustrial and art history for the next
twenty-five years. There are enough
ideas going to waste in New York
city alone to crown with halo of
success and achievement any con-
Germ that will take a rational view
of an extremely practical question"
Mr. Crawford added: "All over the
world craftsmanship is reviving. The
craft movements in Great Britain
that have lain dormant for almost half
a century are now vividly and keenly
alive. Japan is beginning to see the
folly of certain of her courses of action
and is again devoting her attention
and encouragement to bringing back
to their old skill her master workmen,
and from India are being imported
to this country block printed curtains
which are in every way equal to the
ancient fabrics which are now objects
OF art in our museums, or the treas
ured possessions of individual collec-
tors. And all of this merchandise, or
at least an enormous part of it, IS pc
tentially directed toward the American
market We are the richest people
in the world-the people most prone
to spend money on the things we like,
and we must expect and indeed en-
courage all types of competition 10 fill
these wants. But we must not pernli,
every one of these wants to be filled
by outside brains.
IF training and announcement
/ Ala ,fx,er .s,lA
and INDUSTRY are desirable in the coun-
tries of our competitors these things
surely will not be amiss in America"
G. NJ. A. r., writing in the latest
Bulletin of the Metropolitan Museum
Of Art, expresses the belief that
among the many wonderful products
OF the ancient glass industry the most
beautiful and highly priced art I'M
| doubleday the mosaic or "millefiore"
vases. The richness and variety of
their colors, their many different pat
terms, their attractive shapes have
long made them the favorites among
glass collectors. Their somewhat com
plicated technique has likewise con-
tributed to their interest The collec-
ton of these vases in our museum.
:.:a5a - oc examples c.c-I. the Char
vet and Greau collections as we'll as
from recent purchases, is now OF con-
siderable Importance. The accession
of another small bowl this year and
the placing on exhibition of a large
number of fragments from the Greau
collection may serve as an occasion
for discussing "a nightly interesting
aspect Of these vases.
Z Roman writer's often refer in terms
OF great admiration to "murrhine"
vases. We are tod that these vessels
were brought to Rome in the time of
Pompey and that they Immediately
enjoyed immense popularity. They
are often mentioned along with gold
and crystal vessels as precious possess
sions. Augustus selected for himself
one murrhine cup from the household
effects left by Cleopatra to the Roman
v:ctors.
Wealthy collectors paid extravagant
prices for these vases, Nero, as usual,
outdoing every one by paying 100
talents (probably about $11S,20O) for
one cup. Nero. indeed, appears to have
been particularly keen and unscrupu-
lous in his acquisition of these treas
ures. We hear, for instance, that he
confiscated a famous collection of
murrhina on the death of its owner,
taking it from the rightful heirs, to
display it in his private theatre. The
rich Petronius. fearing a similar fate
broke a murrhine basin valued at 800
talents rather than let It fall into
Nero's hands.
Our curiosity is naturally stirred by