The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1921-11-26

| During the entire month of Deem
! Der there will be an exhibition of the
| works of many of Americas most
prominent etchers, at Boswell Hail.
Washburn college. This collection of
| etchings, which is now on exhibition
at the Kansas City Art Institute, is the
property of the Brown robertson
Company, Incorporated, well known
| New York firm of art publishers, i'm
| porters and dealers.
1t will include work by Haskell,
| Hassan, Laughlin, Nordfeldt. Orr,
Pearson, Verrees, Vondrous. and many
other artist etchers of the highest
rank.
1t takes brave people to launch out
| into a new field of endeavor. A new
of Miss Ethel Wallace, a young wo-
man artist of Greenwich Village, New
York City.
Miss Wallace has attracted wide
spread attention by trying something
new in pOrtraiture. She is using batik,
| that lovely new process fabric, in
! stead of the usual canvas, for her por-
| traits. She is painting the portraits
/ Of many prominent society women in
this fashion and is creating no little
| disturbance among the conservative
| masters by her ciever handling of the
brush on this new substance.
Some of the most beautiful work
| in gold. silver, and copper alloy that
| the world has ever known, also most
| exquisite Illuminated manuscripts
were produced by the Irish during the
| eighth. ninth, and tenth centuries
! The craftsmen used only the crudest
| homemade instruments and their
manuscripts were written on roughly
| prepared sheep skin and goat skin
4 - al
/ prepared from simple vegetables and
| mineral substances found IN the, i'm
mediate neighborhood.
Notwithstanding all of this. and
! also the fact that the art craftsmen
were simple peasants and monks, the
| work produced is at once the envy
| and the despair of the most skilled
| modern workers. 1t is said that it
| takes a magnifying glass to properly
| trace and study out the intricate strap
| work patterns engraved on the old
| Celtic jewelry.
Among the works preserved to pos
! terity, three stand out most promi-
nently. They are the Cross of Cong,
| the Tara Brooch and the Ardagh
| Chalice.
The Cross of Cong is made of gold.
It rs of exquisite workmanship. It is
| a product of the twelfth century, but
! is fully equal to the earlier work. 1t
! was made to the order of King Tur-
| dach O'Duffy of Tuam. The arch
bishop is supposed to have afterwards
| removed to Cong and to have taken
the cross with him. It was hidden
| during the Reformation, and nothing
I was heard of it until it was discovered
about the beginning of the last cen
fury by a parish priest. He found it
in an old wooden chest in the house
of a peasant at Con. County Mayo.
/ The Ardagh Chalice was discovered
by a boy while he was digging in a
field near an old Irish fortress at
! Ardagh. County Limerick. 1t is made
of an alloy of silver and copper and
| is composed of 354 pieces. Gold, sill
| the ornamental composition. 1t is
decorated with, repousse and filgree
| work in a most wonderful and intri-
| cate fashion. This chalice is consid-
| cred the finest piece of Irish metal
| work in existence. Its origin is un-
| known. but it Is supposed to date
from the early part of the tenth cen
fury.
The Tara brooch is believed to be
of about the same date as the Ardagh
chalice. And the general character of
the decorative work is the same. It is
composed of white bronze. a mixture
of tin and silver. The form and de-
sign of the Tara brooch has been
copied to a greater or less extent in
much modern jewelry.
On September Is. 1921. Italy at last
succeeded in compelling Austria to re-
> turn to the places where they
originally belonged, vast array OF