The Chronicle-star combined with the Moss Point advertiser., 1945-07-06

VAA& kRaAaA ~ - $50
tory the greatness of any civil.
cation of the past is measured by
the achievements of its artists
and thinkers rather than by cam
paigns of generals or the com
merce of the merchants.
What, after all, is the glory OF
ancient Greece such philosophers
ask but a few plays and dia-
logues, a few fragments Of poe
try, the lines Of a few broken
statues and urns? These, and a
few immortal buildings Of the ar
tist-architects, are all that we
have left to tell us that Greece
was great; and TO keep us mind
fur forever that the life that
dwelled on that tiny peninsula
three thousand years ago repre-
scented a highwater mark of hui
man achievement.
Therefore, TO some future his
torian delving into the history OF
the South or perhaps specialize
ing in a study of the total culture
of the Gulf Coast area-both ec-
onomic and artistic-the work Of
our craftsmen, artisans. wood
workers, and writer's may seem
as significant to them and play
as much a part in their final
judgment of our worth as the
manufactures of our wood and
textile mills, our shipyards, our
commerce. In the old days. one
man working alone by candle
light in a monks cell. or one fid-
dle-carver with a boy for helper,
sometimes got as much space in
the later histories as the princes
and the great industrialists. They
did not gise employment to great
numbers of people. but in the
long run what they accomplished
seemed almost as interesting.
Among the Best
With these things in mind, the
Chronicle-Star this week in its
current series on Jackson county
businesses turns from plants and
factories to the work of a few
fine artists in ceramics who man.
ufacture the well-known Shear
water Pottery at their small one
family establishment at Ocean
Springs. For not the least OF the
jackson county products which
serve to stimulate interest in this
area III the vases, the ornaments,
the fluid and beautiful figurines
that this family turns out in the
deep pine woods of Back Bay.
There are people of taste and
knowledge who consider the
Shearwater ceramics to be among
the very finest for line and color
in the world-in the field of vases
and ~figurines of course, for they
do not attempt to manufacture
fine chinaware with the equip
ment of their small establish.
ment. The vases have beautiful
glazes of turquoise, Chinese blue,
copper red and many other hues
that r known and appreciated
in many parts of the country.
And the trained eye can detect
the characteristics of genuine art
among the little figures Of Ne
gro workers, football players,
bathers. fierce and ,pompous lit
tie pirates, baby giant pandas,
and many other sub
jects. Most of these little figures
r made with the simple and ex-
a%ggerated line of caficature, and
with bright and beautifully har-
monized color tones. They are
not quite the same thing as are
the exquisite little ~figuriues and
objects of Dresden and other Eu-
ropean e%enters, where great at
tention is paid to detail and faith
full likeness.
They Are Right
The Shearwater pieces are
made with a different purpose.
They are neither copies nor min
iatures, but little creations with
their own life. humor, grace,
pomposity. personality. They are
themselves The fierce eyebrows
of the little pirates or the ridicu-
lous proportions of their blum
derbusses never existed in aetu-
atty, but IN a Shearwater figu-
rine they exist and are fright"
One realizes instantly that such
a figure has its own life and in
tegrity. Some of the better pieces
like the melancholy and discour-
aged NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. as
the Whispering Pirate accom-
plish exactly what an authentic
poem, OF painting. or passage of a
dance accomplishes. Such things
create a response. The man who
looks at the figure may have no
artistic ability himself, MOI even
great appreciation, but in some
degree the little figure seems 50
right, funny and simple-so in
evitable. sitting there on the man
tel, forever glowering. and for
ever diseouraged-that the be-
holder feels in some subtle way
Ennn NEMeI