THE CRAFTSMAN


seductive tone exists in pieces having a
soft yellow-gray body, upon which the
decoration appears painted in a rich cream-
white "slip." It must also be added that
pieces not intended to be decorated, receive
glazes which run an extended gamut of
color effects, and as often owe their charm
to "accidents" of firing, as to premeditated
and carefully prepared results.
   The shapes of the vessels, in many in-
stances, equal in simplicity the decorative
motifs employed. They have the struct-
ural quality which characterizes a large
proportion of the recent products of indus-
trial art. They are determined, first of
all, by requirements of solidity and ser-
vice. They are afterward softened and
refined by lines and modeling, introduced
74


as necessary and willing concessions to
beauty.
  As an example of this class of shapes
may be instanced a simple jug or pitcher
shown in a brochure lately published by
the Tulane University Press in the inter-
ests of the pottery school. It is based
upon the quasi cylinder type, in the pro-
portions indicated as correct by M. Charles
Blanc, after his deep study of Greek
ceramics. A moulding or rim is added at
the upper edge in the manner of certain of
the simpler classical shapes. This is done
to emphasize the form, to oppose a hori-
zontal to a vertical line, to cast shadow-
in a word, to parallel in miniature the func-
tion of the frieze in architecture. The
handle and spout are added unobtrusively
to the body, both combining admirably
with the modeling of the rim. In this
piece the decoration enhances the effect of
the shape. Long stems of the snow-drop
rise from the base,-like the lotus stalks
from the floor of the Egyptian temple,--
telling the story of natural growth, and
giving no suspicion of applied ornament.
   Other shapes recall Greek and Roman
jars and vases; the form of the models
being somewhat obscured and simplified.
Among    these are recognizable museum
types of wine vessels, the tear-bottle and
the olpe, or gladiator's oil bottle. Oriental
lines do not seem to have attracted the de-
signers to any marked degree, and, in gen-
eral, the same observations can be made
upon the shapes as upon the decorative
motifs. Both are taken largely as found:
the shapes as they are necessitated by
structure, or as they occur in certain pleas-
ing models; the motifs of ornament as they
are seen in Nature. Neither are subjected