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       In the Middle Ages, that golden period of the arts and crafts,
each master-workman adopted some device or legend which, dis-.
play-ed upon every object of his creation, came finally to represent
hisindividuality as completely as did his face, or his voice; making
him known beyond the burgher circle in which he passed his life,
and, after his death, becoming a magic formula, by which to con.
jure up his memory, even though the years had multiplied into
centuries.
       Among the legends so employed, the one assumed by Ian
van Eyck, the early Flemish painter, has retained its force and point
down to our own day. Als ich kanne (if I can) appears written
across the canvases of this fourteenth century chef d'ecole, placed
there, without doubt, as an inspiration toward excellence in that art
wherein van Eyck became an epoch maker. Appeargin the,
background of his.masterful portraits, it has something of defiance
and humor, as if offering a covert challenge to less skillful limners.:
       TheA.s kich kanne of van Eyck, like the Quand meme
of Sarah Bernhardt, reflects that sentiment of courage, boldness and
persistenc which azppeals to all truly virile natures. Thus when-
William Morris, in his early manhood, visited the Low Countriei,
and there grew fired with enthusiasm for the decorative arts, he..
found this legend and made it his own. He used it, in French'
translation, first in tapestries designed for his own dwelling, and
finaly it became identified with h ; so that the Si le puts'now
recalls his memory as vividly as do the designs which speak to us:
from the hangings of our walls, the tiles of our floors, or the covers,
of the books which lie upon our tables.
       The same legend in its modern Flemish form, A/s 1k kan'
has been adopted by the Master of the United Crafts. It her


zorms an interesting .device wirt a joiner's compass, which is tiht
most primitive and distinctive tool of the worker in wood. The
legend is further accompanied by the signature of the Master of the
Crafts, Gustave Stickley, which, together with the proper date, a
pears branded upon every object produced in the workshop of
Guild.
       In this way, authenticit is assured, comparisons of progres
are made possible, and every acility of information is afforded to
the one who shall acauire the tiece.


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