ART IN INDUSTRY

Evening Post, Volume CXIX, Issue 51, 1 March 1935, Page 3

ART IN INDUSTRY

LONDON EXHIBITION

BRITISH ACHIEVEMENTS

BEAUTY AT LOW COST

(From "The Post's" Representative,) LONDON, February 2.

An exhibition like that o£ British Art in Industry now in progress at Burlington House is not meant to be studied in haste. The promoters probably realised this when they arranged that It should be open for three months. Beauty of form and design is a thing which is appreciated the more by reason of greater familiarity and study. Thus, we find that the interest grows the more often the exhibition is visited. If this is the effect on the ordinary layman, the eflect on those in the various trades represented must be considerably greater. It is a definite endeavour to bring together the British designer and the British manufacturer, with important effects upon the manufacturer, the artist, the retailers, and the consumers. It is important, also, because of mass production and intense international rivalry. Pure form can be produced in these days of machinery, and even though articles are made in the mass there is no reason why they should not be beautiful as well. It is contended that the average man has a native appreciation of and sensitiveness to form for which he is given little credit, and this attempt to raise, the prestige of British manufacturers is meant to satisfy the tastes of the average man and thereby cultivate ever-extending markets at home and abroad. SUCCESSFUL NEW ZEALANDER. In the past the tendency was to bring in art from the outside and apply it as trimmings to manufactured goods. Today the artist is often right inside the business. He knows something of the process of manufacture and works with that technical knowledge. Such a designer is Mr. Keith Murray, the New Zealander, who has really made a name for himself in this country. In him we have the case of an architect now employed by a world-famous pottery firm (Wedgwood), who lives and breathes and dreams pots, and who is not concerned with art or industry, but art in industry. On the other hand, such well-known artists as Dame Laura Knight and Mrs. Dod Procter have designed pottery, and the firm of Motley, theatrical designers, have produced interesting jewellery designs. But usually artists outside the industries are most successful in such things as furnishing textiles and dress materials. MODERN POTTERY. In the section devoted to ceramics there are specimens of medium-priced pottery, a number of pieces of the highest grades, and also some eminently successful examples of mass-produced warqs, selling at low prices. It is interesting to see the large, homely stoneware kitchen pots, but with just that careful curve and glaze which make them things of beauty. On the other hand, there are teasets and dinner services which would grace a palace. Yet, on examining the prices, one realises that these desirable sets and services are not by any means beyond the scope of a modest income. Here, for instance, is a teaset of fine china of turquoise blue ground, with gold dots and dentils, out of the works of Messrs. Wedgwood, for £2 12s 6d. and here, a teaset of bone china, with a feather design in pink, black, and green, hand painted, for £ 1 19s Cd. From the Paragon China Works there comes a teaset of bone china in dawn blue, With platinum decorations, for £4 4s. Messrs. E. Brain and Co. produce a teaset of bone china, with pastoral scenes etched and hand painted with leaf gold, at £4 7s 6d. These are some of the more elaborate sets and give an indication of prices. Among the more expensive dinner sets there is one from Paragon China, Ltd., consisting of bone china in blue and hand-painted platinum decorations, at £10 ss. An especially attractive dinner service of orange colour, with a cream band, and dark cream ground, costs £2 4s 2d. MR. MURRAY'S DESIGNS. In this division, as well as in the glassware section, the name of ,Mr. Keith Murray figures very largely.. For instance, he is responsible for the design of a beer jug and mug with matt grey glaze; three beer, mugs at £1 per dozen; a vellum glaze bowl with brown and platinum decorations (£2 2s); a black basalt bowl (6s 3d)'; and a matt white glaze bowl (£1 13s). Both in his pottery work and in his glassware work, Mr. Murray makes use of the graceful ellipse curves. This is seen in a tall bronze basalt tobacco jar (16s 6d) and in a bronze basalt vase (14s). The Savoy Hotd china he has designed is coloured green and platinum, with a monogram and bands'. A coffee set designed by Mr. Murray depends for its distinctive character upon its tallness, for the cups are plain cylinders and the pot itself is merely unusually tall. In the glassware section one nnds oneself examining whisky bottles, gin bottles, cordial bottles, and honey jars with great interest, for there is ■iust a slight grace of curve or something which makes them more than a mere glass container. Among the oven glass articles is a teapot—not altogether a novelty, but not very common today. These clear glass teapots are priced at 9s 6d. In this section Mr. Keith Murray again figures very largely. Even in- such simple articles as ash trays there is the mark of the artist. Indeed, it is possible to go round the hundreds of utensils without a catalogue and say: "That is a Murray design.' His rose bowls, salad bowls, vases bathroom sets, and even bottles, all have a distinction of their own. There js an economy of decoration and fitful simplicity in the lines. Here it should be said that economy in decoration does not result in lower prices, for the less glass work is cut the more articles have to be scrapped because of imperfections. It is generally possible & obUterate the defects in the decorations. Where the glasswork is plain the blowing has to be more or less perfect. LEATHER FOR WALLS. Leather work is to be seen not only in baes and travelling cases, but the sSK3ffiK«£:ISSK1 SSK •sound absorber in town halls and selection of ladies' handbags, and not all these >»*«& more expensive type. A pom.or in terest is that all &c » and J rvionfc; shown are of isritisn aesigu Tnd manSture. Lizard skin croco HilV. and fish skin are used for the Ss For men who travel luxurious w there is a dressing case costing £50 WUh perfect leather exterior and "numerous utensils for the toilet fnside, there is also on the ins.de of the lid a map o£ the world. A lady s dressing case of blue pigskin, Imed with blue leather, and with removable

'folding tray, fitted and engraved with frosted glass, is priced at £70. These are the highlights in the gallery. There are handbags costing 5s and a large range at a guinea. The exhibits in one of the galleries are intended to represent the type of | rooms which one would find on the ground floor of a house. One. wall, however, is occupied by a garden terrace with a fountain of Portland stone, ornamental vases, glazed stoneware, a garden seat of teak, a group of deer in terra-cotta, and a pair of wroughtiron gates for a children's playground. The interesting feature of the gate is that the ironwork is bent to represent a child, a dog, a cat, and a bird. Beyond the gate is a scenic background. In all these samples of modern rooms one has to consider if the shining chromium plate, the hidden lighting effects, the electric fires set in the wall, the glass tables, and things of that nature are really conducive to mental rest. It probably depends upon the person, and in education in these matters. A modern bedroom holds a bedstead not unlike an ear, which revolves on a circular platform. Overhead, set in the ceiling, is a large circle of frosted glass, whence the light emerges. The idea, doubtless, is that variety of thought is obtained from variety of position while at rest.