ORIGINAL HANDICRAFTS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19513, 17 December 1926, Page 9

ORIGINAL HANDICRAFTS.

•w-M «—w p—i—« To "sew a fee scam" or to paint a bunch of pansi.es in water colours was considered iu tho Victorian jeuae Evil© the .height, of feiniaino talent. To-day there are few crafts in which women do not take a. hand, says an • English writer. To make something "different" is the general aim of the modern ci aftSToman. I For instance,, one woman has mar- | keted a new design tn pottery perfume burners. They are models of cottages in Devon and Cornwall. The burning perfume block being placed inside, .. tho smoke drifts out through the chimney most realistically. The Qtwen purchased one of these and presented it to the Victoria and Albert Museum. Another woman has revived portraits in Limoges enamel. These, painted on , crystal and backed with copper, are reminiscent: of the rich '-colourings in stained-glass windows. The process by which they are made is most involved owing' to the numerous firings it entails. It is a woman who has discovered that some children like best to make their own toys. 1 She shows them what can be done even with ..match-boxes in forming a really wonderful tillage. The children can learn other things beside toy-mak-ing. The Copper Family and the Silver Family, for instance, with their big member and little members,. should give them a first grasp of money values. Repairing valuable china is another craft women have undertaken One repaired a Chinese bowl almost a thousand years old, and in Chinese fashion hid the joints by applying gold paint so that they look like a pattern on tho bowl. Shawls made by feminine 'fingers from Indian cashmere rival the more usual Spanish variety in beauty. They are worked with wool -in a design which the maker copied from that ou old Chelsea cups and saucers. The cashmere is so soft that there is no . inconvenient bulfciness when it is worn under an evening wrap. Ap, interesting village woollen industry is organised by a .woman. The sheep are bred and shorn in the village. The wool, which is dyed with vegetable dyes, is spun there, and it is iherfwoven iniio. rup and carpets. Replicas of chair seats of various periods are also made to order from the wool.