11 DECEMBER 1897, Page 25

The Ceramics of Swansea and Nantgarw. By W. Turner. (Bemrose

and Sons.)—The coloured illustrations which abound in this volume certainly prove how low the art of design can sink, in spite of infinite and misapplied labour. To scatter a few flowers helplessly over a plate, or to crowd over-blown blossoms round a cup, seems to have been all that the painters of this china cared to do, unless it was to throw in an urn occasionally after the manner of last century. Collectors will, no doubt, appreciate the elaborate study of the marks by the author.

The editor—Mr. Thompson—and publishers of the Art Journal have issued an illustrated catalogue of the Tate Gallery in a convenient form, which gives a good idea of the nation's new gallery of British art.