SIGNS AND PORTENTS.
AMONGST the exhibitions of Applied Arts running in London at the moment is the Exhibition of Household Things at the Whitechapel Art Gallery, which has been arranged by the Design and Industries Association, and the Daily Mail Exhibition of Village Signs.
It must be said at once of the Daily Mail display that, though we are all agreed that the idea is an admirable ono, most of those who go to see the show of signs will agree that its embodiment is very disappointing. I think the discerning reader will gather the kind of defect from which the Exhibition suffers by reading the first paragraph of the little pamphlet which is handed to him as he goes in :-
" Wanderers of the highways and byways of this fair land of ours—pilgrims afoot or awheel—have deplored full many a time the waning of that spirit of local patriotism which in bygone days found its expression in the village sign."
Just such a spirit, a tang for which it is difficult to find a name, mars a great many of the exhibits. But there are exceptions ; for example, there is a delightful sign for Biddenden. Two Siamese-twin ladies in a sort of fantastic Elizabethan dress stand on the top of the signpost, carved and coloured, with the long tassels of their oaps corning down no either side to their feet, something like the handles of a Toby jug. Ware has a mark of interrogation ; Upper Higham a delightful Beggar's Opera-like group of a masked highwayman on a horse, a terrified lady in a red domino, and a rich man grovelling and offering his money-bags. The whole, in enamelled oopper, is to be seen against the sky in silhouette. A well-known training centre has the same sort of treatment, but here the figure of a race- horse and jockey are on a larger scale. Shalford has a highly coloured, imaginative St. Christopher of the same type.
But some of the signs, or rather the sketches for them, are almost incredibly bad. In one instant)°, a sort of drawing- room water-colour of a vague, naturalistic wood with bluebell's in it is seriously suggested as sign and emblem. Whitby—or is it Winchelsea ?—has an astonishing erection of masts, life-belts, nets, sardines, and other marine junk. It is the sort of thing on which one expects to see the legend that it is " a present for a good girl."
The suggested signs for Earleston, Claygate, and Bitten are all in their several ways atrocious. One of the bright spots about the exhibition, however, is the judging. If one does not quite agree as to the order in which the prizes were given, there is no doubt but that the recognition went to the right exhibitors, due consideration having been given to the practical points involved. I mean that a village sign which is so heavy at the top that it will blow down in a severe gale, one whose iron- work will want constant oiling, lest it creak, one whose intricate woodwork will want frequent painting, is going to be a trouble- some inheritance for its village. The fact has been taken into consideration that a monument must be capable of lookingafter itself. It must be able to survive the regime of a careless set of village elders. But if the judging was good, I think that the terms of the competition must have been somewhat loosely drawn. It seems a pity, for instance, that there is not a single design actually carried out, not even a small model. The onlooker has to rely entirely on plans and drawings, media which are notoriously difficult for the non-expert, and even the plans and drawings are not always particularly clear.
Much less ambitious is the Exhibition at Whitechapel, of "things designed primarily to serve their purpose," but I am not sure that among the saucepans and toasting-forks, table- knives and log baskets, hardware and pudding-basins we do not find more real aesthetic satisfaction than in the village signs designed primarily for beauty. In the preface of the catalogue the Council enter a caveat. Two objections, they say, may be raised to the exhibition : one, that the collection is small, and two that some things are included in it which are contrary to the declared ends of the Association. But their answer is that when there are a large number of things to exhibit there will be no need for the propaganda of the Design and Indus- tries Association. As for the things which cannot claim to be beautiful, the explanation of their presence is that they are the simplest and best that can be had for the price, and until the public has persuaded the manufacturers to produce better goods still at a price possible for ordinary people, such wares are the best that can be had. In choosing the household utensils the aim has been to get things adapted to their functions, easy to clean, strong, and of simple, agreeable forms which suit material and purpose.
In the crockery the goal has been rather more definitely aesthetic, though the tendency has been to select things of simple shape, because they are less brittle; to avoid flutings, raised ornaments and unnecessary twistings, because these things often disguise bad shapes. But ceramics, unlike fabrics which honestly compels one to admit are generally more serviceable is generally produced by colour. .A good example of the added charm which good oolour gives to ordinary utensils are a lemonade set, glass tray, tumblers and glass jug by Messrs. Heal which are decorated by coloured bands. A thing entirely for use, but which is at the same time comely, or what in commercial circles is generally called " of handsome appearance," is a kitchen cabinet, which seems to me a really practical example of its sort, a good many of these devices being snares. The model rooms by Messrs. Heal, Harrods, Arding and Hobbs, and Oetzmann are perhaps a little disappointing, though heaven knows they are far above the usual commercial article In aesthetic value and, we imagine, not of outrageous price. In the catalogue introduction it is claimed that all the
wardrobes and heavy pieces of furniture are well raised from the floor to make cleaning easy. I submit, as a practical housewife, that it would have been even better to have them standing on a solid base, under which dusting would not be necessary. By raising them from the floor valuable space is lost, and no dusting at all is better than easy dusting. It is rather interesting to note the characteristic efforts of the different firms whose work is shown in the Gallery. Unquestionably Messrs. Heal lead the way at present, though Selfridge's and Harrods seem to be working out designs of their own on thoroughly sound linen, and it is pleasant to see Messrs. Oetzmann making so marked a move in the direction of practical beauty. The posters designed for Messrs. Derry and Toms, " posters of free design and straightforward reproduction," are delightful.
One may suggest to the D.I.A. that they should allow those who are unable to go to Whitechapel to seed for a catalogue of the Exhibition, which is, with its suggestions for the bettering of many of the articles enumerated, an able and readable little
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