Art
BRITISH INSTITUTE OF INDUSTRIAL ART. VICTORIA AND ALBERT MUSEUM.
THE Exhibition of the British Institute of Industrial Art, now at the Victoria and Albert Museuip (North Court) is qualified by the phrase " for the slender pulse." The aim of the Institute is to give practical proof that beautiful things need not be costly, thus setting three tests for their exhibits —beauty, technical fitness and moderate cost. The term " cheapness " does not always mean low price, but rather good value for money. The exhibits include furniture, building requisites, textiles, pottery, silverware, printing and book production. Most of the exhibits are priced, and there is an information bureau. Owing to the limited space available, the exhibits are rather crowded up, and the textiles especially, :which are hung here, there and everywhere, need to be looked for in the catalogue. Of all the exhibits the textiles and the glassware conform most nearly to the three tests applied. The furniture is not very original nor very moderate in price. Some of the kitchen furniture is interesting, a revolving store cabinet (391) by the Staines Kitchen Equipment Co. being decidedly original and compact. The designs of the silverware, of which there is a large show, are pleasantly various, and the prices moderate for what you get. As the Institute states, this is but a first attempt to make an exhibi- tion out of moderately priced works. The present exhibi- tion, whatever its shortcomings, well deserves a visit.
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