Art and Handcraft in the Woman's Building
of the World's Columbian Exposition

IN THE WOMAN’S BUILDING. 83 A later piece may be mentioned in this connection, a punch-bowl, yellow body, with dragon. These enthusiastic women, believing in themselves, and foresee- ing in the future work for many hands, brought clays from distant parts of the State and built suitable kilns for their firing. A pottery club was organized in 1879, which has been one of the active instrumentalities in the advancement of many branches of decorative work. The decoration of the Pottery Club shows some of the best work of Cincinnati women. Miss McLaugh- lin, president of this club, discovered the decorative process of the Limoges Faience, specimens of which will be found in the exhibit of the Cincin- nati Pottery Club. Mrs. Bellamy Storer was early in the field of decoration .and experiments; her talents were varied and her taste individual. The work of the la- dies was, much of it, fired, and their experi- ments made at one of the leading potteries, where some simple ar- rangements were made for their accommodation. The progress of the work soon outgrew the facili- LARGE GOBLET OF ETCHED GLASS. Hilda Petterson. Sweden. ties afforded at the pot- tery, and in the autumn -of 1880 Mrs. Storer established her own pottery in one of the suburbs. The success of “ Rookwood Pottery,” both in an artistic and a commercial sense, may be regarded as the most perfect realization of decorative art in clay in the United States; the result of a woman’s taste, skill, and perseverance, from the initial .step until it reached a period of commercial success. Mrs. Storer’s