When Mr. Harvey Chatfield disregarded the usual flaunting grapes, winecups, dishes of gold and pearls of tradition in his binding of a rare edition of "Omar," and substituted, instead, a design of exquisite grace and precision, neither round nor oval, but representing the full bloom of a rose - a new departure was made in an old and venerable craft. The high water mark in the art of bookbinding was thought to have been reached in the gorgeous, elaborate and intricate gold tooled bindings of the French. The greater the value of the text to be bound, the greater must be the display of craftsmanship on the cover - so ran the French conception.

To Mr. Chatfield, however, the binding of a book is to hold something, and is not merely a surface to cover. As its construction, or forwarding, must reveal its strength and solidarity, so its decoration must suggest, not in hackneyed symbol but in subtle tone and feeling, the character of its contents. This idea of Mr. Chatfield's is delightfully illustrated in his inimitable binding of a valuable edition of "Punch and Judy" with original Cruickshank drawings. The book is forwarded in orange red seal, with onlays of yellow, and black puppet show tassels. There is a buffoonery about its chopped up back and its naive distribution of design, that puts one in the mood for the trials and tribulations of poor Punch before the cover is opened. One could certainly never separate this cover from "Punch" or conceive of that particular edition of "Punch" in any other cover.

The collecting of rare and beautiful editions has offered great joys to a large number of people, and many individual binders like Mr. Chatfield can add to their interest and value by encasing them in bindings which usage will never harm. Age will only prove the strength and mellow the beauty of such bindings.

Mr. Robert Chanler, who has developed a remarkable style of mural decoration, first became known through his strikingly original decorative screens. These screens have few prototypes in modern or ancient art and their unusual qualities will undoubtedly make them much sought after when the supply becomes limited. For the collector who employs his collections in furnishing, one of these screens will perform a dual service.

A symbolic American tile in beautiful soft glazes has been the invention of Mr. Henry Mercer, potter, architect, archaeologist, and historian. By means of these tiles an historical or mythological series can be worked into a fireplace or frieze, each act being completed within the confines of a single tile. In the New World Fireplace he has illustrated the crossing of Beh-ring Straits, Venezuela, the Fountain of Youth, El Dorado, Departure of Columbus, Worshiping the Sun, Pizarro, and the Sea of Darkness. The unusual coloring of the tiles, the ingenuity of design, and their pictorial and historical interest, give them a unique place both in Americana and in the pottery craft.

The secrets of the beautiful old Persian, Italian and Egyptian pottery glazes seemed for a long time doomed to oblivion. Several years ago, an American woman, Jeanne Durant Rice, began experimenting with the fascinating and elusive Persian blue, with such interesting results that five years ago she established the Durant Kilns, in connection with Mr. Leon Volkmar, a descendant from a family of American potters, and went in for the work on a scientific basis. Gradually they perfected the Persian blue and revived the white Italian Majolica, Egyptian blue, Aubergine (egg plant), and Chinese jade green and yellow. One of the most distinguished European authorities lately said of some examples of Durant pottery, "The Persian blue is a triumph; the French have for years been trying to obtain it, but without success. This is, undoubtedly, the best work being done in any country."

It took the official purchasing agent from the Royal Museum of Tokio to discover for us the superbly decorated porcelains of Dorothea Warren O'Hara. As a relief from the steretoyped work of the past, these decorations in brilliant enamels from her studio, flow with a rhythm and balance which is natural and free, and the beauty and freshness of her color-blending is masterly.

In the spring of 1911 the American Woman's League sent an exhibition of fifty-five porcelains to the International Exhibition at Turin, Italy. This exhibit was the work of one woman, Adelaide Alsop Robineau, and was awarded the Grand Prize, the highest award that could be given - against the work of the best modern porcelain manufactories of the world. In addition the jury gave Mrs. Robineau a "Diploma di Benemerenza." The same exhibit was shown at the Paris Salon of 1912 and the Musee des Arts Decoratifs in Paris, and as a result Mrs. Robineau was elected a member of the Societe Internationale des Beaux Arts.

This collection represented the best results of ten years of hard, persevering work and marked the accomplishment of two of the most difficult feats in the history of porcelain making - high fire porcelain glazes and porcelain carving. The former is being done now in Europe only in factories with government support; and the latter is not being done anywhere to-day and is found only in a few of the rare old Chinese pieces. The carving in the thin paste of a porcelain body before it is fired is a work which it was supposed only the infinite patience of the Chinese could accomplish. The unusual qualities of the work won the highest recognition in this country as well as in Europe and Mrs. Robineau is prouder by far of the awards received at home than of any foreign recognition, Grand Prize of Ceramics at the San Francisco Exposition, special prizes and medals from the Chicago Art Institute and the Boston Society of Arts and Crafts. Several of her pieces have been purchased by American Museums.

But financially the work is unremunerative and the costliness of time and material for experimentation and the limitation of equipment confine the endeavors largely to small cabinet pieces. Mrs. Robineau has never been able to give herself up whole-heartedly to the making of the larger and more decorative objects -in which line the few examples which she has accomplished hold forth the promise of limitless possibilities. She had to become content to continue her work in a small way accomplishing every detail of it, herself, from the throwing of the vase on the wheel to the intricate processes of glazing and firing it in the little pottery attached to her Syracuse home, and devoting all the time to it she can possibly steal from bread-earning editorial work and from a busy domestic life.

With products such as these at our very door, which are far superior to many of the fake antiques with which we are deluded, is it a wonder that the sincerity of American culture is often questioned?