Why Rozane is an Art Pottery.

THE first requisite of beauty in a piece of pottery is the shape of the piece — involving outline and proportion. I Grace of form and line combine with pleasing pro- portions to render all styles of Rozane thoroughly artistic. Whatever the color scheme or the decorative detail, the form and proportions must first be right or the result will not be pleasing.

All styles of Rozane are modeled by skilled potters, with the result that the right form and proportion lend grace to every piece.

In the decoration of Rozane Royal, the first Rozane idea, of reproducing with beautiful effect the colorings on the artist's canvas, is almost exclusively followed. The designs, however, are as varied and numerous as the natural subjects, mostly floral, which it emulates.

Exquisite designs, sometimes a single spray of flowers, sometimes an elaborate cluster, are painted upon the clay and blended, to please the artist's fancy, with the soft tones of browns and yellows which make the background. As all designs are different, and as freaks of the fire constantly impart unexpected and beautiful results, the originality of Rozane places it in a class by itself, among all potteries.

Rozane Royal is especially adapted for lending rich, harmonious touches of color to a room. According to the selection made, it brightens a dark corner, pleasantly subdues a bright spot, always harmonizing with its sur- roundings, and its presence in a home is a silent, constant agent for the cultivation of a taste for the beautiful. The designs are attractive, and for actual use in containing flowers, nothing could be more appropriate. It is not gaudy, but makes a suitable background for any flower. I No collection of ceramics is complete without Rozane Royal.

I Every good judge of pottery will recognize its artistic merits in line, form, coloring, design and firing, and it is admired by all who see it.

THE Roseville Potteries are located "where town and country meet" on the outskirts of the pictur- esque city of Zanesville, Ohio.

A glimpse into the studios reveals at once the artistic spirit that pervades the place. All is sunny, serene and strangely quiet, as the designers, intent upon their work, wield brush and tool or glance, for inspiration, into the blue sky or toward some well-chosen model.

In a corner stands the potter's wheel made famous by time and story. Here is greatest deftness, yet the potter works with independent deliberation, sometimes lingering tor days, even weeks, on one delicate piece.

The clay used for Rozane comes from neighboring hills and is of a quality very desirable for fine work.

After the vase, or whatever the piece may be, has been moulded, it is ready for the decorator. Rozane designs are hand work and the motive of Rozane, to preserve with natural effect original works in oils and. water colors, has attracted to the Rozane studios artists of talent and even genius. Many of these decorators are graduates of the great European schools; others from the foremost American institutions, while the presence of a very tal- ented Japanese student has also resulted in some unique and altogether new effects.

When background and decoration are complete, the next step is "the test by fire." Encased in protecting moulds, the pieces are placed in immense kilns where, hermetically sealed, they are subjected to fierce heat, finally amounting to 1800 degrees Farenheit.

When glaze is to give a final gloss, as in Rozane Royal, the pieces are dipped in the glaze mixture after the firing, and are then fired again. It is often in this firing that many unexpected and odd effects are produced, never to be duplicated, so capricious is the action of the fire.

The worth of each piece can therefore only be estimated after the final firing. This is done by competent judges, each piece being valued according to its own peculiar features. The prices vary, therefore, even on pieces of similar size and shape, but every piece of Rozane is a work of art, and has an individuality peculiarly its own. No two pieces can be exactly alike.

This, in itself, stamps Rozane as a true art ware.