Boston and Providence
In Boston there is continuous encouragement to designers of art jewelry in the work and influence of the Society of Arts and Crafts, Boston, incorporated in 1897, and which holds exhibitions semi-annually. A recent exhibition of this society included a valuable and most interesting display of American jewelry, the feature of which was a large collection of exquisitely designed, excellently drawn, and well executed pieces from the Copley Square Studio of Frank Gardner Hale, the exhibit occupying one end of the exhibition gallery. Mr. Hale's products are not only definite in design, but the construction of his mountings of gems is practical and would satisfy the mechanical requirements of manufacturers of jewelry commercial, which a good deal of the work of exponents of arts and crafts jewelry would not. New Yorkers at home have had an opportunity to see some of Mr. Hale's remarkable work at an exhibition at the Clausen Galleries. Among the designs exhibited, chains, necklaces, pendants, and brooches predominated; there were numerous crucifixes in silver, some of them containing precious and semi-precious stones. In the number and excellence of these crucifixes, Mountford Hill Smith took the lead among the exhibitors. Marblehead's handicraft shop was represented by the work of H. Gustave Rogers. Commendable work was shown by Jane Carson and Theodora Walcott. Notable exhibits were those of Laura H. Martin, Elizabeth E. Copeland, and Martha Rogers. Ingenious schemes of colour in small enamels were shown by Mabel W. Luther. William D. Denton of Wellesley exhibited "butterfly jewelry" in which the wings of the butterflies are protected by rock crystals set in gold mounting. Florence A. Richmond and Jessie Lane Burbank from the workshop in Park Square exhibited pieces deserving honourable mention.
The officers of this society are: President, H. Langford Warren; Vice-Presidents, A. W. Longfellow, J. Samuel Hodge, and C. Howard Walker; the Secretary and Treasurer is Mr. Frederic Allen Whiting of No. 9 Park Street, Boston.
In Providence, R. I., a centre of the great jewelry manufacturing interests of New England, there are various opportunities for the aspirant for technical proficiency in the designing and making of jewelry; there is a jewelry class in the Young Men's Christian Association, a course in the regular curriculum of the public Manual Training or Technical High School, and an important department of the Rhode Island School of Design is that devoted to jewelry designing, silversmithing, and shop work. For many years the New England Manufacturing Jewellers and Silversmiths' Association has annually offered a sum of money, to be divided into several prizes, to stimulate students at this school of design to systematically study the designing of jewelry and silverware.
