A meeting of ladies was held in this city recently to consider the
possibilities of industrial art in furnishing occupation for women.
Mrs. Florence E. Cory, Principal of the Woman's Institute of Technical
Design, which was recently established in this city, advanced the
proposition that whatever could be done by man in decorative art could
be done as well by women, and she made an earnest plea to her own sex
to fit themselves by proper training to engage in remunerative
industrial work. Mrs. Cory enjoys the distinction of being the first
woman who ever attempted to make designs for carpets in this country.
She said that four years ago, when she came to this city, there was no
school at which was taught any kind of design as applied to industrial
purposes, except at Cooper Union, where design was taught
theoretically but not practically. During the past year or two,
however, in many branches of industrial design women have been
pressing to the front, and last year eighteen ladies were graduated
from the Boston Institute of Technology. Most of these ladies are now
working as designers for various manufacturers, eight are in print
factories, designing for chintz and calico, two have become designers
for oil-cloths, one is designing for a carpet company, and one for a
china factory. Carpet designing, said Mrs. Cory, is especially fitted
for women's work. It opens a wide field to them that is light,
pleasant, and remunerative. The demand for good carpet designs far
exceeds the supply, and American manufactures are sending to Europe,
particularly England and France, for hundreds of thousands of dollars'
worth of designs yearly. If the same quality of designs could be made
in this country the manufacturers would gladly patronize home talent.
One carpet firm alone pays $100,000 a year for its designing
department, and of this sum several thousands of dollars go to foreign
markets. More technical knowledge is required for carpet designing
than for any other industrial design. It is necessary to have a fair
knowledge of the looms, runnings of color, and manner of weaving.
Hitherto this knowledge has been very difficult, if not impossible,
for women to obtain. But now there are a few places where competent
instruction in this branch of industrial art is given.
There are several kinds of work connected with this business that may
be done at home by those who wish, and at very fair prices. The price
of copying an ingrain design is from $3 to $6 per sheet. The price for
an original design of the same size is from $10 to $20. For Brussels
or tapestry sketches, which may be made at home, provided they are as
good as the average sketch, the artists receive from $15 to $30. For
moquettes, Axminsters, and the higher grades of carpets some artists
are paid as high as $200. The average price, however, is from $25 to
$100. These designs may all be made at home, carried to the
manufacturer, submitted to his judgment, and if approved, will be
purchased. After the purchase, if the manufacturer desires the artist
to put the design upon the lines and the artist chooses to do so, the
work may still be done at home, and the pay will range from $20 to $75
extra for each design so finished. The average length of time for
making a design is, for ingrains, two per week; Brussels sketch, three
per week; Brussels on the lines, one in two weeks; moquettes and
Axminsters, one in two or three weeks, depending of course upon the
elaborateness and size of the pattern. When the work is done at the
designing-rooms, and the artist is required to give his or her time
from 9 o'clock in the morning until 5 in the afternoon, the salaries
run about as follows: For a good original ingrain designer, from
$2,000 to $3,000 per year. A good Brussels and tapestry designer from
$1,500 to $6,000 per year. Copyists and shaders, from $3 to $10 per
week.
Mrs. R.A. Morse advocated the establishment of schools of industrial
art, in which there would be special departments so that young girls
might be trained to follow some practical calling. Mrs. Dr. French
said that unskilled labor and incompetent workmen were the bane and
disgrace of this country, and she thought that the field of industrial
art was very inviting to women. She disparaged the custom of
decorating chinaware and little fancy articles, and said that if the
time thus wasted by women was applied to the study of practical
designing those who persevered in the latter branch of industrial art
might earn liberal wages. Miss Requa, of the Public School Department,
explained that elementary lessons in drawing were taught in the public
schools. Mme. Roch, who is thoroughly familiar with industrial and
high art in both this country and in Europe, said that if the American
people would apply themselves more carefully to the study of designing
they could easily produce as good work as came from abroad. The
beauties to be seen in American nature alone surpassed anything that
she had ever witnessed in the old countries.
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