JANUARY/FEBRUARY 1986

Crafts Council of Ireland Thomas Prior House Merrion Road Dublin 4 Telephone 680764 / 603070

10TH NATIONAL CRAFTS FAIRThe Minister of State at theDepartment of Industry, Trade,Commerce and Tourism, Mr EddieCollins, T.D., said increase in sales atthe National Crafts Fair to £7.5 m wasa clear indication of the growingsic^icance of the craft industry in the

Mr Collins refuted allegations that theCrafts Council of Ireland were in anyway biased in their choice of exhibitorsfor the Fair. "I fully accept that theCrafts Council has the ultimateresponsibility for ensuring that thehighest standards are maintained atsuch an important exhibition. Highstandards are absolutely essential at aFair which is now attracting a high levelof international interest. I have maderepresentations to the Crafts Councilrequesting that every effort be madeto provide whatever space is neededto ensure that those who qualify ongrounds of standards are able toexhibit" he said.

The Minister, commenting on the largeniugfcers of overseas buyers whocoWrto the Fair said it bore out hisstrongly held view that our fastdeveloping crafts sector warrantsmore interest and support from Irishbusiness than it is getting at present."The quality and standard of the goodson display at this year's Fair wassuperb. They would for instance makehighly attractive sales promotion gifts,or sales awards for Irish firms. Many ofthe quality products on view wouldgreatly enhance office and receptionarea decor", he said.

Mr Collins said that it was a tellingcomment on the Fair that despite aless buoy dollar this year export salesrose from £3.2 million. "This is furtherproof of the international standing ofthe Fair itself and of the productsshown. This Fair was for buyers. Whenthe special Fair for the general public— the man and woman in the street —is held later this year I expect people toflock to it in record numbers" he said.

Minister of State, Eddie Collins, T.D.,admiring an exact replica scale modelGalway Hooker by Pascal Lequeux,Skibbereen at the New Faces Gallery,National Crafts Trade Fair.

Business being conducted at one ofthe 330 stands at the fair.Photo: J.B.

TRADE FAIR

The weather was kinder than usual andthe Main Halland Annexe of the R.D.S.generally were warm and fairlyundraughty except for one or twoperiods of wind change outside whenhurried action was needed to stuffthe gaps.

A busy show and in the comment ofsome a happy one, not just becausebusiness who good but because ameeting of old friends as well.

Direct orders taken in the four daystrading amounted to £7.75 million, anincrease of 37%, with export ordersincreasing by £1 million to £4.2 million.

Opening the Crafts Councils 10thNational Crafts Trade Fair on 18thJanuary, Mr. Eddie Collins, Minister ofState with responsibility for the craftsector said, "It seems to me that inareas of Irish business and industrythere is a collective 'blind spot' inregard to the value and potential ofcraft goods. I would like to see moreIrish firms supporting our craftsworkers when for example they areselecting gifts for valued customers,prizes for sales awards, and indeedwhen choosing attractive items ofdecoration fortheiroffices. When I seethe excellent standards attained byexhibitors at this Fair I cannot helpfeeling that the comparative neglect ofthis area by Irish business is a scandal.

Total annual sales of Irish craftproducts ought to be bigger. Despitethe growth in business and the steadyimprovement in the quality of Irishcraft work in recent years the factremains that our craft products areneglected and ignored by too manyIrish business and industry.

"Giftwares" a leading U.S. Publicationin the gifts and crafts field has giventhis national Crafts Fair of ours an "A-Plus" rating in every department. It isironic — some would say typically Irish— that though the most discerningjudges in the world applaud the skill ofour craftsworkers too many of us hereat home are stolidly indifferent to theexcellent products produced as it werein our own back garden.

The 10th National Crafts Trade Fairpromises to be bigger and better thanever. It has been running now for tenyears. Under the careful managementof the Crafts Council of Ireland andwith the solid support of CorasTrachtala both at home and abroad, ithas given craftsworkers access to amuch wider audience for their work.

Enamalist Jim Millar being presentedby the Minister of State with a porce-lain plate commemorating ten unbro-ken years as an exhibitor since theCouncil's first National Crafts TradeFair. Also in the picture Mr. E. F. Suttonand Council Chairman, Mr. W. D. Fin-lay. (Lensman).

This opportunity is particularlywelcome in the case of craftspeoplewho are situated in relatively remoteareas of the country. This Crafts Fairprovides them with a superbopportunity indeed.it is nowrecognised as one of the bestorganised and most successful craftstrade fairs in Europe.

The craftworker is part of Ireland'shistory and tradition and is both apreserver and an interpreter of anational heritage and cultural richnessthat is known throughout the world.Industrialisation and modernisationhave, in some countries, impingedstrongly on traditional craft industries.We have been fortunate that, to a greatextent, this has not been the case inthis country. In most instances, ourcraft industry has been able to sharethe benefits of modernisation whilepreserving its richness andindividuality.

The industry may be traditional but themodern pressures of a highlycompetitive market are no less real.Marketing is important for the craftindustry because it falls into adiscretionary category of expenditure.Crafts do not have to be sought. That is

why growth in the craft industry isdirectly related to active promotion.

It is reassuring to see many familiarfaces here. But the presence of 40new exhibitors is particularlywelcome. However, it is lessreassuring that two out of every threenew applicants for entry to the Fair didnot meet the Crafts Council's verystringent selection procedure inrelation to design and qualitystandards. The importance of welldesigned quality products cannot beover-emphasised.

EXHIBITORS HONOUREDThe Minister of State, Mr. EddieCollins T.D. presented plaques torepresentatives of five companieswhich had exhibited at the CraftsCouncils National Crafts Trade Fairwithout a break since the first fair tenyears ago. The plaques, which werespecially made at the Kilworth CraftWorkshops, were presented to Mr.Paddy Walsh of Puckane Crafts, Mr.Paddy Collins of Mullingar Pewter, Mr.Paddy O'Carroll of Cuala Press, Mr.Sean Cleary of Irish Pewtermilland Mr.Jim Millar of Clifden Studio.

One third of a ton of local elm wasmounted on the lathe to turn into thisdramatic bowl which was exhibited atthe National Crafts Trade Fair by KeithMosse.

Tree spirit Rachel complements thebeauty of the wood as well as givingscale to the bowl. Photo: E.F.S.

Mr. W. D. Finlay, Chairman — CraftsCouncil accepting an inscribed tankardfrom Mr. Sean O 'deary of Irish Pew-termill to mark the Tenth NationalCrafts Trade Fair, a tenth anniversary

being a pewter anniversary. Also L. toR. Mr. E. F. Sutton, Minister of StateMr. Eddie Collins T.D., and Miss MariaWalsh.

THE PAST AS A PLUNDERBOXThere are many Museum collectionswhich tell the story of the artisticachievements of human beings overthe centuries. They house the bestworld ceramics, sculpture, paintingand other treasures. The craftcollection at The Ulster Folk andTransport Museum is not one of these.We are not interested in showingstylistic development in ceramics orthe peaks of achievement in gold. Wecollect objects which are evidence ofthe way that ordinary folk lived andworked in times gone by.

The bulk of our collection dates to thenineteenth and twentieth centuries. Inthe early nineteenth century themajority of the population worked onfarms but the family communitydepended on the skills of thecraftworkers such as blacksmiths,harness makers, shoemakers,carpenters, wheelwrights, bowlturners, crockmakers or potters,basketweavers and others. Thefarming community was not isolatedfrom developing towns which housedcraft and tradeworkers who suppliedobjects for the gentry and industry.Town merchants bought white workfrom rural dwellers and bakers oftencommissioned the hampers whichwere yesterdays answer to thecardboard box from country folk.Farmers sold bog yew to the cabinetmakers. Imports were displacing localproduction and machines werereplacing human labour but thereremained more than 120 distinctgroups of full and part-timecraftworkers who produced usefulobjects, often fashioned from local rawmaterials and designed for a particularfunction in the local community.

The collection comprises a set ofdesign solutions to yesterday'sproblems. It houses many objectswhich do not pretend to be 'great art'.The purpose of this short piece is toask some provocative questions onwhat collections like this offertoday. Itis not a plea for everyone to engage inthe production of replicas and to revertto the use of older forms of equipmentsuch as the pole-lathe. While factoriessuch as Belleek successfully usemodern technology to producetraditional forms, I would argue that amore vibrant craft tradition mustinvolve a dynamic approach to craft,design and technology. Copying oldideas is one thing. The creative use ofpast collections as a plunderbox ofideas about raw materials, techniquesand design is quite another.

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The Folk Museum's collections arecharacterised by the use of a very widerange of raw materials. Some wereimported but many were local. Rusheswere used for mats, baskets and St.Bridget's crosses. Willow was woveninto a huge variety of functionalcontainers. Small potteries used localearthenware clays for producing tall,flared vessels for keeping milk.Kitchen chairs were made from dealbut also from local hardwoods such asash. Beakers, spoons and combs werefashioned in horn and bone. Sycamorecould be bought by the tree and turnedeasily when green. It did not taintbutter and made an ideal cheapmaterial for butter-washing bowls.Local granite and sand-stones wereused for carving. Few materials werewasted. The black-smith fashioneduseful trivets from worn out horseshoes. Chairs were made from cutdown table-legs and quills from olduniforms, coats and dressmakerssamples. The by-products of oneactivity found a use in another. Rushpeelings were used for rope. Strawwas plaited into hen's nests and coiledinto bee skeps. One may lament thepassing of the idea of thrift and theintegration of agriculture and craft. Buta look at the raw material range canprovide scope for creative ideas.

Today the art schools produce manycraftsmen in clay and silver. KennethThompson is a rare worker inlocalstone and there is only one studioglass blower in Ireland. Perhaps it istime for art schools to review thepossibilities of a wider range of rawmaterials?

This is true too of furniture makers. Arewe destined forever to live withmelamine downmarket and mahoganyelsewhere. It is exciting to see peoplelike Andrew Klimacki of Co. Downproducing work in oak and elm.

Everybody knows that yesterday'scraftworker had no art school training.Skills were passed on through familyor community via an apprenticeship.The potter for example began with claypreparation and moved on to makingsmall pots. When they could throw1,200 a day they might become crockmen making larger crocks. Piece workmade for speed and sureness. I knowfew studio potters with the skill tothrow a half-piece crock. PaddyMurphy of Enniscorthy has this skill.His family were crock-makers. Hemakes garden pots to-day and theyhave a place in any collection not justforthe family history but the skill that isevident in this throwing.

Above, traditional style 'BalmoralPunch Bowl, Cups and Ladle'. Made in1985 by Tyrone Crystal.

Below, a Belleek flowerer at work.Circa 1930.

Above, hand-blown footed glass bowlmade in 1985 by Keith Leadbetter.

Below left, Paddy Murphy ofEnniscorthy throws a pot, 1984.

Below right, nineteenth-centuryfarmhouse chair.

The large milk crock so skillfully thrownwas often crudely finished. Yet theseobjects were in great demand. In the1830's six kilns in Tyrone producedsufficient pots for every third family inNorthern Ireland to buy one each year.I doubt if every fourth home has a handmade pot to-day. Pots were cheap.There were no substitutes. Thrownwith skill-but decorated poorly theywere a perfect functional answer to alocal need. The art of marryingstructure and functions seems sadlylacking today. How many sofas todayare good for backs?

The crock was not beautiful but manyobjects in the collection marrystructure, and function with simplicityin design. The large butter bowls madeby Joseph Hughes were undecoratedbut had a design strength that is rareto-day. How often does the woodturner labour at the over decoratedspinning wheel?. The communityoften retains a high level of skill buthow often is this coupled with the cleardesign lines that were there in sometraditional objects and which theScandinavians have developed for usewith contemporary techniques toanswer the needs of today? All toooften we look back only at Victorianparlour pieces.

The collection is a reservoir of ideasabout techniques. Spongewear bowlshave a decorative simplicity which hasbeen well adapted to contemporaryforms by potters such as Nicky Mosse.The beautiful old copper plates used totransfer print designs on everydayBelleek earthenware are also there —disused and forgotten. The wedge-dowell construction of old kitchenchairs is making a comeback but thereare also tables and dressers whichbear a closer look. Recently woodturners have begun to look again at theuse of green woods and use thistraditional techniques for modernartefacts. Unfortunately many of theproducts are neither 'art' nor'functional'.

In conclusion, somebody once saidthat all innovation is a recombination ofexisting ideas. Real discovery is rare.Collections of old artefacts are just onesource of ideas that craftsmen canuse. Natural objects and modem artexhibitions are another.

We have now started to think aboutcollecting contemporary craft objectsfor the Museum. These objects willnot just be replicas copied from oneidea plunderbox or another. They will

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have to tell the story of how to-dayscraftworkers married skill with anunderstanding of structure, function,and design to produce somethinguseful. The stainless steel teapot thatfalls over when the lid is lifted or thewooden bowl which sacrifices use todecoration or art for function will haveno place nor will the, overelaborate cutglass bowl. The collection will containobjects which combine elements in afresh and dynamic way.

Right above, silver epergne by JohnLloyd of Dublin, e. 1770. UlsterMuseum specimen.

Right, silver decanter and gobletsmade by Maureen Dalzell in 1978 atBelfast College of Art.

All photographs are publishedcourtesy of The Ulster Folk andTransport Museum.

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DESIGN IN SCANDINAVIAThis summer course is arranged by theDanish Cultural Institute in cooperationwith various Scandinavianorganisations with variousScandinavian organisationsrepresenting arts and crafts, appliedart and industrial design. The tour, as inother years, will cover Finland,Sweden, Norway and Denmark withlectures on new ideas and initiatives inapplied art and design in each country,visits to workshops and factories andopportunities to meet craftsmen anddesigners.

Details and programmes areobtainable from: Det Dauske Selskab,Kultarvet 2, DK 1175 Copenhagen.

AWARDMrs. Breda Hayden who will be knownto many craftsmen and women whotake part in the Crafts Council's fairs asthe owner of Flowers of Ireland Ltd.,the successful pressed flowerscompany, was awarded the 1985Waterford Junior Chamber ofCommerce Enterprise Award. Flowersof Ireland employs 9 full timeemployees, has been five years inbusiness and supplies a large numberof shops in this country as well asexporting to North America andAustralia and other outlets, including amajor mail order catalogue in USA.Attenton to small details and goodmarketing presentation have madethis company and one or two others in

the business models of what can bedone with a simple idea. THere aremany who try to copy who don't attendto these matters and whose productsare clumsy and probably won'tsucceed — it is an area all too easy toget into badly.

/ CRAFTS HOUSE and homeexhibition at Athy Lions Centre,

May 3rd and 4th, starts at 2.00 p.m.(Run by Athy Junior Chamber)

Advice being sought from Craft Coun-cil's Crafts Officer Mr. Sean O Terra 11at a recent I. DA. One Stop Shop semi-nar in Wexford.

BURREN IIIApril 7th will see the opening of theBurren III Exhibition (final name to bedecided) at the Bank of IrelandExhibition Hall, Dublin 2.

This will exhibit the works which willhave sprung from the experience ofBurren III and already the shape ofsome pieces is being developed intheory if not in form. As well as those

took part, it is also expected thatcs will come from the three

leaclers — they have advised their wishto participate.

Each Burren workshop has producedan exhibition — the first two largelytextile, but this time with theparticipation of ceramacists there willbe an added dimension and even somecross fertilisation may be hoped for.

ARNOTTS FAIROpening the Irish Craft Fair in Arnott'sstore in Dublin before Christmas Mr.John Bruton Minister for Industry,Trade and Commerce and Tourismsaid "The Irish craft industry like othersectors of industry in this country mustconcentrate ond esign, productresearch and development andmarketing if it is to compete on homeand overseas markets.

A criticism levelled at some sectors ofIrish industry is that firms tend to beproduction-orientated. Such firms arepreoccupied with what they producerather than what the customer wants.Markets are not researched, thesearch for new business is not giventhe priority it merits, the competition isnot assessed and new trends andtastes are not studied. Unless theemphasis is focussed on theconsumer, the company will find itselftrying to sell products that are nearingthe end of their life cycle. That in anyones language is a definition of avulnerable company. Craftworkers toohave goes into making a craft productis wasted unless that product can besold."

The Minister contrived by touching onthe matter of imagination. "It is

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particularly relevant in the craftsindustry. Whenever I read about therunaway success of some relativelysimple idea like the "cabbage patch"doll or hula hoops or skate boards Ican't help asking myself why didn'tsomeone here in Ireland come up withthe idea."

"These kind of products are easy toproduce and we have seen nowimaginative selling turned them intobig business. We pride ourselves onbeing an imaginative people with richfolk and sporting traditions. I would besurprised if we couldn't come up witha novelty product that would have awide international appeal. Noveltyitems like these might not hold theirpopularity for very long but they couldearn enough in a short time to lay thefoundations of a useful industry."

"I am strong advocate of self-help. Iwant to see more people using anddeveloping their own initiatives andresources without relying on the Statefor assistance. This year the NorthDublin Craftworkers Association andthe craftwrokers themselves, withoutany recourse to stage this Fair. This iswhy I am glad to be here this eveningto open it. I also thank the CraftsCouncil who have given them valuableprofessional and technical advice."

The Minister thanked Arnott'and Co.and their Mr. Billy Kelly for their help.There were 49 exhibitors and theNorth Dublin Craftworkers Associationfound the fair to have been a success.This, with a similar success for theretail fair at the Mansion House at thesame time gave a good boost tocraftsmens' direct trade.

For a number of years now Arnott andCompany have made part of theirpremises adjacent to their main storehere in Henry Street available tocraftworkers. This has givencraftsworkers access to the vastnumber of shoppers who fill the citycentre at Christmas time. A specialword of thanks must go to Arnott &Co., and in particular Mr. Bill Kelly forhelping the crafts industry in this verypractical way.

People in the crafts industry appreciatethe opportunity to sell a proportion oftheir yearly output direct to the publicex-studio or workshop. This type ofoutlet is particularly welcome in thecase of craftsmen who are situated inrelatively remote areas of the country.Forthem, winter is a lean sales period.They will certainly welcome thenumbers of visitors attracted to thisFair.

IDA AWARDMichael Stonware Jackson ofBennettsbridge won the I DA trophy forthe best product in a trade fair contestat the National Crafts Trade Fair, anaccepted good decision by the jurychaired by Noel Sheridan, Director ofthe National College of Art and Design.

The presentation of the silver trophywas made on behalf of the IDA by Mr.Pat O'Brien, Executive Director at areception at the RDS at which previouswinners were among the specialguests.

WOOD CRAFTSMANSHIPThe presentation of examination andcompletion certificates on Friday 10January 1986 was the culmination ofan intensive training programme inwood craftsmanship skills which wascarried out in the Connemara WestCentre., Letterfrack between 1982-1985. The programme was organisedand managed by Connemara West andwas funded directly by the YouthEmployment Agency.

All the trainees on the programmecame from the North-WestConnemara area and, on entry to theprogramme, were aged between 15-22. All of the group were registeredwith AnCO as apprenticecabinetmakers. The main objective ofthe programme was to providefourteen, young people with a range oftechnical, social and business skillswhich on completion, they would needto gain employment or to set up andmanage their own commercialworkshops.

The training content centered aroundcabinetmaking and woodturning aswell as carving, sculpture, marquetry,woodfinishing, carpentry/joinery,technical and freehand drawing. In thefinal year of the programme, courseswere provided in mathematics/calculations, career planning, personaldevelopment and business training.

As well as the Youth EmploymentAgency and AnCO, a large number ofindividuals and agencies assisted invarious ways during the course of theprogramme. These included personnelfrom Crafts Council of Ireland, theRegional Technical College, Galway,University College Galway, LimerickSchool of Art and Design, KilkennyDesign and the I.D.A.

Since the completion of training in July1985, five of the trainees have beeninvolved in setting up their own

Michael Jackson, winner of the 1986IDA Trophy for the best product/pro-duct range in the context of theNational Crafts Trade Fair pictured withhis wife, Mary, and Mr. Pat O'Brien,Executive Director, IDA.

KILN FOR SALE5 cu. ft. kiln. 3 phase, with furniture,

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commercial workshops, better trackwoodworkers, in the ConnemaraWest. Four trainees who hope to setupontheirown inthenearfuturehavedecided to gain further experience ortraining and have been successful ingetting employment in various wood-working businesses and our othershave got jobs in either carpentry/joinery or cabinetmaking.

3 DAY TEXTILE WORKSHOPA three day intensive workshop,tutored by Linda Brassington, LectuAin Printed and Dyed Textiles at the ^West Surrey College of Art & Design,will take place from Friday 4th —Sunday 6th April 1986. For Furtherdetails, please contact GraniaMcElligott, Quilt Art Workshops, TheHill House, Naas, Co.Kildare.Telephone: 045-76121.

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Mr. W. D. Finlay, Chairman — CraftsCouncil accepting an inscribed tankardfrom Mr. Sean O'Cleary of Irish Pew-termill to mark the Tenth NationalCrafts Trade Fair, a tenth anniversary

being a pewter anniversary. Also L. toR. Mr. E. F. Sutton, Minister of StateMr. Eddie Collins T.D., and Miss MariaWalsh.

I

THE PAST AS A PLUNDERBOXThere are many Museum collectionswhich tell the story of the artisticachievements of human beings overthe centuries. They house the bestworld ceramics, sculpture, paintingand other treasures. The craftcollection at The Ulster Folk andTransport Museum is not one of these.We are not interested in showingstylistic development in ceramics orthe peaks of achievement in gold. Wecollect objects which are evidence ofthe way that ordinary folk lived andworked in times gone by.

The bulk of our collection dates to thenineteenth and twentieth centuries. Inthe early nineteenth century themajority of the population worked onfarms but the family communitydepended on the skills of thecraftworkers such as blacksmiths,harness makers, shoemakers,carpenters, wheelwrights, bowlturners, crockmakers or potters,basketweavers and others. Thefarming community was not isolatedfrom developing towns which housedcraft and tradeworkers who suppliedobjects for the gentry and industry.Town merchants bought white workfrom rural dwellers and bakers oftencommissioned the hampers whichwere yesterdays answer to thecardboard box from country folk.Farmers sold bog yew to the cabinetmakers. Imports were displacing localproduction and machines werereplacing human labour but thereremained more than 120 distinctgroups of full and part-timecraftworkers who produced usefulobjects, often fashioned from local rawmaterials and designed for a particularfunction in the local community.

The collection comprises a set ofdesign solutions to yesterday'sproblems. It houses many objectswhich do not pretend to be 'great art'.The purpose of this short piece is toask some provocative questions onwhat collections like this offertoday. Itis not a plea for everyone to engage inthe production of replicas and to revertto the use of older forms of equipmentsuch as the pole-lathe. While factoriessuch as Belleek successfully usemodern technology to producetraditional forms, I would argue that amore vibrant craft tradition mustinvolve a dynamic approach to craft,design and technology. Copying oldideas is one thing. The creative use ofpast collections as a plunderbox ofideas about raw materials, techniquesand design is quite another.

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