Woman of the Century/Carrie M. Shoaff

SHOAFF, Mrs. Carrie M., artist and inventor, born in Huntington, Ind., 2nd April, 1849. She developed artistic talents at an early age, and after learning to draw and paint she turned her attention to plastic art. She invented a method of manufacturing imitation Limoges ware, which is utilized in the making of advertising signs, plaques and other forms. In that art she uses common clay and a glaze of her own invention, and the results are surprisingly fine. She established a school in Fort Wayne, Ind., and trained a large number of students. Many business firms have given her orders for souvenirs and advertising plaques, made of her materials and from her designs, and her reputation has spread through the United States. She teaches women the art of using common clay and turning out imitations of the Limoges ware that almost defy detection, even by connoisseurs. She has received numerous invitations to open art-schools in New York and other large cities, but she remains in Fort Wayne, earning both fame and money. CARRIE M. SHOAFF. She teaches her classes the art of digging, preparing and modeling their own clay, the art of ornamenting the pieces properly, and the secret of glazing the finished wares into perfect copies of the fired wares. She has opened a new field, in which woman's ingenuity and artistic tastes may find profitable employment.