The School of Art Woodcarving at South Kensington, which was established some twenty years ago at "the City and Guilds Institute," is also doing a useful and practical work. With a very moderate grant from the City Guilds and the use of free quarters, the School maintains itself, and is the means of educating, either free or at reduced terms, a great many students who go out into the world the better prepared to compete with their foreign rivals. The Committee of Management, under the presidency of Major-General Sir J. F. D. Donelly, K.C.B., is composed of artists and architects of note and others who not only give their moral support to the institution but bring some of their ornamental woodwork to the School for execution under their direction. The management of Miss Rowe[25] is evidence of the success which attends the effort of an intelligent and enthusiastic lady, and the instructors, Messrs. Grimwood and Ross, are practical carvers, who can not only correct but can design and cut the patterns set for their pupils. After the first year probation the professional students receive a fair proportion of the value of their work, which is assessed by the instructors. It is by the maintenance of such technical schools, which with more or less success are now being started by our local authorities in different parts of England, that we can to some extent replace the advantages which the old system of apprenticeship gave to the learners of a craft. [Illustration: THE ELLESMERE CABINET. In the collection of the late Lady Marian Alford.] Many other societies, guilds, and Art schools have been established with more or less success, with a view of improving the design and manufacture of furniture, and providing suitable models for our young woodcarvers to copy. The Ellesmere Cabinet (illustrated on page 243) was one of the productions of the "Home Arts and Industries Association," founded in 1883 by the late Lady Marian Alford, a well known connoisseur and Art patron. It will be seen that this is virtually a Jacobean design.