Elmore bulletin. [volume] (Rocky Bar, Idaho) 1889-1906, 1892-08-28
vi aARIrY M nFsIoN
Jsweify. tufafs@ and T3rie-a.fiFas fhA
shock the Esthste.

shock the lEsthete.
There i nothing In modern life more
dis,oa.sging 10 the person Of taste than
the deliberate yulgaIity In design which
Is 50 conspicuous in modern mAnufac-
lures, and this i especially true IN those
matters OF Rdornment or luxury where
1t would lie supposed tk1 If anywhere
would be found thl evidences OF refine
ment and cultivation II / 4 the articles
with which the dwellings and the per-
SONS of the rich are adorned ono does
not find evidences Of good taste ii is in
deed discouraging outlook for the
seeker. and yet It is in precisely in these
things that the most ilagrant violations
of all aesthetic canons are encouraged.
One has but TO consider the tricks Of
the makers of jewelry to understand the
extent TO which this evil has gone. The
last whim Of the makers of slang is to
DO seen in the windows of the jeweier
wrought ont in precious stones. Now
the art of the cunning goldsmith is de-
voted to the making of pigs in gold and
gems, now it is some other beast equally
inartisuc, again it is some idiotio pun,
I
rich enamel, aud yet again the para
| phernalia Of the turf, the gaming table
or what not, absorbs the best skill
| which the modern world can show in
this line. Even worse arc the coarse
and vulgar designs which are to be seer
in the cases Of respectable jewellers o
the feminine leg or foot, the suggestiv,
and semi-indecent ornaments which ap
peal to the taste OF certain classes, no
only Of men, but of women, who.are M
parently perfectly proper members Q
society.
The designs of furniture and bric-s
brac are, If anything, worse. 1t is tru
that there are good designs to be fouii
but 1t is no less true that the reign {
cheap vulgarity is ut its triunphai
height. The hard and upsympathe.
E execution Of mechanical means whic
+, would be tolcrable only when direc.t
: by the most delicate and sympathet
/ taste il made the more detestable by L
. coarse and forced manner in which it
I used. When the designer goes TO Il
u past TO purloin design, II he wishes
y hit the popular taste he selects some /
d coco motive of the worst period, and
u rule it is popular in direct proporti,
n to its worthlessncss.
'e When one compares the ornaments
q today with those of the times of o
" grandfathers he may well ask wheth
le our grandchildren will have as mu
IN reason to respect their heirloons as
TO have to look with pride upon ours.
he with which the shop windows have be
n filed, how many Of them are even toll
&c able in design'
= 1t is always easier To find fault III
10 find out a remedy, aud it is undou
eddy true that IN the present case
matter is largely the result OF the
ne crease of material prosperity amo
AT those classes where neither taste nor
on telligence has had time TO be develop
M. The markets are controlled to a or
ar. extent by the new rich. and 1t is not |
~. natural that the impress of their vulg
~. fy should be left in broad marx NJ
.ct the arts Of tho time. IL is no less Il
H. abroad, however, than it is in this COZ
cd try that the designers have apparen
m. degenerated, and the explanation gi'
I'm does not 30 well apply abroad as in
10 country.
nd No doubt the taste of the world
No being educated, but the problem 10,
ia is TO educate the taste of the many
In stead of the taste Of the few, and i
va far more difficult than any which
nd ever been presented 10 the devotees
he the aesthetic in the history of civilizat
30 before. Boston Courier.