Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1893-07-04

You would NOT think IL possible for {
man 10 make . vase In cold. dull bronze In
which you could always nnd some new
beauty, no matter how many times you
visited Il, would youi Yet that In jusi
what Gustavs Dors did In this marvelou,
creation. The Dors vase IL called "L1
vin," or swine, J" and u the spotheosis ol
a bacchanalian rsvsl But no hidsous. do
formed. gluttonous, disgusting god ol
wins, this. Instead. all that II light
graceful, poetic and BEAUTIFUL The vas.
stands some fifteen fest high. and weighl
about 1000 pounds. Its shape Il that ot
On oriental water bottle or carafYe, and
upon Il are hundreds Of figures from ths
animal and vegetable kingdoms and thu
world Of mythology. The vine trails al
round, with flowers and clusters Of grapes
Among its shoots and tendrils horde o
cupids and nymphs play gay pranks.
AL Of Dors's cupids are brownies In
their love Of fun. Nothing solemn or sen
sational about them, save that serio-comis
solemnity with which Palmer Cox has en-
dowed his now famous little men. Tn,
wine II In these little cupids, and ideally
sportive they are. They Chamber and racs
and wiggls about on the face Of the great
vase like 20 many beautiful little monkeys
Here is one hanging by his toes to bit oi
vine, and the expression on his face Il that
Of brownie about to fall from some emil
nence. Another Il helping . companion
up difficult ascent, and you can see the
little rogue push with all his might. A
third. having reached the summit, lean,
from the top and beckons his fellows up
ward. Still another u having o battle
royal with q big beetle, whose two horn,
he las boldly grasped.
There are cuplds asleep, cupids rolling
stones down upon other cupids, cupid,
/ prodding lizards with sticks, cuplds chas
Ing butterflies, cupids pouring wine upon
the heads Of Venuses, cupids playing Lide
and-seek, cupids In all the vagaries and
varieties Of o bacchanalian revel. OF cours<
there are nude women on this vase. II
would not be the work Of . Frenchmar
II there were not. Venuses are every,
where, and such venuses! One Il prepared
TO believe the story that Dore ransacked
Paris for his models, aud the wonder 1,
that he found them, even at that. Two
hgurrs, to my mind, form together tn,
piece de resistance Of the work. Stretched
out at full length, her back following tn,
curve of the vase at its thickest part, lie.
q glorious Venus. Her arms are extended
above her head as far as sho can reach. In
her hands she holds chalice, and into
this from his perch above sweet little
cupid Il squeezing the juice from bunch
OF luscious grapes. II Is % figure to b.
. en-, and to be seen again Ind again.
, have not seriously attempted a de.
scription of this noble work Of art, for ti.
indescribabls. II were to write OF all the
i figures, of all the groupings, Of all the
fancies 20 skillfully worked out by the
great artist, should need more time and
space than are at my command. know
men who are 10 much In love with thi,
vase that they go three or four times a
week to zee II. They escort their friends
for view Of II, they sing It's praises In and
out of season. Every time they stand by
Its side they See some new beauty In the
amazing cluster Of figures with which II Il
! covered. II must be indeed great work
of art that Is able TO inspire this enthusi.
astio worship.
While thus ideallzing wine Doe was
artist enough not to forget its sting. A
single venomous serpent, near the base Of
the creation, In seen insidiously crawling
among the jewellers toward the summit OF
the fairy landscape. With this gentle
yet expressive touch-without surfcit OF
hideousness or brutalization-did the
great sculptor remind us that gay as may
be the revel. roguish and prankish the
jewellers, beautiful and alluring the
feminine dcvotecs, rich In color aud mad
with abandon all the bacchanallans, the
serpent turks In the vine and will ulti.
nately victimize them all.
It Is q remarkable thing that the man
who created this, now one OF the most IA
nous sculptors In the world, should have
had ambition In another direction. Dore
was sublime In modelling. but he wanted
: to paint In oil. Most of bis artistic efforts
during the last years Of his life with
, the brush. IL is not given TO man to DO q
great genius In many lines, and Dore's
pictures, while meritorious, never touched
the hight which he had reached In model.
Ing. In his own neld Of effort, the field In
which he had gifts almost divine. the
world was at his feet. Yet because the
world would not bow down and wor-
ship his canvases-this II the story, and Of
course do not know II IL Is true-hs felt
the sting Of defeat In his greatest but
mistaken ambition, and died ofs broken
heart.
But one cast was ever made from the
plaster moulds for this vase, and no other
will be made. This masterpiece In bronze
ID for sale, and twenty thousand dollars Il
the price. Doubtless the heirs Of the dead
artist could realize much more money
from the moulds by permitting . number
of casts to be made and sold for smaller
sums, Dut following the traditions Of art,
and out Of respect TO the memory Of the
creator. they are determined this work
shall be unique. Iprsdict that this great
bronze will never be permitted to 20 back
TO Europe. One Of these hns days some
rich American will fall In love with the
cupids and the nymphs, and, calmly draw
Ing his check for the required sum, order
the 1000 pounds OF bronze (sttsper pound
sent TO the art school or publia lihrarv NJ
bis well-beloved city. Envtable tbs
American who has both the 10000 70
spare for such purpose and the heart to
spend Il.
II one cared TO 90 into criticism Of our
friends from across the sea who have
sent their wares and art products here for
exhibition II II that they are somewhat too
commercial In their designs. In tho case
Of the Dore vase IL II rather o compliment
10 America that 10 should be found desir'
able 20 send such q magnificent work here
for . market. But Il n not pleasant "a
note that nearly everything In the foreign
sections IN for aala The exhibitors, Appar.
emily, have come here 20 make mart ef
the expedition. While . little OF this
spirit II expected and IL not improper In
any exposition, many Of these exhibitor
70 70 an sxtrsms which r. et least open 70
criticism. In the Swiss Department., for
instance, almost every article shown has
price mark attached, and the display
therefore looks more like shop than like
an exhibit Of the liberal arts Many Of the
watches, brooches and pins are marked
"sold." The sams thing II true In meas
urs Of other foreign sxhibits, but the swisl
are the worst odsndsrA
OF fcouns they cannot ell goods for Inn
| mediate delivery, unlsss they have taken
ths peseaution q bring duplicates Thsss
J Wssu wsts bsvpsht n duty hss spd can