The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1900-12-23
IDOLS IN NEW YORK.
BRONZE BUDDHAs now SERVING
A. PAPER WEIGHTS.

Philippine Madonnas Formosan
Gods ChiIdreu's PIaythinEs-Pop-
uInr guam YIn-Tbe Goddess at
siIkworms American Contribu-
lions.
From the New York Evening Poet.
Tho % gram orthodoxy Is my doxy, ana
heteroioxy b. you're" may be- paral.eied
by tho statement that Every religious
figure ia my faith Is sacred object
but IN yours is an dol This appears 20
be- the rule in tho various collections ~
such articles in New York Under the
term IDOL are Included every variety o.
nrure from shaugo, the thunder sod Of
Central Africa. 20 Buddha Of India and
Coumclus Of China.
The missionary movement In tho Unito1
States began work on a large scale ia tho
present century. and from mat time on
every eyaugelist has sent ou the Idols o.
the territory 100 which ne Was engaged. a
minority Of these have been placed in
collections. but the great majority arc
distributed in pdri0rs and libraries as
cufioe ana brlc-a-brac. Bronze Buddhas
which once gave JOY 10 Oriental house
holds now do duty az paper sights. aud
~ least one silva. with his huy hands.
now sits in "a smoking room on Murray
Fili. holding the favorite pipes % iis OWN
er- Those which are graceful and hand
some are popular ornaments Tor the man.
tclpiccc ana cabinet. while those which
are grotcsque nnd their way 20 the boudoir
ana smoking room In due season they
lose their religious meaning and become
mere hrlc-n-brac IL the Nisaya land Of
the Philippines are black Madonnas viii 10
were probably statues Of the goddess
guam lin when they were made Many
81 those have been exported 20 the Uni
go States whore they now pass for
humorous statuettes The Papuau In
dams Of Formosa nave little straw gods
which are popular Ia China among a.,
children. who use them as dolls Occa-
sionSily they get to New York. where
they are sod as juvenile toys
American boards Collection.
OF the collections In the metropolis thai
Of the American Board Of Foreign Mis-
sions on Firth avenue g. undoubtedly the
best. Next TO this Is the exhibit in the
Church Museum Of the Judson Memorial
building. a special collection OF consid-
cradle value s. In the Metropolitan Mu-
scum Of Art. while a score OF private coli
lcctor own from twenty TO several hun
drcd figures and symbolic carvings In
the American Board 81 Foreign Missions
the collection has grown so large thar
u was recently divided. one-half being
placed in the library and tho other in the
assembly room. 10 g. arranged with great
SKILL and offers an excellent ohjcct-los-
son TO those who care To study the varia-
lions OF religious art. The best figures
are those which come from the Brsham
and Buddhist lands. Tine former are
somewhat superior ia design. the latter
In variety and Workmanship OF the
Brehmnu figures, the more noticeable are
silva, the God Of Destruction, who s u.s.
ually portrayed with an unnecessary NUM-
her OF arms ranging from ten 20 nfty.
Kali, his female counterpart IS often
marked by the fact that she has snakes
instead OF hair. or ,hat her hair is bound
with writhiug serpents
In the older figures the serpcnts were
purely conventional, but ia the later the