Evening capital news. (Boise, Idaho) 1901-1927, 1914-05-31
Very Entertaining Game
of Hide and Seek in the
British Aristocracy to Find
of Countess GLeichen' s
Woman of 1914" Who
Carries Only a Vanity Bag

that they can recognize certain strik-
ing lines of beauty in the figure as
belonging to friends of theirs. At first
there We're not lacking ladies who
boldly claimed that they were the
whole thing, in spite of the strong
evidence that it was composite por-
trait. Their tone has changed, how
ever, since Queen Mary went on the
war path.
The Countess Gleichen herself as
serted when her work first excited
remark that it represented a type,
and not single person To explain
tins statement away, one of the un-
blushing ones who wanted to be the
whole thing said:
"Oh, yes, the Countess Teddy tried
to make composite statue of lot
of us, but my figure impressed ler
so much that she couldn't help max
ing me. Anybody can see that it's
my figure"
"The Woman of 1914" Is a slender
limbed figure standing in a dropping
attitude with her right arm akimbo,
while from her left hand depends a
little vanity bag, her only adornment.
Why the vanity bag? Well, that is
the most original touch about the
whole statue, and at the same time a
point against which much hostile crit
icism has been directed. This vanity
bag is said to have annoyed Her
Majesty very much.
mo one can defend a statue of
woman wearing only a vanity bag bs
saying that it is in the same class as
the classic sta tues of the nude" Her
Majesty is reported to have said with
keen critical insight.
One sly critic has written that this
statue aims to represent the ideal
towards which woman's costume is
tending. Perhaps that was the idea
in Her Majestys mind, TOO; but, of
course. she would not have said such
a thing.
Though the figure" writes an
other critic, "is that Of girl of
twenty, the pose Is one of quiet but
provoca tive effrontery, and the face
finely modelled, has an expression
anything but virginia.. 1t typities
wildly the twentieth century go-as
you-please, pleasure bored. beenthere-
and-back' young society woman, the
quinteSsence of worldliness stepped in
standardization"
The figure has the long, lose, slen-
der limbs that are so much admired
in England and that are so frequent
ly seen in English women. Owing to
the prevailing fashions in bathing
suits, golf suits and other sporting
costumes, one can observe these
things in real life at least as well as
in this statue.
The statue undoubtedly gives good
idea Of certain English upper class
type of beauty, but 1t tends towards
carica ture. The limbs are too slender
and delicate for young women who
practise sport so vigorously. The
head however, Is more lifelike.
Some admirable examples of the
tall, slender type of English woman
hood are the Duchess of Westminster.
the Countess of Westmoreland and
Lady Marjorie Manners, who recently
became the Warehouses of Anglesey.
They are all very original and pro-
gressive in their costumes. They
have exhibited themselves as "liv-
ing statuary," and in various kinds
Of spectacles and pageants for the EN-
tertainment of beauty loving public.
Queen Mary tried, with Indifferent
success, to put an end to spectacles OF
that kind, but whatever kind she
frowned upon, the tendency was sure
to break out in some new direction.
All the three beauties mentioned
have denied that they are in any way
represented by the statue. Having
been so prominent in all sorts of ar
tistie entertainments, and being
friends Of the Countess of Gleichen,
It was natural that people should