It would be impossible even to catalogue the contents of this studio,
the greater part of which is as well worth describing as those examples
which have already been touched upon; nor could a more graphic pen than
mine convey an adequate impression of their excellence. But there is
here a figure of the 'coon, which, as it is the only one ever modelled,
ought not to be passed over in silence. In appearance this animal is a
curious medley of the fox, the wolf, and the bear, besides
I-know-not-what (as the lady in "Punch" would say) that belongs to none
of those beasts. As may be imagined, therefore, its right portrayal
involves peculiar difficulties, and Mr. Kemeys's genius is nowhere
better shown than in the manner in which these have been surmounted.
Compact, plump, and active in figure, quick and subtle in its
movements, the 'coon crouches in a flattened position along the limb of
a tree, its broad, shallow head and pointed snout a little lifted, as
it gazes alertly outward and downward. It sustains itself by the clutch
of its slender-clawed toes on the branch, the fore legs being spread
apart, while the left hind leg is withdrawn inward, and enters smoothly
into the contour of the furred side; the bushy, fox-like tail, ringed
with dark and light bands, curving to the left. Thus posed and modelled
in high relief on a tile-shaped plaque, Mr. Kemeys's coon forms a most
desirable ornament for some wise man's sideboard or mantle-piece, where
it may one day be pointed out as the only surviving representative of
its species.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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