The Strand Magazine, Vol. 27, January 1904, No. 157Various
General
The Strand Magazine, Vol. 27, January 1904, No. 157
Various
English literature -- Periodicals; Short stories, English -- Periodicals
We do not deny character to perfect garments. They may each and all
breathe a distinct individuality, and so far the requirements of Art are
met. Compare those already mentioned with the rest--compare Colin
Campbell's or Mr. Clarkson's legs with Mr. Palmer's of biscuit fame--and
the contrast tells it's own tale. But to enforce our point, in spite even
of the eloquent utterances of Mr. Wade, we, who were privileged to have
seen Sir John MacDonald in the flesh, assert positively that we never
saw that flesh draped in such trousers. The fact is, certain men never
wore such trousers. With one or two exceptions the trousers presented in
the course of this article--examples collated with no little care--are
artistic trousers, trousers of Art, and never intended to be trousers of
Reality, because the trousers of Reality either express too much or too
little, or express something entirely in dissonance with the sculptor's
idea of the character he is modelling. Nature, it has been observed,
does not lend itself readily to the canons of Art. As it was long ago
settled that carved statesmen must wear breeches of ultra length, when
it appears that in life they are foolishly addicted to garments of
unseemly brevity, it is only proper that this sad circumstance should be
blotted out in the studio, and a veil, composed of a yard or two of
extra trousering, be drawn over this painful deficiency in their several
characters. Had they been stablemen they might have fared differently,
although we can have little to object to in the nether garments of Mr.
Adams-Acton's Hon. David Carmichael in the accompanying photograph.
[Illustration: LORD ROSEBERY'S TROUSERS, BY DAVID WEEKES.
_From a Photo._]
[Illustration: JOHN BURNS'S TROUSERS, BY DAVID WEEKES.
_From a Photo._]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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