SUNDIALS AND STATUARY 75 



containing undoubted works of art, is not a picturesque 

 spot, and the way to make successful use of statuary in the 

 garden is to have as little of it as possible. The vagaries 

 of our climate, too, are all against the adoption of a fashion 

 which is really more suited to the gardens of the sunny 

 South. A lightly clothed stone figure looks terribly 

 cheerless on a cold, wintry day, such as we are not 

 unacquainted with even in the summer months ; when, 

 in addition, the features are blackened and disfigured by 

 the action of the weather, Venus becomes perilously like 

 a glorified Aunt Sally ! Yet, in spite of" certain dis- 

 advantages, statuary has its uses in the garden, and it 

 would be foolish to condemn it entirely, because in certain 

 instances it has been tried and found wanting. For 

 emphasising certain points of view, and adding interest to 

 situations which lack some central object to hold the 

 attention, a suitable figure will prove of great value. 

 Occasionally good use may be made of stone, but far 

 preferable are well-executed statues in lead or bronze. 

 The latter materials are not so conspicuous, harmonize 

 more closely with the surroundings, and, being more 

 expensive, are not likelyito be utilized for inferior designs. 

 Before considering the best positions for isolated figures 

 in the garden, it will be well to call to mind the mytho- 

 logical and other characters which are particularly suited 

 for association with flowers, trees, and Nature generally. 

 Neptune with his trident will look sadly out of place on 

 the lawn of a suburban villa ; and only the other day I saw 

 a bust of the late Prince Consort mounted on a pedestal, 

 in a thirty-feet-square garden facing a country roadside. 

 Cupid must always be appropriate — according to Marcus 

 Stone, our grandparents preferred the picturesque sur- 

 roundings of the garden, to act as a setting to the " old, 

 old story." The Dancing Faun, one of the attendants 

 on Pan, and the Roman deity of agriculture and shepherds, 

 is another character which will not be out of place. 



