THE RELATION OF ^ESTHETICS TO INDUSTRY. 663 



most utterly refused to do the work allotted them, and when approached with 

 intentions of honest use, seemed to warn one off with the ejaculation, "Don't, 

 don't touch me. I'll, I'll break." 



These are extremes into which we are at all times in danger of running, ex- 

 amples of both besetting us upon every hand. But such a result is not due to a 

 want of harmony between the useful and the aesthetic, between the obtrusive 

 and the abstruse elements of excellence, because they do exist in the same object 

 in the highest degree of development. The great intellect that fashioned all 

 things did not decree that beauty and use should go apart; that the stern, prac- 

 tical processes of our nature should of necessity be unadorned. Nature points to 

 the converse. Those material things which are endowed with the highest functions 

 of usefulness are made the most beautiful ; and we, if we reach not such a con- 

 summation in the works of our minds and our hands, must blame our own short- 

 sightedness rather than the incompatibility of the thing. The history of art 

 industry shows us many beautiful things which served an humble purpose. For 

 example, the water-pots of the ancient Greeks and Egyptians. Some of them were 

 made for the purpose of storing water in large quantities ; they had large recep- 

 tacles, large bottoms, were open-mouthed, and easy of access. Others were made 

 to accommodate the general purposes of the household, substantial bases but not 

 cumbersome, and the body of the vessel was so arranged with reference to the 

 handle that a slight turn of the wrist was sufficient to pour out the liquid. Other 

 vases served the purpose of carrying water long distances. You all know the old 

 custom, how the maidens gathered at the fountain and at the river to get water 

 for the household. The vessels which they used were made larger near the base, and 

 of such shape as to be easily carried upon the head, the neck of the vessel being very 

 small to prevent the water from splashing easily over the top. Handles were pro- 

 vided of such shape that two persons could easily carry a vase between them, and 

 if placed in the water it would dip under the surface without any exertion upon 

 the part of the owner. These different vases were all admirably adapted to the 

 work which they were to perform, and yet they were so exquisitely shaped that 

 to-day we buy feeble copies of them and place them upon our mantles as orna- 

 mental features. 



The people who made these vases were artists, artists in the truest sense of 

 the word ; studying utility with the closest fidelity, and at the same time touching 

 their work with an inspiration that made a thing of beauty out of the humblest 

 implement. Does any one think that we have progressed in this respect ? Does 

 he remember how he tried to get water out of a cistern, with an ordinary wooden 

 or tin pail, how it persistently kept its gaping face above the water, and how he 

 wished for a hundred-pound weight to drop into it? and how, when after much 

 perseverance he had the pail rilled, he lost a large percentage of the liquid trying 

 to get it into the house ? And who has not seen the good wife grow red in the 

 face, as if in imminent danger of bursting a blood-vessel, while attempting to induce a 

 coffee or tea-pot to part with a portion of its contents? And who among us is 

 ready to put in a plea for the beauty of the modern pail and coffee pot ? 



