752 
PEOCEEDINGS OF SECTION H. 
without special remark. Our aim should he to evolve, in accord with 
them, new, beautiful, and fitting combinations, sympathetic with our 
architecture, taking Nature as our guide. 
In designing after Nature, I may mention that perfection is not 
to be attained by mechanical imitation of a single specimen of a 
species, but by emphasising the essential qualities of the species as a 
whole ; and the higher the form stands in the natural world which 
we are depicting, the nearer to Nature we may work without fear of 
o’erstepping the bounds of good taste. Thus we find in the best 
periods the human form presented more perfectly than is the average 
found in Nature, though still considerably conventionalised. 
Money restriction is a matter which we have continually enforced 
upon us in actual work, and consequently it influences strongly the 
treatment of architectural sculpture. It seems only natural that it 
should in this age; but a sad case is that in which a second-rate 
sculptor is chosen to execute the work because he will do it for less 
money than others, his enthusiasm most likely being crushed at the 
outset by being obliged to copy the architect’s designs, which are 
themselves restricted by conflicting instructions. IIow can good work 
be produced under such conditions? Upon consideration of such a 
case, it is evident that a sculptor must not be tied down to copy 
exactly the design of another individual, for by the absence of spon- 
taneous individualism in the worker all hope for spirit in the work is 
lost. The sculptor must have fresh inspiration for each part of the 
work, for the whole soul of the thing depends on the attitude of his 
mind at the time he is cutting the stone : the ideal arrangement being 
to get the component parts of sculpture and architecture massed out 
in a pliable state, and to combine them at an early stage of the 
designing, so that the whole may be developed and completed as one 
conception. To reach this ideal it is necessary to co-operate with the 
sculptor from the outset. . 
In the representation of modern dress, the sculptor is said to be 
heavily handicapped, for, excepting in the robes of State and learning 
(so the question goes), wherein lies the beauty of modern male attire ? 
Where the lines of beauty in frock coat and tall hat ? They are hard to 
find, so let us look elsewhere ; let us look to other specimens of the race. 
Good illustrations of human life and labour, love or passion, will 
always interest humanity. Note the aprons of canvas and leather, the 
knee-tied trousers, the baggy shirt, the rolled sleeves of the labourer; 
note caps, blouses, and overcoats. Then let us not forget the introduc- 
tion of a full complement of female forms, for have we not grace here 
and variety in plenty. On the whole, we are not so badly off as we 
are led to believe in this matter of dress, for there seems a sufficiency 
of good before ns in the forms mentioned to allow of the omission or 
the* bad,. and still to leave a good selection of mol if s. 
It is the gentlemanliness of the modern gentleman’s dress which 
is so very hard to treat ; but even this does not look so fearful in the 
Albert Memorial. (See Fig. 25, Plate 2.) n x p 
In the design of foliage, the stalk is always a trouble to finish 
satisfactorily. The best way is either to merge it into the background, 
as in Fig. 5, or to hide the end under leaves, the stem itselt being 
used to give the vital lines and flowing curves of the composition. 
(Plate 5.) 
