Certain reproductions are
objectionable, and yet they are certainly better than poor originals,
after all. The simplest advice is the best and easiest to follow: The
less a copy suggests an attempt at "artistic reproduction," the more
literal and mechanical it is in its copy of the original, the better it
is. A good photograph of a fine old painting is superior to the average
copy in oils or watercolors. A chair honestly copied from a worm eaten
original is better for domestic purpose than the original. The original,
the moment its usefulness is past, belongs in a museum. A plaster cast
of a great bust is better than the same object copied in marble or
bronze by an average sculptor. And so it goes. Think it out for
yourself.
It may be argued that the budding collector is as happy with a false
object and a fake bauble as if he possessed the real thing, and
therefore it were better to leave him to his illusions; that it is his
own fault; that it is so much the worse for him if he is deceived.
But--you can't leave the innocent lamb to the slaughter, if you can give
him a helping hand. If he must be a collector, let him be first a
collector of the many excellent books now published on old furniture,
china, rugs, pewter, silver, prints, the things that will come his way.
You can't begin collecting one thing without developing an enthusiasm
for the contemporary things.
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