Home Pastimes; or Tableaux Vivants

James H. Head

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• Publié par: thowyeng
• Publié le: 08 décembre 2010
• Nombre de lectures: 18
• Langue: English

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The Project Gutenberg eBook, Home Pastimes; or Tableaux Vivants, by James H. Head This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org Title: Home Pastimes; or Tableaux Vivants Author: James H. Head Release Date: November 6, 2006 [eBook #19724] Language: English Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 ***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HOME PASTIMES; OR TABLEAUX VIVANTS*** E-text prepared by Barbara Tozier, Bill Tozier, Linda Cantoni, and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net/) HOME PASTIMES; OR TABLEAUX VIVANTS. BY J. H. HEAD. Contents BOSTON: J. E. TILTON AND COMPANY . 1860. Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1859, by JAMES H. HEAD, In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts. ELECTROTYPED AT THE BOSTON STEREOTYPE FOUNDRY . TO SAMUEL P. LONG, ESQ., AS AN HUMBLE TRIBUTE OF ADMIRATION FOR HIS ARTISTIC AND LITERARY USEFULNESS, AND TO THOSE FRIENDS WHO HAVE PARTICIPATED WITH ME IN MANY OF THESE SCENES, This Work IS RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED, BY THE AUTHOR. PREFACE. A SINCERE desire to extend the influence of a pure and ornamental art, to promote and extend a perfect system of what is really beautiful in the forming of the Tableau, to awaken in the minds of many a quicker sense of the grace and elegance which familiar objects are capable of affording, and to encourage all to cherish a taste for the beautiful, have influenced the author to issue this volume. Art should not be confined entirely to the studio of the artist. Her presence should embellish every home; her spirit should animate every mind. She is unwearied in her best and brightest attributes, restricting her influence to no peculiar spot of earth, nor conforming her claims to any one sphere. Beauty of form is still beautiful, be it found in the humble cottage or in the magnificent palace. A perfect picture will be recognized and appreciated whenever displayed, or by whomsoever produced. In fine, nature is still nature, and the germ of poetical feeling is similar in its manifestation wherever it may chance to be shown. [Pg 7] The delineation of the natural and poetical, its realization upon canvas, or upon paper, or in the living picture, tends to improve the mind, assimilates the real with the ideal, conforms taste to the noblest standard, [Pg 8] overflows the heart with pure and holy thoughts, and adorns the exterior form with graces surpassing those of the Muses. The producing and forming of tableaux vivants have been the author's study for the past ten years. The choicest gems which adorn this volume are mostly imaginary scenes; others are selected from the poets; and a few are suggested by rare engravings. The author, in his endeavors to impart and explain many things, has been obliged to sacrifice show and style upon the altar of simplicity; at least, such has been his constant aim. For all imperfections and defects he invokes the charity of a candid public. If this volume should in any degree satisfy a want that has been long felt, or add one devotee to the shrine of beauty, the author will consider his endeavors amply repaid. JAMES H. HEAD. PORTSMOUTH, September 2, 1859. CONTENTS. PAGE INTRODUCTION, The Wreath of Beauty, The Marble Maiden, Venus rising from the Sea, Reception of Queen Victoria at Cherbourg, Scene from the Opera of "Sappho," Flora and the Fairies, The Spectre Bride, Music, Painting, and Sculpture, Bust of Proserpine, Napoleon and his Old Guard at Waterloo, The Dancing Girl in Repose, Washington's Entrance into Portsmouth, Fame, Faith, Spirit of Religion, The Poet and the Goddess of Poetry, Death of Edith, Abou Ben Adhem and the Angel, Hiawatha and his Bride's Arrival Home, David playing before Saul, Liberty, Paganism and Christianity, Second Scene of Paganism and Christianity, The Fairies' Dance, Bust of Prayer, Morning welcomed by the Stars, The Statue Vase, Spirit of Chivalry, Haidee and Don Juan in the Cave, Poverty, Death of Minnehaha, The Mother's Last Prayer, Louis XVI. and his Family, Dressing the Bride, Hope, Faith, Charity, and Love, The Death of General Warren, Portrait of Prince Albert, The Return of the Prodigal Son, 13 25 27 31 32 38 42 45 52 53 56 60 62 67 70 72 74 77 80 83 87 89 91 94 96 99 100 104 106 111 114 116 120 122 127 130 132 135 136 [Pg 9] [Pg 10] Single Blessedness, Marriage Bliss, The Sleeping Maiden, Night and Day, The Firemen in Repose, The Alarm, At the Fire, Ethan Allen at Ticonderoga, The Gypsy Fortune Teller, Peace, War, The Rescue, Solomon's Judgment, The Bridal Prayer, The Guitar Lesson, Roger Williams preaching to the Indians, Crossing the Line, The Wedding, Hiawatha sailing, The Village Stile, Florence Nightingale in the Crimea, The Fireman's Statue, Joan of Arc at the Siege of Orleans, The Parting, Hagar and Ishmael in the Wilderness, The Fight for the Standard, Jonathan's Visit to his City Cousins, The Three Graces, The Guardian Angel, The Pyramid of Beauty, Coronation of Queen Victoria, The Brigands, Death of Sir John Moore, The Fireman's Rescue, Catharine Douglass barring the Door with her Arm, The Masquerade Ball, Irish Courtship, The Fairies' Offering to the Queen of May, Belshazzar's Feast, The Valentine, The Fairies' Rainbow Bridge, Little Eva and Uncle Tom, Love triumphant, The Banditti, Portrait of Louis Napoleon, The Return from the Vintage, Lovers Going to the Well, The Italian Flower Vase, Portrait of the Madonna, The Shoemaker in Love, 138 140 141 144 145 146 147 149 151 152 155 157 159 162 163 164 167 169 171 173 175 177 178 183 185 187 189 190 191 193 195 198 200 203 205 207 209 210 213 217 219 222 224 226 229 230 232 234 236 237 [Pg 11] [Pg 12] Prince Charles Edward after the Battle of Culloden, The Flower Girl, Presentation of Fireman's Trumpet, The Painter's Studio, Portrait of Gabrielle, The Elopement, Fireman's Coat of Arms, The Soldier's Farewell, Ike Partington's Ghost, The Peasant Family in Repose, The Soldier's Return, NOTES AND EXPLANATIONS, 239 242 243 245 247 249 251 252 254 255 257 259-264 INTRODUCTION. THE Tableaux Vivants may be new to many of our readers, although they have been produced and have been quite popular in Europe, and to some extent in this country. For public or private entertainment, there is nothing which is so interesting and instructive as the tableau. The person most fitted to take charge of a tableau-company is one who is expert at drawing and painting: any one who can paint a fine picture can produce a