Home Pastimes; or Tableaux Vivants

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Home Pastimes; or Tableaux Vivants, by James

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Title: Home Pastimes; or Tableaux Vivants
Author: James H. Head

Release Date: November 6, 2006 [eBook #19724]
Language: English
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HOME PASTIMES; OR TABLEAUX VIVANTS.
by
J. H. HEAD.

[Illustration: TABLEAUX VIVANTS.]

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.
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, 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, 13 The Wreath of Beauty, 25 The Marble Maiden, 27 Venus rising from the Sea, 31 Reception of Queen Victoria at Cherbourg, 32 Scene from the Opera of "Sappho," 38 Flora and the Fairies, 42 The Spectre Bride, 45 Music, Painting, and Sculpture, 52 Bust of Proserpine, 53 Napoleon and his Old Guard at Waterloo, 56 The Dancing Girl in Repose, 60 Washington's Entrance into Portsmouth, 62 Fame, 67 Faith, 70 Spirit of Religion, 72 The Poet and the Goddess of Poetry, 74 Death of Edith, 77 Abou Ben Adhem and the Angel, 80 Hiawatha and his Bride's Arrival Home, 83 David playing before Saul, 87 Liberty, 89 Paganism and Christianity, 91 Second Scene of Paganism and Christianity, 94 The Fairies' Dance, 96 Bust of Prayer, 99 Morning welcomed by the Stars, 100 The Statue Vase, 104 Spirit of Chivalry, 106 Haidee and Don Juan in the Cave, 111 Poverty, 114 Death of Minnehaha, 116 The Mother's Last Prayer, 120 Louis XVI. and his Family, 122 Dressing the Bride, 127 Hope, Faith, Charity, and Love, 130 The Death of General Warren, 132 Portrait of Prince Albert, 135 The Return of the Prodigal Son, 136 Single Blessedness, 138 Marriage Bliss, 140 The Sleeping Maiden, 141 Night and Day, 144 The Firemen in Repose, 145 The Alarm, 146 At the Fire, 147 Ethan Allen at Ticonderoga, 149 The Gypsy Fortune Teller, 151 Peace, 152 War, 155 The Rescue, 157 Solomon's Judgment, 159 The