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Lot Essay
IN SEPTEMBER OF 1902 SOLON BEGAN HIS FINAL MASTERPIECE, 'THE SPARTAN GIRLS WRESTLING BEFORE KING LYCURGUS', AN ENDEAVOR WHICH TOOK HIM OVER EIGHT MONTHS TO FINISH. COMPLETED IN MID-1903, IT IS LIKELY THAT IT WAS DESTINED FOR THE LOUISIANA PURCHASE INTERNATIONAL EXPOSITION, ST. LOUIS, 1904.
WHEN LATER ASKED IN AN INTERVIEW OF 1906, WHICH OF HIS WORKS HE MOST VALUED, SOLON RESPONDED, 'IF THE WHOLE OF MY PRODUCTION WERE DOOMED TO BE DESTROYED, AND I WAS ASKED TO POINT OUT A FEW SPECIMENS THAT, IN MY ESTIMATION, DESERVED TO BE SPARED, IT IS FROM THE WORKS MADE AT MINTONS DURING MY LAST YEARS THERE THAT I WOULD UNHESITATINGLY MAKE MY SELECTION.' ACCORDING TO BERNARD BUMPUS THESE SPARED WORKS MUST CERTAINLY INCLUDE, THE LARGE 'SPARTAN GIRLS' VASE AND THE SIAMESE BOTTLE. SEE BERNARD BUMPUS, PâTE-SUR-PâTE, THE ART OF CERAMIC RELIEF DECORATION 1849-1992, ESSEX, 1992, P. 140-142 AND COLOUR PL. XXIV.
LYCURGUS WAS THE 'FATHER OF SPARTA', CIRCA 800 B.C. BY LAYING DOWN SUPREME POWER OUT OF RESPECT FOR JUSTICE HE BECAME THEIR TRUSTED LEADER. HE IS CREDITED WITH DEVELOPING THE SPARTAN CODE OF LAW AND CREATING A POLITICAL SYSTEM TEMPERED BY A SENATE. IN THE WORDS OF PLUTARCH, 'LYCURGUS ESTABLISHED HARMONY, SIMPLICITY, AND STRENGTH IN SPARTA. THIS WARRIOR SOCIETY TAMED ITS YOUTH THROUGH SYSTEMATIC EDUCATION AIMED AT DEVELOPING LEADERSHIP, COURAGE, PUBLIC SPIRIT, AND WISDOM.'
IT IS AMUSING TO NOTE THAT WHILE LYCURGUS WAS THE HISTORIC LAW GIVER OF SPARTA, HIS COUNTERPART IN ATHENS WAS NAMED SOLON.
WHEN LATER ASKED IN AN INTERVIEW OF 1906, WHICH OF HIS WORKS HE MOST VALUED, SOLON RESPONDED, 'IF THE WHOLE OF MY PRODUCTION WERE DOOMED TO BE DESTROYED, AND I WAS ASKED TO POINT OUT A FEW SPECIMENS THAT, IN MY ESTIMATION, DESERVED TO BE SPARED, IT IS FROM THE WORKS MADE AT MINTONS DURING MY LAST YEARS THERE THAT I WOULD UNHESITATINGLY MAKE MY SELECTION.' ACCORDING TO BERNARD BUMPUS THESE SPARED WORKS MUST CERTAINLY INCLUDE, THE LARGE 'SPARTAN GIRLS' VASE AND THE SIAMESE BOTTLE. SEE BERNARD BUMPUS, PâTE-SUR-PâTE, THE ART OF CERAMIC RELIEF DECORATION 1849-1992, ESSEX, 1992, P. 140-142 AND COLOUR PL. XXIV.
LYCURGUS WAS THE 'FATHER OF SPARTA', CIRCA 800 B.C. BY LAYING DOWN SUPREME POWER OUT OF RESPECT FOR JUSTICE HE BECAME THEIR TRUSTED LEADER. HE IS CREDITED WITH DEVELOPING THE SPARTAN CODE OF LAW AND CREATING A POLITICAL SYSTEM TEMPERED BY A SENATE. IN THE WORDS OF PLUTARCH, 'LYCURGUS ESTABLISHED HARMONY, SIMPLICITY, AND STRENGTH IN SPARTA. THIS WARRIOR SOCIETY TAMED ITS YOUTH THROUGH SYSTEMATIC EDUCATION AIMED AT DEVELOPING LEADERSHIP, COURAGE, PUBLIC SPIRIT, AND WISDOM.'
IT IS AMUSING TO NOTE THAT WHILE LYCURGUS WAS THE HISTORIC LAW GIVER OF SPARTA, HIS COUNTERPART IN ATHENS WAS NAMED SOLON.