“La collection c’est l’homme,” a well-known French lover of art and first-rate connoisseur3 used to say. Nowadays this transformation4 of Buffon’s threadbare saying is only partially6 true. It would, perhaps, be more correct to put it in the past tense, as a new type of virtuoso7 has arisen. A collector of the most recent brand prefers to buy collections “ready-made.” Such collections all gathered in good order in the houses of these new collectors speak very eloquently8 of the owner’s financial power, but say nothing of his taste, ability, or love for the artistically9 fine and beautiful.
However, this being somewhat of a recent change brought about by casual circumstances with hardly any claim as an artistic10 phenomenon, this study can be confined for the present to that normal period, barely past, when the art and curio collector was really a “collector” and above all a lover of art as well as a passionate11 hunter after fine things. From the study of this semi-past world of art it will be easy to136 proceed to a comparative analysis of the up-to-date one, to the new species of collector who in no way comes under the definition “La collection c’est l’homme.”
In the foregoing review of collectors and collections, it has mostly been a question of art collectors, with only incidental reference to other kinds of art lovers. Curios, however, imply many other things. The French word curieux, which has often been used for lack of a better expression, has a wider meaning. The word curieux, which might be translated by the English word “curious,” without losing much of its meaning, may have originated in the Latin curiosis, though it is doubtful whether the Romans ever applied12 this word to connoisseurs13 of art or other collectors. The fact that the artistic world was then divided into lovers of the beautiful and faddists or fools, that erudites had not yet appeared, may have rendered new words of definitions useless. When speaking of his friend Statius as a connoisseur and virtuoso, Pliny uses the Greek word φιλόαλος (friend of the beautiful), a word that might really be used to define the true and genuine collector.
The French word curieux appears for the first time in a dictionary by Robert Estienne (1531) and is defined ung homme curieux d’avoir ou sçavoir choses antiques but later on, presumably from its probable Italian origin, the word acquires a wider sense, a sense that even finds an echo in Shakespeare, and so also the old meaning of gentilezza as used by Lorenzo Medici has a resonance14, according to Lacroix du Maine, in the French gentillesses ou gentilles curiositez.
A Child.
By Ferrante Zampini.
San Giovanni.
By Ferrante Zampini.
Notwithstanding this limitation, for many the word curieux has the widest meaning and includes all kinds of collectors. Trevoux’ definition “res singulares, eximiæ raræ” with Millin’s broadening comment “tout15 ce qui peut piquer la curiosité par5 la singularité des formes ou des usages” (all that may excite curiosity in strangeness of form or use), is the proper one, regardless of Mme. de Genlis, who as late as 1818 goes back to the old meaning and includes under curiosité the entirely16 scientific Natural History collections.
137 It must be said that the distinction between scientific and artistic pursuits is not always clearly defined. Science mingles17 with art with undisputed right, and scientific pursuits at times have artistic interest. The two seem either to alternate their rights or share them in the fields that lie between.
In the artistic field, or rather in that which tallies19 with Millin’s definition of la curiosité there are two quite typical classes even though they cannot be separated by a sharp line of delimitation on account of linking subdivisions. The one includes the art collector alone and the searcher for the beautiful, the other those gathering20 the rest, things which for “strangeness of form or use” present a certain interest to the collector.
There is no doubt that those of the first class possess the impulsiveness21 that generally characterizes intuitive and non-learned experience in art, and those of the second combine artistic and scientific interests. The one has a tendency to consider and value objects in a different manner from the other: the artistic temperament22 has a penchant23 for synthesis, the scientific is inclined towards analytic24 methods.
While the collector of the first class has a direct purpose—the search for what is artistically fine, the other is less absolute, and for him objects have what may be called a relative value, the value of the series. In collecting coins or medals, the latter more especially, art plays an undisputed part, but science claims the right of classification, thus placing a relative value of no secondary importance. As a consequence, for instance, a medallist is likely to speak of the rare in place of the fine, or at times use one word for the other. It may be that in the eyes of a numismatist25 a sample of inferior art acquires great value through its rarity and through the place that it may occupy in the series of his collection.
There are some collections consequently in which the best artistic samples are forced to play a secondary part, the object of the collection being classification, just as shells,138 minerals and other purely26 scientific gatherings27 would be arranged.
This peculiar28 tyranny of science may even find scope for action in expressions of art, where science and erudition should have no claim. In museums of painting and sculpture the history of art demands that the objects should be classified according to epochs, schools, etc. The man intent upon such classification often becomes so engrossed29 in this one scientific side as to grow indifferent to those artistic considerations which give the painter and the real lover of art the joy art is intended to give. Even connoisseurship30 is often too tainted31 by erudition, and the curators of museums are very rarely æsthetes. At the sight of a fine work of art, a connoisseur is very often so intent upon discovering the name of its author, the probable school and the epoch—all forms of classification—that he forgets he is before a work of art, that is to say, an expression of human sentiment, which whether good or bad was created solely32 to arouse artistic emotion in the beholder33. The artist, while creating it, had certainly not in mind the history of art and all its erudite paraphernalia34.
There are two other distinctions in art collecting, distinctions so closely allied35 to the above classes that they share the respective characteristics in a very similar manner. They are represented by the eclectic collector and the specialist, two distinct orders both useful in a way, both belonging to the artistic sphere. The eclectic is well defined by Gersaint as “an amateur whose passion presupposes taste and sentiment”; the other, the specialist—generally regarded as having perfected his taste by dropping his initial eclecticism36—is a collector who has restricted the field of his activity by grafting37, so to speak, the purity of his artistic penchant on something that tends to diminish the broad outlook of an eclectic lover of art, and this in order to enlarge the possibilities of research and information. Thus although the specialist has very often passed through an initial period of eclectic wandering, when he becomes a specialist he is139 very apt to forget his past enthusiasm for anything but his chosen speciality. Show a fine Limoges enamel38 to a collector of medals or a medal to a collector of enamels39 and you will realize the truth of the statement. Of course he will understand the beauty of the work—though not invariably—but he will take no interest in it. While having perfected his taste in some single branch of art, the specialist has unquestionably atrophied40 all artistic qualities in other directions. This theory naturally becomes more or less elastic1 according to the genre41 and the character of the art lover. A man who is a specialist on certain epochs is hardly a specialist in the true sense, but rather an eclectic who has restricted his pursuits so as to reconstruct in his mind the whole artistic expression of a certain age: the medallist and such like collectors have not such a wide scope and their pursuits generally come to be characterized by method, order and a whole Indian file of historic and erudite considerations. The tout ensemble42 of an eclectic’s house presents a very decorative43 appearance, that of the specialist does not always, being mostly encumbered44 with glass cabinets or pieces of furniture with shelves adapted to his speciality. The eclectic collector will often speak of the beauty of a certain find from a purely artistic point of view, the specialist will grow poetic45 over the perfect cast, patina46, etc. The specialist in medals will often show you two or three specimens47 of the same medal only distinguished49 by the colour of the patina or differences of no artistic value, and chronological50 considerations weigh with numismatists. The specialist must therefore frequently recur51 to scientific methods.
In Paris there is a loose belief that an art lover who is an eclectic reveals a somewhat provincial52 sentiment, and that to be characterized as a true Parisian one must be a specialist in some one thing. This belief naturally implies that the specialist has refined his taste and acquired distinction from the grossness and obtuseness53 with which eclecticism is libelled. Yet this is hardly true, the best French collectors,140 such as Davilliers, Piot and others, were always enlightened eclectics in their various pursuits though having a bent54 towards specialization.
Nevertheless, we repeat that distinctions cannot be made with mathematical precision. The difference between artist and erudite, eclectic and specialist would seem to have been well defined only by Bonnaffé in his characteristic saying: “The first throws himself upon his knees before Beauty; the other asks her for her passports.”
Neither of the two methods ensures infallibility. The artistic collector, a lover at first sight, may be deceived by an imitation possessing character and general effect sufficient to pass in his eyes for an original; the erudite with his brain in the place of his heart, who demands “passports” before making up his mind, may be duped by a forged “passport,” by an imitation, that is to say, in which the details are respected even to the sacrifice of the totality which so greatly appeals to artists.
There is one more kind of art and curio collector, perhaps the most numerous of all. They have been well defined by La Bruyère more than two hundred years ago. This particular type of art lover is on the look out not for what he really loves but for that which affords him gratifications other than those art is intended to give.
“It is not an amusement,” says the author of Les Caractères in his chapter on Fashion, “but a passion often so violent that it lags behind love and ambition only as regards the paltriness55 of its object.”
Passing then from the description of the effect to the cause, La Bruyère proceeds:
“La curiosité is a taste for what one possesses and what others do not possess, an attachment56 to whatever is the vogue57 or the fashion; it is not a passion felt generally for rare and fashionable things, but only for some special thing that is rare and above all in fashion.”
To this last category, with a few slight modifications59, belongs the type of collector who might be called ultra-141modern to distinguish him from his modern confrères of yesterday, a type that can lay no claim whatever to the definition “La collection c’est l’homme,” because he never troubles himself to hunt for works of art or curios, never experiences the joys of discovery, experiences nothing perhaps, but being cheated by dealers60, friends and experts. The ultra-modern collector is, of course, amply supplied with money, and relies chiefly on his cheque-book. He is always far from the spot where he might learn wisdom, yet not so far as to be beyond the pale of the deceit and trickery of the market of la curiosité.
This latest variation carries one direct to the modern American type of collector. Not because the type does not exist in other countries, but because America has furnished the champion specimens who through the magnitude of their speculations62 in art- and curio-hunting have stamped the type. Yet even in America, where art lovers like the late Quincy Shaw, Stanford White, H. Walters, etc., have been known, the ultra-modern type represents a very recent and astonishing novelty.
One conversation on art with this modern collector is generally sufficient to reveal all absence of real passion. These greedy buyers of works of art and curios have often hardly the time to give even a glance at their glamorous64 purchases. They have certainly not the enjoyment65 that other collectors have. When they show their collections, a common way of soliciting66 admiration67 is to recount the unreasonable68 and extravagant69 prices paid.
What are they after? What is their main object in ransacking70 old Europe for artistic masterpieces to be carried off by the sheer force of money?
Lovesque says one is a connoisseur by study, an art lover by taste, and a curieux by vanity, to which Imbert wisely adds: “or speculation63.”
Making every possible exception, vanity and speculation still appear to rule alternately the ultra-modern collector.
We do not deny that many of them may be animated71 by142 the noble desire to leave their collections to their countries, but yet on closer study the attraction for the greater number of them seems to be either a modification58 of their financial interests, namely, sport and speculation combined, or an inclination72 to spend money lavishly73, everything being too easily possible by reason of their great money power. In a humorous toast at an American dinner, Stanley, the explorer, said that a citizen of the United States is never at rest till he has found something that he actually cannot afford to buy. The definition fits the millionaire art collector with more correctness and exactitude. In this field he shows himself a regular blasé of buying possibilities—and his passion for art and curios may to some extent bring him out of his torpidity74 by the extra magnitude of the investment.
As Bernard Shaw says, a millionaire can buy fifty motor-cars but can only drive one at a time. He can buy food for a whole city but has only one stomach to digest it, secure all the seats in the theatre but can only occupy one, etc. But to own a work by Michelangelo or Raphael is a different tale; it affords one the sensation of owning and driving a hundred or more motor-cars all at the same time in a sort of modern—ultra-modern—triumphal march of glory to the up-to-date Olympus of the privileged, where fame is highly seasoned with self-advertisement, and superlatives the daily ingredient of reputation.
For others the modern whim75 of collecting works of art may represent a diversion from business, or a way in which “to astonish the natives.” From this type we come to the old forms of foolishness, the Trimalchos, Euctuses and Paulluses, etc., who have changed the ancient palanquin carried by slaves for a brightly coloured motor of sixty or ninety horse-power.
One reason why this modern type of collector is so commonly deceived is because he generally lives in a sort of fool’s paradise of art trumpery76 separated from the real art market by a little understood feeling of aristocratic pride.143 The art collector of olden times used to mingle18 with dealers, learn from them where and what to buy, tramping from place to place, the former El Dorado of the “find.” The modern species would consider it beneath him to have anything to do with common dealers or to attend a public sale even for the sake of interest in art. How can they gain experience? They may engage an expert. No doubt a good expert can assist them, but the real collector carries his experience in his pocket, for the expert, like the gendarmes77 of the well-known French operetta, arrives always too late.
Sometimes a legion of experts are not able to save one from deception78. A well-known American collector on a visit to Italy with his small court of experts was once offered in Florence a crystal cup supposed to have been cut by Valerio Vicentino. With the full approval of the experts the cup was bought for the not inconsiderable sum of four thousand dollars. The handsome find turned out to be the work of a faker practising in the North of Italy and the whole scheme planned by a non-Florentine dealer61.
The fancy prices paid for antiques to-day and the peculiar idiosyncrasies of this new species of collector have quite logically somewhat changed the character of the commerce, have given another tonality to the milieu79 in which the art lover moves. It must be admitted that the trade in antiques and curios is now far less interesting than formerly80. The antiquary and dealer of yore were most interesting and characteristic. Their business could be defined by the Horatian adage81, Omne tulit punctum qui miscuit utile dulci (he wins the praise of all who mingles the useful with the pleasant), for while they had a keen eye to business, they also possessed82 the passion and intelligent understanding of art. The real antiquary hardly exists to-day, at best he is represented by some old champion, the solitary83 survivor84 of a past generation. The modern variety, even the most enlightened, is nothing but an ordinary dealer. It is no exaggeration to say that traders and antiquaries like old144 Manheim and the rest whose intelligent criticism and learning was of such assistance to the collector are no more. The vulgar jobbery of the dealer of to-day may eventually find its justification86 in the commonplace, unintelligent and gross clientele upon which it practises. With few exceptions, the ability of this pseudo-antiquary of to-day is more the ability of a common jobber85 than of an intelligent man. The trade has lost to a great extent the old artistic savour, bluff87 has succeeded capability88. The new strategy is based upon knowing before others when some new Crœsus has become a votary89 of art, upon getting in touch with him before he has lost his money or his illusions; it relies also upon what the French call “puffing what he has to sell,” and a keen insight into the client’s weak side, the ability to fan his pride and ambition.
Of course, as stated above, there are happy exceptions, merchants still honouring the trade who deal with absolute rectitude, and would be ashamed to resort to the aforesaid indirect methods to conclude a sale, but nevertheless “the gods are departing” and the erstwhile dealer plus antiquary, this interesting figure once afforded by the art and curio market, has vanished.
To whatever order a collector may belong—exception being made for the ultra-modern type who, generally speaking, has in our opinion hardly any claim to the title of art collector or even simple curio-hunter—there generally exists a preparatory stage in his career. No matter how the mania90 or passion has been caught, there are three stages in its course that can very rarely be suppressed.
The genesis of the passion is seldom spontaneous, there is generally an infective cause that helps the development of the fever for antiques and curios.
Photo]
[Alinari
Athlete.
Imitation of Roman Work by an unknown artist of the 15th Century.
It is attributed to Pollajolo.
“I believe,” says Major H. Bing Hall in his book The Adventures of a Bric-à-brac Hunter, “my friend Mrs. Haggleton’s taste for collecting the plate of Queen Anne’s era originated in the fact of her aunt having left her a teapot of that admirable period of the goldsmith’s art in England.145 The teapot inspired an ardent91 desire to possess other articles of the same style. The lady mildly commenced with salt-spoons, and became in due course the proud owner of mustard-pots, salt-cellars, and one large piece of sideboard plate, which from the day she purchased it to that of her death every night faithfully accompanied her to her bedroom. My old bachelor friend Croker, again, began collecting Wedgwood because some one had told him he possessed a very fine specimen48; while to my certain knowledge he was as ignorant of its value and exquisite93 design as his own footman could have been.”
There are naturally worthier94 causes, far higher and more pleasing motives95 to lead a man of refined taste to become a real practical collector—or dreamer according to circumstances—but the genesis above-quoted, to which might be added the having of a collector among friends or relations, is the most common.
One thing is certain, when the passion is genuine and consequently gives proof of being of a character that promises success and satisfaction, there is no cure for it, it becomes chronic96 almost invariably.
The first stage upon which the collector or simple bric-à-brac hunter is likely to enter might be called the rosy97 period of his career. He is generally inclined to optimism, he dreams of nothing but masterpieces and astonishing finds, to such an extent that he sees chefs-d’œuvre everywhere. If he owns capital, this is of course his most perilous98 period; if he has no capital, everything depends upon his wisdom, his credit, or the possibility of borrowing money. Naturally we are only referring to the most acute cases, temperaments99 vary, and the infection may be more or less dangerous according to the disposition100 of the individual.
Curiously101 enough, in this Collectomania fever, the first time what might be called a chill is taken, improvement sets in, convalescence102 perhaps. Chills in the purchasing of curios and antiques often mean an awakening103 of suspicion of being cheated.
146 A very bad chill, ague in fact, is usually experienced with the first bad bargain, when, ignorant of possible dangers, one considers oneself a full-fledged connoisseur and adds to one’s private collection a pseudo-masterpiece, realizing too late that the purse has been considerably104 lightened by a round sum paid for—rubbish. There is hardly a more sudden and effectual method of learning wisdom. Some learn at once, others are obdurate105 and need a whole sequence of misadventures before realizing that they have been cheated, or becoming aware that they themselves are chiefly responsible for being cheated.
These latter over-cheated ones, more especially, either abandon the amusement in a moment of despondency or, if they persist, enter upon the second stage of preparatory training, a stage mostly characterized by scepticism and distrust. At this moment you might offer the neophyte106 a genuine Titian for a mere107 song and, blinded by fear, he is likely to believe it a copy; offer him the most authentic108 medal by Pisanello, the very one he desired, and he will hesitate. Hesitation109 and colour-blindness are metaphorically110 the main characteristics at this time.
There is, however, a good-natured type who oscillates, pendulum-like, between one stage and another, from enthusiasm to depression.
Emerging from this second stage of semi-despondency, the neophyte is in all probability regaining111 a certain equilibrium112 and realizes above all that the buying of antiquities113 and curios is no easy matter to be handled by the first new-comer, even though well-stocked with money. This is a salient point in real progress, and from this time each year will add experience and connoisseurship. If the art lover possesses the so-called collector’s touch, it is at this particular stage he will discover that such a gift without study and practice does not lead to infallibility.
Speaking of this quality which every beginner believes himself to possess, it cannot be denied that there are people who do have a certain happy intuition of things, an almost147 miraculous114 sixth sense, fully92 testifying to the existence of what the English call the collector’s touch and the French name le flair115, but, alas116! it is so very rare. Think of it, rhabdomancy in art!
An amateur’s education is in most cases slow and by no means an easy conquest. There are no books that can teach him the practical side, the safe and important side. Book-learning is certainly of great assistance as secondary matter and completely subordinated to the education of the eye. Some of the best art connoisseurs, those of the surest touch, come from an ignorant class of workers, such as the celebrated117 Couvreur of Paris or the Milanese Basilini, a former carter who was often consulted by Morelli, the Italian art critic and inventor of the analytical118 method, a connoisseur of undisputed merit.
An antiquary of repute and art dealer of the old school claims that the perfecting of the eye resembles the focussing of a photographic apparatus119, with the difference that in photography one can learn how to focus with almost mathematical precision, whereas in connoisseurship it is a continual focussing for when what looks like a supreme120 conquest is reached, the eye becomes still more perfect and exacting121.
Similar progress characterizes the proper valuation of prices, the most elastic side of the trade.
It must be remembered that as soon as an object leaves the shop to enter the collection of a collector of repute, it increases in value, because it is presumed to be genuine and choice, having been selected by an art lover of cultivated taste. Then, too, away from the chaos122 of the shop and in a good light a work of art shows at its best.
In every branch of commerce there are shops and shops, Piccadilly and Cheapside mean the same also in the world of curio and bric-à-brac.
In conclusion, apart from the pleasure afforded by the pursuit of fine objects, there is hardly a better way for a collector to invest his money, provided he knows how to do it; and there is no worse business, none so unreliable148 and hastily ruinous as curio hunting if one is not a true and real hunter.
What to buy as safe investments is told by Gersaint, a dealer and connoisseur of the eighteenth century. He says that “by sticking to what is beautiful and fine one has the satisfaction of becoming the possessor of things that are always valuable and pleasing. I dare say that going in for the beautiful diminishes the probabilities of being duped, as often happens to those who are content with the mediocre123 or are tempted124 by low prices. It is very rare that a first-rate work of art does not realize at least the price paid for it. The mediocre is likely to lead to a loss.”
This advice, however, tacitly presupposes the collector to be able to tell the fine from the mediocre, to be, in a word, either an artist or a connoisseur.
With this part of connoisseurship we propose to deal in another chapter at the end of this work. At present we would state that the safest thing for an art and curio collector to do, whatever his ambition, is to become acquainted with the various ways of the peculiar milieu into which he is about to enter, to train his eye as much as possible, to be diffident at first and to have a passionate love for his interesting pursuit.
It will then be for the collector a source of no common enjoyment and a most pleasing occupation, an occupation somewhat justifying125 the following lyricism of Schlegel:
“There is no more potent126 antidote127 to low sensuality than the adoration128 of the beautiful.
“All the higher arts of design are essentially129 chaste130 without respect to the object.
“They purify the thoughts as tragedy purifies the passions. Their accidental effects are not worth consideration; there are souls to whom even a vestal body is not holy.”
As the reverse to the ideal side let us warn the neophyte that the supreme joy of art-hunting is often embittered131 by the jealousy132 of colleagues, and that benevolence133 in the environment in which the collector moves is as rare as the ceramics149 of Henry II and the painting of Michelangelo; so much so that Edmond Bonnaffé was fully justified134 in re-editing an old Latin saying into:—
“Homo homini lupus, fæmina fæminæ lupior, curiosus curioso lupissimus” (A man against man is like a wolf, woman against woman still more so, but most of all is curio-hunter against curio-hunter.)
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elastic
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| n.橡皮圈，松紧带；adj.有弹性的；灵活的 | |
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elasticity
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| n.弹性，伸缩力 | |
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connoisseur
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| n.鉴赏家，行家，内行 | |
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transformation
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| n.变化；改造；转变 | |
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par
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| n.标准，票面价值，平均数量；adj.票面的，平常的，标准的 | |
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partially
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| adv.部分地，从某些方面讲 | |
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virtuoso
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| n.精于某种艺术或乐器的专家，行家里手 | |
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eloquently
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| adv. 雄辩地(有口才地, 富于表情地) | |
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artistically
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| adv.艺术性地 | |
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artistic
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| adj.艺术(家)的，美术(家)的；善于艺术创作的 | |
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passionate
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| adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的 | |
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applied
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| adj.应用的；v.应用，适用 | |
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connoisseurs
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| n.鉴赏家，鉴定家，行家( connoisseur的名词复数 ) | |
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resonance
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| n.洪亮；共鸣；共振 | |
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tout
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| v.推销，招徕；兜售；吹捧，劝诱 | |
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entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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mingles
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| 混合，混入( mingle的第三人称单数 )； 混进，与…交往[联系] | |
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mingle
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| vt.使混合，使相混；vi.混合起来；相交往 | |
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tallies
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| n.账( tally的名词复数 )；符合；（计数的）签；标签v.计算，清点( tally的第三人称单数 )；加标签（或标记）于；（使）符合；（使）吻合 | |
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gathering
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| n.集会，聚会，聚集 | |
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impulsiveness
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| n.冲动 | |
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temperament
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| n.气质，性格，性情 | |
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penchant
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| n.爱好，嗜好；（强烈的）倾向 | |
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analytic
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| adj.分析的，用分析方法的 | |
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numismatist
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| n.钱币收藏家 | |
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purely
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| adv.纯粹地，完全地 | |
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gatherings
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| 聚集( gathering的名词复数 )； 收集； 采集； 搜集 | |
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peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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engrossed
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| adj.全神贯注的 | |
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connoisseurship
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| n.鉴赏家（或鉴定家、行家）身份，鉴赏（或鉴定）力 | |
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tainted
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| adj.腐坏的；污染的；沾污的；感染的v.使变质( taint的过去式和过去分词 )；使污染；败坏；被污染，腐坏，败坏 | |
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32
solely
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| adv.仅仅，唯一地 | |
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33
beholder
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| n.观看者，旁观者 | |
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34
paraphernalia
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| n.装备；随身用品 | |
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35
allied
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| adj.协约国的；同盟国的 | |
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36
eclecticism
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| n.折衷主义 | |
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37
grafting
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| 嫁接法，移植法 | |
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38
enamel
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| n.珐琅，搪瓷，瓷釉；(牙齿的)珐琅质 | |
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39
enamels
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| 搪瓷( enamel的名词复数 )； 珐琅； 釉药； 瓷漆 | |
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40
atrophied
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| adj.萎缩的，衰退的v.（使）萎缩，（使）虚脱，（使）衰退( atrophy的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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41
genre
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| n.(文学、艺术等的)类型，体裁，风格 | |
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42
ensemble
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| n.合奏(唱)组；全套服装；整体，总效果 | |
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43
decorative
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| adj.装饰的，可作装饰的 | |
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44
encumbered
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| v.妨碍，阻碍，拖累( encumber的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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45
poetic
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| adj.富有诗意的，有诗人气质的，善于抒情的 | |
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46
patina
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| n.铜器上的绿锈，年久而产生的光泽 | |
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47
specimens
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| n.样品( specimen的名词复数 )；范例；（化验的）抽样；某种类型的人 | |
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48
specimen
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| n.样本，标本 | |
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49
distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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50
chronological
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| adj.按年月顺序排列的，年代学的 | |
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51
recur
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| vi.复发，重现，再发生 | |
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52
provincial
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| adj.省的，地方的；n．外省人，乡下人 | |
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53
obtuseness
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| 感觉迟钝 | |
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54
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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55
paltriness
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| n.不足取，无价值 | |
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56
attachment
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| n.附属物，附件；依恋；依附 | |
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57
Vogue
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| n.时髦，时尚；adj.流行的 | |
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58
modification
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| n.修改，改进，缓和，减轻 | |
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59
modifications
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| n.缓和( modification的名词复数 )；限制；更改；改变 | |
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60
dealers
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| n.商人( dealer的名词复数 )；贩毒者；毒品贩子；发牌者 | |
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61
dealer
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| n.商人，贩子 | |
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62
speculations
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| n.投机买卖( speculation的名词复数 )；思考；投机活动；推断 | |
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63
speculation
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| n.思索，沉思；猜测；投机 | |
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64
glamorous
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| adj.富有魅力的；美丽动人的；令人向往的 | |
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65
enjoyment
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| n.乐趣；享有；享用 | |
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66
soliciting
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| v.恳求( solicit的现在分词 )；（指娼妇）拉客；索求；征求 | |
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67
admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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68
unreasonable
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| adj.不讲道理的，不合情理的，过度的 | |
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69
extravagant
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| adj.奢侈的；过分的；(言行等)放肆的 | |
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70
ransacking
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| v.彻底搜查( ransack的现在分词 )；抢劫，掠夺 | |
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71
animated
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| adj.生气勃勃的，活跃的，愉快的 | |
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72
inclination
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| n.倾斜；点头；弯腰；斜坡；倾度；倾向；爱好 | |
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73
lavishly
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| adv.慷慨地，大方地 | |
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74
torpidity
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| n.麻痹 | |
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75
whim
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| n.一时的兴致，突然的念头；奇想，幻想 | |
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76
trumpery
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| n.无价值的杂物；adj.（物品）中看不中用的 | |
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77
gendarmes
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| n.宪兵，警官( gendarme的名词复数 ) | |
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78
deception
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| n.欺骗，欺诈；骗局，诡计 | |
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79
milieu
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| n.环境；出身背景；(个人所处的)社会环境 | |
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80
formerly
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| adv.从前，以前 | |
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81
adage
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| n.格言，古训 | |
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82
possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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83
solitary
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| adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士 | |
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84
survivor
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| n.生存者，残存者，幸存者 | |
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85
jobber
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| n.批发商；(股票买卖)经纪人；做零工的人 | |
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86
justification
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| n.正当的理由；辩解的理由 | |
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87
bluff
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| v.虚张声势，用假象骗人；n.虚张声势，欺骗 | |
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88
capability
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| n.能力；才能；(pl)可发展的能力或特性等 | |
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89
votary
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| n.崇拜者；爱好者；adj.誓约的，立誓任圣职的 | |
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90
mania
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| n.疯狂；躁狂症，狂热，癖好 | |
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91
ardent
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| adj.热情的，热烈的，强烈的，烈性的 | |
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92
fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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93
exquisite
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| adj.精美的；敏锐的；剧烈的，感觉强烈的 | |
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94
worthier
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| 应得某事物( worthy的比较级 )； 值得做某事； 可尊敬的； 有（某人或事物）的典型特征 | |
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95
motives
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| n.动机，目的( motive的名词复数 ) | |
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96
chronic
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| adj.(疾病)长期未愈的，慢性的；极坏的 | |
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97
rosy
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| adj.美好的，乐观的，玫瑰色的 | |
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98
perilous
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| adj.危险的，冒险的 | |
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99
temperaments
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| 性格( temperament的名词复数 )； （人或动物的）气质； 易冲动； （性情）暴躁 | |
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100
disposition
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| n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署 | |
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101
curiously
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| adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地 | |
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102
convalescence
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| n.病后康复期 | |
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103
awakening
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| n.觉醒，醒悟 adj.觉醒中的；唤醒的 | |
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104
considerably
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| adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上 | |
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105
obdurate
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| adj.固执的，顽固的 | |
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106
neophyte
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| n.新信徒；开始者 | |
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107
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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108
authentic
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| a.真的，真正的；可靠的，可信的，有根据的 | |
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109
hesitation
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| n.犹豫，踌躇 | |
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110
metaphorically
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| adv. 用比喻地 | |
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111
regaining
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| 复得( regain的现在分词 )； 赢回； 重回； 复至某地 | |
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112
equilibrium
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| n.平衡，均衡，相称，均势，平静 | |
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113
antiquities
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| n.古老( antiquity的名词复数 )；古迹；古人们；古代的风俗习惯 | |
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114
miraculous
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| adj.像奇迹一样的，不可思议的 | |
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115
flair
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| n.天赋，本领，才华；洞察力 | |
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116
alas
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| int.唉(表示悲伤、忧愁、恐惧等) | |
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117
celebrated
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| adj.有名的，声誉卓著的 | |
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118
analytical
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| adj.分析的；用分析法的 | |
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119
apparatus
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| n.装置，器械；器具，设备 | |
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120
supreme
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| adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的 | |
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121
exacting
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| adj.苛求的，要求严格的 | |
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122
chaos
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| n.混乱，无秩序 | |
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123
mediocre
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| adj.平常的，普通的 | |
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124
tempted
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| v.怂恿（某人）干不正当的事；冒…的险（tempt的过去分词） | |
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125
justifying
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| 证明…有理( justify的现在分词 )； 为…辩护； 对…作出解释； 为…辩解（或辩护） | |
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126
potent
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| adj.强有力的，有权势的；有效力的 | |
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127
antidote
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| n.解毒药，解毒剂 | |
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128
adoration
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| n.爱慕，崇拜 | |
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129
essentially
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| adv.本质上，实质上，基本上 | |
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130
chaste
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| adj.贞洁的；有道德的；善良的；简朴的 | |
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131
embittered
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| v.使怨恨，激怒( embitter的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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132
jealousy
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| n.妒忌，嫉妒，猜忌 | |
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133
benevolence
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| n.慈悲，捐助 | |
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134
justified
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| a.正当的，有理的 | |
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