"And dreams in their development have breath,
And tears and tortures and the touch of joy; . . .
They do divide our being; they become
A porttion of ourselves as of our time
And look like heralds of eternity. . . ."
----Lord Byron.
Poets for ages have rhymed their dreams, sung endless words to perpetuate their inmost thoughts, but Herbert Barbee in his dingy little studio in the little town of Hamburg, Va., has for 50 years smote his chisel with a wooden mallet to chip from virgin marbles the ideals of his wakeless hours.
Now in his eighty-sixth year he is running a gallant race with Father Time with his "masterpiece of masterpieces" for the trophy--The Lost Pleiad--a piece to complement the bust of his honored father he carved and placed atop the Mary's Rock at the summit of Thornton Gap in the hazy Blue Ridge Mountains where the Barbee clan started on the road to the fame that has rightly crowned its struggle.
While this is a story of Herbert Barbee, Virginia sculptor, it of necessity includes the saga of his illustrious forbear William Randolph Barbee whose mallet and chisel won him acclaim from a nation, and the hospitality of President Buchanan. For Herbert, the son, into whose fingers the talent of the father flowed, has salvaged many of the works that made the elder famous after the ravages of war and the vicissitudes of fate had almost scored them into oblivion.
Three miles west of Luray is the present Barbee home where the sculptor has welcomed the art lovers of a nation as well as students for more than half a century.
There are plaster models of famous statues now reposing in museums all over the country; models of heroes in the South's hall of fame, Confederate monuments in Culpeper, Warrenton and the nation's capital; busts and bas-reliefs of such leaders as Lee, Jackson, Washington and Joseph Salyards, the latter a well known educator and poet of his day.
There, too, is the marble masterpiece which brought Mr. Barbee Junior his greatest mead of fame--"Star of the West," now called "Princess Pocahontas." This statue was exhibited at the great Southern Exposition in Louisville in 1883 where it captured first premium.
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"The sculptor's talent first made its appearance in our family with my father," the keen-eyed sage of Hamburg relates. "But to go back a bit first, there was a Captain John Barbee among Lafayette's men, who, when Cornwallis surrendered at Yorktown and the Continental forces were disbanded, journeyed westward and was attending the victory ball given after the war. There he met Ann Withers of Delaplane, Virginia, and after what might be called a whirlpool courtship for those staid days, they were married. That was the beginning of the Barbees in Luray.
"Dad was handy with a jackknife and was always whittling little trinkets and images. It was pure chance that he chummed some with the son of a Lynchburg millionaire and that he gave the lad one of his carvings one day. But it was a lucky chance for us Barbees. The millionaire, impressed with the creative ability the little image showed, visited father one day and told him that he wanted him to go to Italy and study the art of sculptoring.
"How my father ridiculed the idea! 'I'm a married man with a family,' he replied, 'and cannot go traipsing off around the world like that.' The millionaire insisted and further agreed that he would buy, at any price he had to pay at public auction, the first full sized statue my father might produce.
"The proposition appealed, and spurred on by my mother's ambition for him, he at last accepted the offer of John G. Meem, the Lynchburg patron of art."
At this time the Barbees lived in what was known as "The Barbee Bower" under the shoulder of Thornton Gap, a house dating back to Revolutionary days and which may yet be seen from the modern motor highway which girdles the scenic spot. It nestles down in a gully just below the spring near the summit of the climb.
"There in the days before dad took us to Italy with him, he planned the new work that was ahead, and there in The Bower was conceived the statue that was to be made in far-away Italy and which was to bring unreckoned wealth into the Barbee coffers." narrates the aged artist.
* * *
It was the "Coquette" and "The Fisher Girl" that brought lasting fame to the American, the former being his first life-size work.
Upon his return to the United States Mr. Barbee received much favorable acclaim and as an inducement to him to settle in Washington President Buchanan offered him a studio in the Capitol Building free of charge. It was in the Senate wing, the same rooms that are now used by the Government architects. He was commissioned to complete the frieze on the west wing but the outbreak of the War Between the States interrupted the work and he was never able to resume it.
"Father had a large number of fine pieces stored in the Capitol studio," continues the present Sculptor Barbee, "and when he was served with a 24-hour notice if he wished to get through the lines to the South, he gave the key to an artisan he had, and hurried away leaving all behind. These fine works were confiscated and many destroyed or lost during the four years of fighting."
But to return to the romantic adventuring of the famous "Coquette"--and the twinkle in MR. Barbee's eyes as he makes ready for the narrative assured that there is plenty of romance to it--
"When 'The Coquette' arrived in this country Mr. Meem was ready to back up his proposition and buy it, but my uncle, Andrew Russell Barbee, interfered with the new proposal which was that he take the statue on tour first and let the whole country see it. It was agreed, and "The Coquette' started its travels. My uncle owned the road between New Market and Speeryville in those days, and he had to put an agent in charge to collect the tolls--he had gates every five miles apart--and then he was off to chaperon the statue on its triumphal journey.
"It was near the end of the tour that James V. Eads of St. Louis, builder of the famous Mississippi Bridge, saw the bit of sculptoring and insisted that he be allowed to buy it. He was told that according to agreement 'The Coquette' was going back to Richmond to be auctioned off, and that if he wanted to go there and could pay enough money for it he might try to buy it that way. 'Come and bid,' he was invited.
"So in the year before the war my father's brain child arrived in Richmond and the proposed sale was duly advertised in the local papers. Mr. Meem, fulfilling his vow, sent a representative who was finally allowed to buy at $7,500. Mr. Eads then commissioned father to make him a duplicate."
* * *
This was only the start of "the Coquette's" adventures. After the sale, according to Mr. Barbee, General Meem ordered the statue shipped at once to his estate at Mount Airy where it was placed in the center of the parlor and remained there some time.
Then came the war. Troops invaded Mount Airy and the prized work of art was knocked over and an arm marred. Soon after the war Mr. Barbee died at the old home, "The Bower." Mount Airy also passed into the hands of General Meem's son, and the much traveled piece of marble became a white elephant to the new owner. He went for the present Barbee artist and asked what he might suggest be done about "The Coquette."
"I told him he should take it to Chicago where the famous exposition was about to open, and that he should go personally and insure its getting a proper setting in the arts group," explains Mr. Barbee. He did, and from that showing the statue was purchased by the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York and given a place of prominence in the lobby."
Here Mr. Barbee's story is interrupted by deep chuckles and for a moment he is lost as he visualizes a scene of several years ago. Checking himself, he continues:
"It was a laugh! I have a sister living in New York and on one of my visits to her she suggested that we stroll into the hotel and view father's masterpiece. He did. There was "The Coquette' sedately guarded by a brass rail, and she even had a chap in one of those brass-buttoned monkey-suits handy to detail her charms to visitors.
"Says I to the young fellow: 'Son, do you know the history of this statue?'
" 'Yes sir,' he replies, and begins to tell me how it was the work of an Englishman and had just come to this country. He went on and told the finest mess of lies about a good American-made piece of art I ever hope to hear. When he got all through I asked him where he got his information and he said the manager had given it to him to learn.
" 'Would you like to hear the real story of this statue?' I asked, and then began by telling him it was my father, a Virginian, who had made it.
" 'Will you tell that to my employer?' he stammered when I had berated him soundly for telling such a yarn, and straightaway he brought the hotel manager. To him I again told the true history of "The Coquette' and he was roundly astonished. But what a myth that lad was spinning."
Later, in the fire which swept the historic hostelry, "The Coquette" was badly damaged and the hotel agreed to sell her for a modest sum and Mr. Barbee's sister purchased the statue and it now adorns her New York home. So it has come back to the Barbees after more than half a century.
The original "Fisher Girl" was bought by A. T. Stewart of New York for $10,000 and is now in the possession of the Hilton family. A replica of it is in the art gallery of the Maryland Theatre in Baltimore. In regard to it I quote from the New York Leader of 1860, representative of American ciritics' acclaim:
"Attracted by the name we enter the salon purposely to view 'The Coquette,' but we leave it enshrining the lone 'Fisher Girl' in our hearts. 'The Coquette' is perfect, a triumph from which we turn to view the chaste 'Fisher Girl.' We involuntarily exclaim, Did ever Grecian Mythology embody a nereid of more beauty? Barbee has chosen the happy medium between the classic and American, giving us all the poesy of the former invested with the individuality of the latter. His creations are supremely delicate, and intangible, it more than fills the heart with its latent beauty. We regard the 'Fisher Girl' an inspiration,--a poem,--by far more difficult and original than the queenly 'Coquette.' The carving of the net is the most perfect triumph of the chisel in detail that we have ever beheld.
It was therefore with some of his father's models that Herbert Barbee began to wield a telling chisel. The models were at first some he salvaged from his father's collection and he turned the clay into marbles. Such was the famous "Star of the West." It is carved from a single block of Vermont white marble, and the delicate tracery of the lace that borders the Indian maid's blanket, as well as the coiffure which is Mr. Barbee's own conception, to the bead bandeau which holds the coiffure in place the statue warrants the fullest acclaim that has been bestowed upon it. Now it stands in little Hamburg, cobwebs under the arm that shades the haughty brow add still more delicate traceries.
As he shows visitors to his little studio the famous statue he reminds them as follows:
"In the rapid growth and progress of our nation it is good and well to pause occasionally and turn back the musty page of the past and recall the origin of our blessings, gifts, and divine favors, and thus express reverence and gratitude to our predecessors and founders for joys enjoyed and legacies left by them to us.
"So the names of Pocahontas, John Smith, and Jamestown form the trio-favors and founders who forged the first links in the golden chain which wound around and bound together the savage and enlightened peoples and nations of two hemispheres, and in this beginning created the Old Dominion--our own beloved Commonwealth of Virginia.
"Then let us ever keep before the minds of the votaries of our country and before the eyes of the off-springs of its founders and forebears an imperishable impression of their courage, sagacity, fortitude and God-given endowments of heart and mind.\
"S. L. Knapp of London, in writing a life sketch of the father of Virginia--Captain John Smith--has said: 'It must be a source of pleasure to every American to look back upon the race of men who first emigrated to that fair land of promise and laid the foundations for its future greatness.' "
* * *
But while "Star of the West" still holds a premier place in the affections of its creator for auld lang syne, it is the relentless march of Time that has pushed her back in favor of the "masterpiece of masterpieces."
"Some time back I carved a bust of my father and placed it opposite Mary's Rock on top of the Blue Ridge in Shenandoah National Park. Few people may know that my father named that now well known spot--Mary's Rock--for my mother in theh days of their romantic courtship, but that was the site of our old home," Mr. Barbee relates musingly.
"Now my dream is to complete the model of the Lost Pleiad, conceived by my father, and place the marble on that summit too, where my father's bust may look skyward and there find the 'Lost Pleiads' of his hopes."
"My conception of father's 'Lost Pleiad' is a beautiful maidenly form reclining on a rock, gazing into the heavens and holding over her head a shining star that her sisters in the heavens may recognize her down here on earth. This follows that mythological story I like best in connection with the Pleiades.
"It is the story of the seven daughters of Atlas and Pleione who were found wandering in the woods by Orion who, with outstretched arms, tried to catch them. They sped away, afraid of their pursuer, but were unable to shake him from their trail. Their cries for help were heard by Jupiter who, seeing Orion about to overtake them, changed six into stars and placed them in the heavens out of Orion's reach. The seventh, being more fleet than her sisters, was seemingly safe for the pursuit and she, he did not change.
"But Orion, being a god, and having the same power as Jupiter, changed himself into a star and went on chasing the six sisters, even as now he chases them across the heavens. It is the seventh sister, the Pleiad, who in her search for her lost sisters stops to rest on a rock, and gazing into the sky sees them transformed into stars, that my dream ideal is built around.
"When it is completed I plan to have the star in her head illuminated so that I can press a button in the old home--The Bower--and the Barbee light will shine forth and the 'lost Pleiads of the Barbees' may know their earth-bound ones have not forgotten and that they may be recognized. Isn't it a pretty dream?"
But years are creeping on, and a passing infirmity to his right hand, the one that guides the deftly placed chisel, delays the putting into execution of his dreams.
