Adams, Adeline: The spirit of American sculpture (New York: Nat. Sculpture Soc., 1923)

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THE SPIRIT OF
early seventeenth century. As the tur-
tle carries his house on his back, so
the architect, in a sense, may carry
his home in his pocket. The drawings
and inherited traditions of cabinet-
makers, carpenters, and architects
supplied our colonists with excellent
models for furniture, for mansions,
for churches, for state-houses. Such
models were not slavishly followed.
They were adapted, often with great
originality and skill, sometimes with
creative genius.
The colonists’ sense of form grati-
fied itself in these directions, since the
time was not ripe for sculpture. Dili-
gent in fostering both foreign impor-
tations and local industry, the more
prosperous of our forefathers had
good houses, good furniture, good sil-
ver, good clothes, and even good paint-
ings long before they had any good
sculpture. Statues, unlike chocolate-
pots and meeting-houses, cannot, even
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MRS. PATIENCE WRIGHT