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192
The House in Good Taste
·
Elsie De Wolfe
154
Italy
is,
I
think,
the
greatest
workshop
of
fraudulent
reproductions.
It
has
an
output
that
all
Europe
and
America
can
never
exhaust.
Little
children
on
the
streets
of
Naples
still
find
simpletons
of
ardent
faith
who
will
buy
scraps
of
old
plaster
and
bits
of
paving
stones
that
are
alleged
to
have
been
excavated
in
Pompeii.
In
writing
about
antiques
it
is
not
easy
to
be
consistent,
and
any
general
conclusion
is
impossible.
Certain
reproductions
are
objectionable,
and
yet
they
are
certainly
better
than
poor
originals,
after
all.
The
simplest
advice
is
the
best
and
easiest
to
follow:
The
less
a
copy
suggests
an
attempt
at
"artistic
reproduction,"
the
more
literal
and
mechanical
it
is
in
its
copy
of
the
original,
the
better
it
is.
A
good
photograph
of
a
fine
old
painting
is
superior
to
the
average
copy
in
oils
or
watercolors.
A
chair
honestly
copied
from
a
worm
eaten
original
is
better
for
domestic
purpose
than
the
original.
The
original,
the
moment
its
usefulness
is
past,
belongs
in
a
museum.
A
plaster
cast
of
a
great
bust
is
better
than
the
same
object
copied
in
marble
or
bronze
by
an
average
sculptor.
And
so
it
goes.
Think
it
out
for
yourself.
It
may
be
argued
that
the
budding
collector
is
as
happy
with
a
false
object
and
a
fake
bauble
as
if
he
possessed
the
real
thing,
and
therefore
it
were
better
to
leave
him
to
his
illusions;
that
it
is
his
own
fault;
that
it
is
so
much
the
worse
for
him
if
he
is
deceived.
But--you
can't
leave
the
innocent
lamb
to
the
slaughter,
if
you
can
give
him
a
helping
hand.
If
he
must
be
a
collector,
let
him
be
first
a
collector
of
the
many
excellent
books
now
published
on
old
furniture,
china,
rugs,
pewter,
silver,
prints,
the
things
that
will
come
his
way.
You
can't
begin
collecting
one
thing
without
developing
an
enthusiasm
for
the
contemporary
things.
Let
him
study
the
museum
collections,
visit
the
private
collections,
consult
recognized
experts.
If
he
is
serious,
he
will
gradually
acquire
the
intuition
of
knowing
the
genuine
from
the
false,
the
worth-while
from
the
worthless,
and
once
he
has
that
knowledge,
instinct,
call
it
what
you
will,
he
can
never
be
satisfied
with
imitations.
Marker
Marker
Fine marker
White-out
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Circle
Paint
Unmarker
Hand
Scalpel
Dice
Sieve
Purify
Undo
Redo
Start over
