Monday, January 30, 2012

We Lost the Starkweather Fountain, But It Could Have Been Worse

New York's J. L. Mott Ironworks company designed the onetime downtown fountain of Hebe, Cup-Bearer to the Gods. The company manufactured many types of statues as well as a wide range of other plumbing and household fixtures. Sad as it is that Ypsi lost her Hebe, it could have been worse. What if the city had ordered THIS statue instead, also by the J. L. Mott Co.? I'm guessing that this 1890 monstrosity would never have "disappeared"--who would want it? And we'd have this to look at, down to this day.

Or is it kind of awesome in its sheer ugliness? Hmm...now I can't decide.
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2 comments:

  1. UnknownFebruary 9, 2012 at 1:59 PM

    That's pretty Victorian. Whew. A friend of mine always used to quip, "Nothing exceeds like excess." That about perfectly describes this statue.

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  2. Dusty DFebruary 9, 2012 at 3:15 PM

    As it turns out in the final design the coiling snake was omitted entirely. So I suppose you could say they "toned it down." :) But still...

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