Anonymous Siamese Makers Miniature Temple ca. 1850-1900 painted, lacquered and gilded wood Asian Art Museum, San Francisco |
Anonymous American Makers Phoenix ca. 1800-1825 carved and gilded pine Newport Mansions Preservation Society, Rhode Island |
Anonymous Indian Makers Jewish Wedding Crown ca. 1850-1925 silver-gilt and glass Asian Art Museum, San Francisco |
Anonymous Tibetan Makers Amulet Holder ca. 1930-40 gold, silver, turquoise Asian Art Museum, San Francisco |
Anonymous American Makers Buttons 18th century pewter Newport Historical Society, Rhode Island |
Anonymous French Makers Miniature Baskets of Flowers 18th century giltwood Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston |
Anonymous Mexican Makers St Michael Archangel ca. 1700 painted alabaster Denver Art Museum |
Anonymous Japanese Makers Aspara (Buddhist celestial being) 17th or 18th century painted wood San Diego Museum of Art |
Anonymous French Makers Romanesque Capital with Acanthus Ornamentation ca. 1125-50 limestone Saint Louis Art Museum |
Anonymous French Makers Garden Urns with Satyr Masks 19th century marble Newport Mansions Preservation Society, Rhode Island |
Anonymous French Makers Garden Vase with Lid 19th century limestone Newport Mansions Preservation Society, Rhode Island |
Anonymous Spanish or Portuguese Makers Ring ca. 1770-1800 gold ring, with chrysoberyls set in silver (formerly owned by Alice B. Toklas) Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge |
Anonymous Swiss Makers Hebe and Jupiter ca. 1825 shell cameo in gold mount Musées d'Art et d'Histoire, Genève |
Anonymous French Makers Dormition and Coronation of the Virgin ca. 1525-50 marble relief Denver Art Museum |
Anonymous Spanish Makers Baptism of Christ ca. 1550 marble relief (imitation of Donatello) Museo de Bellas Artes de Valencia |
Chiriqui Culture (Costa Rica) Sphere AD 800-1500 volcanic stone Denver Art Museum |
Telemachus' Confession
They
were not better off
when he left; ultimately
I was better off. This
amazed me, not because I was convinced
I needed them both but because
long into adulthood I retained
something of the child's
hunger for ritual. How else address
that sense of being
insufficiently loved? Possibly
all children are
insufficiently loved; I
wouldn't know. But all along
they each wanted something
different from me: having
to fabricate the being
each required in any
given moment was
less draining than
having to be
two people. And after awhile
I realized I was
actually a person; I had
my own voice, my own perceptions, though
I came to them late. I no longer regret
the terrible moment in the fields,
the ploy that took
my father away. My mother
grieves enough for us all.
– Louise Glück (1996)