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166 COUNTERCHECK QUARRELSOME the editor, being a polite man, would reply, I suppose, that his critic had misunderstood the policy of the paper : he would not feel that his arguments had received any very damaging blow. In my first I chapter made it clear my publishers accused me of becoming repetitious about it that what I wanted to discover was a quality common and peculiar to all those objects I called works of art ; I explained that by " works of art " I meant objects that provoked in me a peculiar emotion, called aesthetic ; and I repeated over and over again that amongst these objects were pictures, pots, textiles, statues, buildings, etc. Mr. Davies's sharp eyes have enabled him to perceive either that my hypothesis that " significant form " is the essential quality in a work of art leads to the inclusion of Persian carpets amongst works of art, or that the hypothesis that representation is the essence of art excludes them : I am not sure which. Anyway, this much is certain, either both pictures and carpets can be works of art or they cannot. I set out from the hypothesis that pictures and carpets, or rather some pictures and some carpets, are works of art ; and therefore I am less inclined to feel crushed by Mr. Davies's discovery that my premises follow from my conclusions than to inquire why Mr. Davies
COUNTERCHECK QUARRELSOME 167 does not consider carpets and pots and buildings works of art, or, if, after all, he does consider them works of art, to what class he relegates pictures and statues. is My object to discover some quality common and peculiar to all works of art. Such a quality there must be unless when we use the term " works of art " we gibber. Does Mr. Davies assert that only pictures and statues can be works of art ? Or are we to assume that he ? gibbers Even if I cannot argue profitably with my new friend I may be able to give him a useful hint. For though, as he wittily observes, he is still much older than I am, it is conceivable that I enjoy a wider aesthetic experience. " To look for the same qualities in a carpet and a picture would be equally absurd, seeing that one is intended to hang on the wall and the other to be laid on the floor. If any one doubts this, let him frame his carpets and put his canvases over the parquet." To hang on the wall was, of course, precisely the purpose for which many of the finest Oriental carpets were intended ; but disdaining all considerations, no matter how relevant, that seem to set a premium on scholarship, I will gladly put my friend and his readers in the way of carrying out this interesting experiment. They need not jeo-
- Page 127 and 128: TRELAWNY'S LETTERS 1 ANY one who ha
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COUNTERCHECK QUARRELSOME 167<br />
does not consider carpets and pots and buildings<br />
works of art, or, if, after all, he does consider<br />
them works of art, to what class he relegates<br />
pictures and statues. is My object to discover<br />
some quality common and peculiar to all<br />
works of art. Such a quality there must be<br />
unless when we use the term " works of art "<br />
we gibber. Does Mr. Davies assert that only<br />
pictures and statues can be works of art ?<br />
Or are we to assume that he ?<br />
gibbers<br />
Even if I cannot argue profitably with my<br />
new friend I may be able to give him a useful<br />
hint. For though, as he wittily observes, he<br />
is still much older than I am, it is conceivable<br />
that I enjoy a wider aesthetic experience.<br />
" To look for the same qualities in a carpet<br />
and a picture would be equally absurd, seeing<br />
that one is intended to hang on the wall and<br />
the other to be laid on the floor. If any one<br />
doubts this, let him frame his carpets and put<br />
his canvases over the parquet."<br />
To hang on the wall was, of course, precisely<br />
the purpose for which many of the finest<br />
Oriental carpets were intended ; but disdaining<br />
all considerations, no matter how<br />
relevant, that seem to set a premium on<br />
scholarship, I will gladly put my friend and<br />
his readers in the way of carrying out this<br />
interesting experiment. They need not jeo-
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