Sometimes just the hunt for statues can be an adventure. Take the quest for "Mrs. Bates on the Half-Shell" for example. I'd read that the first statue in Boston Public Garden was a classic nude of "Venus Rising from the Sea". Because she was given (in 1861) to the city by wealthy Mr. Bates, it didn't take long for the citizens of the Hub to start calling her Mrs. Bates. I'd seen drawings of her and ran across refernces to her in Victorian novels and stories, but couldn't find out whatever happened to her.
When I began research on statues in the Public Garden, I started the hunt in earnest. It led to some people who thought they'd seen it in a barn in Ipswich, and someone else who had a name of the person they thought might know something. According to the records of the Arts Commission, it was taken away by Parks and Rec in the early 30's for repairs, but they reported it was too badly damaged by wind, water, and weather to fix. Then- it disappeared. There were notes that the Commission tried to find it, but without luck until the late 30's. Then they found out where she was, but couldn't decide whether to get her back from the new owners. Eventually they chose to let her go, since they wouldn't be able to restore her anyway.
From Rhode Island to the North Shore, I made phone calls and whammo! I met the woman who owned her. On a September day I drove to her home in the country and found my beauty, modest still and weathered, standing in a wooded spot, surrounded by nature. I've never felt so moved by anything. This was the 1861 babe who'd been seen by Emerson and Howell and the Jameses and even, presumably, by Oscar Wilde and Dickens on their trips to Boston. Why, even Ho Chi Mihn may have seen her if he'd taken time off from working at the Parker House to go strolling in the Garden.
10:40:25 AM 
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