Saturday, February 11, 2012

Aesthetic Wavelength

I love trains. Is it a 'man thing' to get a kick out of bulky machinery like a train? I remember my old Lionel catalogue of the late '50s that had a pink train set available for the girls. How sexist was that? It's fascinating to see huge trains scaled down to a size one can pick up and look at from all angles. I gave up my boyhood train set many years ago . . . except I just had to keep the engine and coal car and a couple pieces of track, which makes a great objet d'art lined up on a book shelf—a piece of sculpture, if you will.

I know that a miniature model is not the same thing as a sculpture. Yet a model can be enjoyed on the same aesthetic wavelength as a sculpture, as one views the play of light and shadow revealing form and texture.

Photo by Detlef Schwarz

Not my boyhood train, believe me — above is a hand-finished model (1:32), made of brass by the German firm of Markscheffel & Lennartz of a class G12 engine originally built from 1917 to 1921. They ran until 1953 in West Germany and as late as 1968 in East Germany. The model's monetary value? Well, if you have to ask, it would max out your credit card and then some. But idn't it a beauty?

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1 comment:

  1. AnnieFebruary 11, 2012 at 9:24 AM

    Sigh... I never had my own train set, but I played with the set that belonged to my brothers- not a huge set, but we had the engine with a transformer, an assortment of cars, and the metal track. My husband still has his train engine and a few cars in a box somewhere. I agree about the appeal of the realistic in miniature, and I love the way you wrote this sentence: "... a model can be enjoyed on the same aesthetic wavelength as a sculpture, as one views the play of light and shadow revealing form and texture."

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