The hand, like the face, is indicative or representative of character.
Even those who find the path to belief in the doctrines of the palmist
and chirognomist paved with innumerable thorns, cannot fail to be
interested in the illustrious manual examples, collected from the
studios of various sculptors, which accompany this article.
Mr. Adams-Acton, a distinguished sculptor, tells me his belief that
there is as great expression in the hand as in the face; and another
great artist, Mr. Alfred Gilbert, R.A., goes even a step further: he
invests the bare knee with expression and vital identity. There would,
indeed, appear to be no portion of the human frame which is incapable of
giving forth some measure of the inherent distinctiveness of its owner.
This is, I think, especially true of the hand. No one who was fortunate
enough to observe the slender, tapering fingers and singular grace of
the hand of the deceased Poet Laureate could possibly believe it the
extremity of a coarse or narrow-minded person. In the accompanying
photographs, the hand of a cool, yet enthusiastic, ratiocinative spirit
will be found to bear a palpable affinity to others whose possessors
come under this head, and yet be utterly antagonistic to Carlyle's, or
to another type, Cardinal Manning's.
[Illustration: QUEEN VICTORIA'S HANDS.]
We have here spread out for our edification hands of majesty, hands of
power; of artistic creativeness; of cunning; hands of the ruler, the
statesman, the soldier, the author, and the artist. To philosophers
disposed to resolve a science from representative examples here is
surely no lack of matter. It would, on the whole, be difficult to garner
from the century's history a more glittering array of celebrities in all
the various departments of endeavour than is here presented.
[Illustration: PRINCESS ALICE'S HAND.]
First and foremost, entitled to precedence almost by a double right, for
this cast antedates, with one exception, all the rest, are the hands of
Her Majesty the Queen. They were executed in 1844, when Her Majesty had
sat upon the throne but seven years, and, if I do not greatly err, in
connection with the first statue of the Queen after her accession. They
will no doubt evoke much interest when compared with the hand of the
lamented Princess Alice, who was present at the first ceremony, an
infant in arms of eight months. In addition to that of the Princess
Alice, taken in 1872, we have the hands of the Princesses Louise and
Beatrice, all three of whom sat for portrait statues to Sir Edgar Boehm,
R.A., from whose studio, also, emanates the cast of the hand of the
Prince of Wales.
[Illustration: THE PRINCE OF WALES'S HAND.]
[Illustration: PRINCESS BEATRICE'S HANDS. PRINCESS LOUISE'S HAND.]
In each of the manual extremities thus presented of the Royal Family,
similar characteristics may be noticed. The dark hue which appears on
the surface of the hands of the two last named Princesses is not the
fault of the photograph but of the casts, which are, unfortunately, in a
soiled condition.
[Illustration: HAND OF ANAK, THE GIANT. HAND OF CAROLINE, SISTER OF
NAPOLEON.]
It is a circumstance not a little singular, but the only cast in this
collection which is anterior to the Queen's, itself appertains to
Royalty, being none other than the hand of Caroline, sister of the first
Napoleon, who also, it must not be forgotten, was a queen. It is
purposely coupled in the photograph with that of Anak, the famous French
giant, in order to exhibit the exact degree of its deficiency in that
quality which giants most and ladies least can afford to be complaisant
over size. Certainly it would be hard to deny it grace and exquisite
proportion, in which it resembles an even more beautiful hand, that of
the Greek lady, Zoe, wife of the late Archbishop of York, which seems to
breathe of Ionian mysticism and elegance.
[Illustration: HAND OF ZOE, WIFE OF THE LATE ARCHBISHOP OF YORK.]
[Illustration: MR. GLADSTONE'S HAND.]
[Illustration: LORD BEACONSFIELD'S HAND.]
One cannot dwell long upon this quality of grace and elegance without
adverting to a hand which, if not the most wonderful among the hands
masculine, is with one exception the most beautiful. When it is stated
that this cast of Mr. Gladstone's hand was executed by Mr. Adams-Acton,
quite recently; that one looks upon the hand not of a youth of twenty,
but of an octogenarian, it is difficult to deny it the epithet
remarkable. Although the photograph is not wholly favourable to the
comparison, yet in the original plaster it is possible at once to detect
its similarity to the hand of Lord Beaconsfield.
[Illustration: CARDINAL MANNING'S HAND.]
In truth, the hands of these statesmen have much in common. Yet, for a
more striking resemblance between hands we must turn to another pair.
The sculptor calls attention to the eminently ecclesiastical character
of the hand of Cardinal Manning. It is in every respect the hand of the
ideal prelate. Yet its every attribute is common to one hand, and one
hand only, in the whole collection, that of Mr. Henry Irving, the actor.
The general conformation, the protrusion of the metacarpal bones, the
laxity of the skin at the joints, are characteristic of both.
[Illustration: HENRY IRVING'S HAND.]
[Illustration: LORD NAPIER OF MAGDALA'S HAND.]
[Illustration: SIR BARTLE FRERE'S HAND.]
There could be no mistaking the bellicose traits visible in the hands of
the two warriors Lord Napier of Magdala and Sir Bartle Frere. Both
bespeak firmness, hardihood, and command, just as Lord Brougham's hand,
which will be found represented on the next page, suggest the jurist,
orator, and debater. But it can scarcely be said that the great musician
is apparent in Liszt's hand, which is also depicted on the following
page. The fingers are short and corpulent, and the whole extremity seems
more at variance with the abilities and temperament of the owner than
any other represented in these casts, and, as a case which seems to
completely baffle the reader of character, is one of the most
interesting in the collection.
[Illustration: LORD BROUGHAM'S HAND.]
Highly gruesome, but not less fascinating, are the hands of the late
Wilkie Collins, with which we will conclude this month's section of our
subject.
[Illustration: LISZT'S HAND.]
In this connection a gentleman, who had known the novelist in life, on
being shown the cast, exclaimed: "Yes, those are the hands, I assure
you; none other could have written the 'Woman in White!'"
[Illustration: WILKIE COLLINS'S HANDS.]
NOTE.--Thanks are due to Messrs. Hamo Thorneycroft, R.A., Adams-Acton,
Onslow Ford, R.A., T. Brock, R.A., W. R. Ingram, Alfred Gilbert, R.A.,
J. T. Tussaud, Professor E. Lantéri, and A. B. Skinner, Secretary South
Kensington Museum, for courtesies extended during the compilation of
this paper.
(_To be continued._)