About five months back, someone messaged me on Reddit saying that he thought he'd found one of Clark Ashton Smith's sculptures in an antique shop in Rhode Island. So he sent me a picture of the find: [imgur.com]

It was signed "KA" at the bottom, as some of Smith's statuettes are, but it wasn't among any of the published collections of Smith's material. So I gave a qualified "maybe" - until today, when I got in Centipede Press' latest in, IN THE REALMS OF MYSTERY AND WONDER and I open it to find... [imgur.com]

How did it wind up in Rhode Island? Was Lovecraft involved?

Is good question, not sure. Smith sold some of the sculptures, and sent a collection of them on a sort of "tour" by mail. Lovecraft could have been involved, or it might have happened later, in the 40s and 50s.

I cannot shake this vision of Lovecraft selling the piece, a gift from his friend Smith, to get money for food . . .

'bout zero chance of that. Lovecraft was close to poverty for much of his adult life and skimped on meals to save money, but even if he had been so inclined - and he never appears to have been that desperate - how much could a statuette of a relatively unknown California poet have gotten him, to end up mislabeled in a Providence antique shop decades later? More likely it was either bought from Smith by someone else and dispersed with an estate.

Also, we must not forget that Lovecraft was an idealist gentleman, who all his life struggled for that which is true (in the ultimate sense, overriding the uncomfortable and painful) and morally right. As those who knew him and all those who have read and enjoyed his letters can avow.

Ancient History Wrote:
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> how much could a statuette of a
> relatively unknown California poet have gotten
> him

Surely enough to cover a few cans of beans. And ice cream.

The idea of E'ch-Pi-El selling the piece for food or poftage stamps is hilarious.
I am deep into my appreciation of ye stunning new volume from Centipede Press, In the Realms of Mystery and Wonder--Collected Prose Poems and Artwork of Clark Ashton Smith. Whut a treasure!!

"I'm a little girl."
--H. P. Lovecraft, Esq.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 1 Nov 17 | 10:21AM by wilum pugmire.

Ancient History Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> About five months back, someone messaged me on
> Reddit saying that he thought he'd found one of
> Clark Ashton Smith's sculptures in an antique shop
> in Rhode Island. So he sent me a picture of the
> find: [imgur.com]
>
Did he buy it after he found it? 95 freakin' dollars...I'd'a paid three times that without even blinking.

Wonder what's lying in the dusty corner of some junk store or antique shop in the Auburn area...

Yes, he bought it.