APPENDIX E

Letter from Theodate to Lee Lawrie dated September 9, 1941

Dear Mr. Laurie [sic]:

I am very glad indeed to hear from you and to know that you are interested in the sculpture which is to go over the entrance to the porch of the chapel, which you will see in the photograph in the Avon Record which I am sending with this letter.

I did have the measurements, but have mislaid the paper which they were written on. I will obtain them from my associate, Lloyd Westbrook, and send them to you. What I would like, however, is not a full scale model, but a miniature to scale which we can preserve, because I do not know when the chapel will be built.

I will now try to describe to you the main points of the design:

There is to be a tree trunk off center, in order to place the Christ Child directly over the center of the entrance. Then, two tree forms against the wall, such as I have in the sculpture at the entrance to the school; but in this case I should like to have these tree trunks as pilasters against the wall, with stylized foliage extending from the left to the first free tree trunk and then on to the wall again at the end of the large space.

Joseph should be in the small opening at the left, working at his carpenter bench. The Christ Child should be represented as about twelve years of age, with hair rather long but not touching the shoulders. He should be wearing a single garment, belted carelessly, with a short skirt and no sleeves, and probably have rope sandals. There should be a special treatment about his hands and eyes. The hands should be in a tight clasp pressed against his chest, indicating earnestness, rather than folded as in prayer. His eyes should be looking at a spot about twenty feet in front of the entrance, which means the lids will be slightly lowered. There should be a deep cut in the pupil of the eyeball, to aid in increasing the earnest expression. His position should be near the round tree and directly over the center of the archway into the porch of the chapel.

On the left of the Christ Child, and slightly back of him, as is Joseph, the Virgin should stand, holding a small bowl supposedly containing food for her Son. She should have a napkin thrown over her wrist.

The most important feature about the design is that the three figures should be in the round. The bench will act as a slight support for the figures, but it, too, should be free except for the top and legs. This is done so that the three figures will stand out from the dark background of the porch in the daytime and in the evening the light in the top of the roof of the chapel porch will silhouette them. The sculpturing of the figures should be skillfully done, because they will be seen not only from the front but also from the rear, when our boys come out of the chapel.

Now, if you would like to come here - while, of course, there is not one stone of the chapel laid, not even for the foundation - I believe that you would be very much interested in seeing the school and your finials and the entrance sculpture in which my two boys were designed by you with such fidelity...

Avon Old Farms School Archives