University of Virginia Library

'Soundings'

Instructor, Restorator Attract Attention

By John Casteen

Over in Cocke Hall, Mrs. Joan
Fry lectures at ten on Mondays,
Wednesdays, and Fridays on
ancient art. We went to hear Mrs.
Fry talk about the royal graves at
Ur one day last week, and followed
her to her office after the lecture to
ask her about her work in classical
art and archaeology.

Healthy Twiggy

Mrs. Fry, an attractive, energetic
young lady who looks more like a
healthy twiggy than a sometime
disturber of royal graves, told us
that she has always been interested
in the ancient world. "It's an
exciting field to study, because our
present knowledge is so small, and
because we are learning constantly
from the new diggings and
explorations that are going on in
the ancient world." How did she
come to be an archaeologist and art
historian? "I was always interested
in Greece and things Greek, but my
interest became really strong when
I was in college. I went to Berkeley,
where there was a good classical
languages program, and majored in
ancient Greek. I stayed there for
graduate school and took an M.A.
in classical archaeology. Then I
went to Greece and worked in the
excavations of the American School
of Classical Studies for a year. And,
after that, I worked in the
excavations at Corinth."

We asked Mrs. Fry what she
expects to teach in an ancient art
course. "The main thing, of course,
is the recorded history of what men
created and enjoyed in the ancient
world - the architecture, statuary,
jewelry, and other plastic objects
that tell us how they looked at life.
We want our students to know and
understand the most important art
objects both as objects and as the
markings of past civilizations." She
paused momentarily. "But there are
other things that get left out of
ancient art courses sometimes.
Right now my students are reading
Sir Leonard Woolley's explanation
of the excavations at Ur, and we are
dealing briefly with the problems
and techniques of the archaeologist,
with how art objects are recovered
from the past. I want also to
communicate a sense of the way in
which the ancient world was an
interrelated artistic community. We
have come to know quite a lot
about routes of commerce and
directions of cultural influence in
the ancient world, so we can discuss
some of the ways in which widely
scattered civilizations touched one
another. I think there is a good case
for the argument that currents of
influence flow from Mesopotamia
to Greece and from Egypt to
Greece, and I expect to try to
demonstrate some of these
influences to my students."

What are some of Mrs. Fry's
students interested in? Why do they
enroll in a course in ancient art?
"They are more interested in art
history, I think, than in
archaeology. Since the class is small
and relatively informal, I can shape
the course to meet student needs.
To a certain degree, I teach topics
that appeal to them. This is one of
the exciting things about studying
the ancient world - there are so
many open questions that you can
study for a lifetime and not exhaust
the possibilities."

*****

Paul Hoffman is a graduate
History student whose hobby is
collecting and restoring cars. Since
we have been hearing stories about
his cars for several years, we took
him up on an invitation to go over
to his house for a look at a classic
1953 MG-TD that he has just
finished restoring.

Paul showed us the car, which
has a gleaming new white finish and
soft red leather upholstery, and
told us its history. "It was my
wife's car, actually," he began.
"She bought it in 1964 and drove it
for about 2 years before we decided
to restore it. It was in pretty good
shape before we started working on
it, but previous owners had made
changes in it so that it was not
original." What does one do to
restore a car? "Well, probably no
two restorations are quite alike. We
started this one by tearing it all to
pieces. The car has a wooden
frame" - he pointed out a
hardwood rail under the running
board - "and we had to start by
refinishing and strengthening that.
Then we rebuilt the engine to new
car specifications, and worked our
way through the drive train and
body. We even replated the original
brass brightwork. I'd say that right
now the car is exactly like it was
when it was new, all original
throughout." The cost? "Well, I
couldn't say exactly, because you
don't keep close records on this
kind of work, but it took
something like $2,000 and 20 hours
a week for 2 years, plus the
purchase price of the car."

We asked whether Paul actually
drives the restored car. "I certainly
do. Boule (Mrs. Hoffman) and I
drove it up to Danbury,
Connecticut, last weekend for the
New England MG-T Register's
'gathering of the faithful' - that's
the national rally for these cars -
and went 420 miles in just under 8
hours, including 30 minutes
stopped on Interstate 95 while a
wreck up ahead was cleared." Was
the ride comfortable? "Sure. It's
really a comfortable car of its type.
And we worked hard to get the
seats restuffed and upholstered to
ride well." We sat in the driver's
seat, and found it as comfortable as
a good modern seat. "The ride is
firm," Paul continued, "but that's
part of the idea in a real sports
car."

Paul told us that the MG's
engine (1250 cc. - 54.4
horsepower) is relatively small for a
sports car, but that its light weight
(2072 lbs.) and strong transmission
make it competitive with most light
cars. "It runs better than most new
cars," he explained as he switched
on the engine, "and you can't buy a
car that is more fun to drive. There
were 189 of these cars at the
Danbury rally, and maybe 400
owners and drivers, so you can see
that people who know about them
like them pretty well."

His other cars? "Well, right now
there's a 1967 Mercedes 250 SL out
in the back yard; a 1929 Essex at
home in Pennsylvania, and a 1963
Chevrolet sedan out in front of the
house. We try to keep quiet about
the Chevrolet." And his next
project? "I've been helping a friend
of mine with his Rolls-Royce, and
going with him to Rolls and
Bentley shows. If I can sell the 250
SL, I've got my eye on a real sharp
1934 Bentley speedster that would
be a great car for restoration."