Dr. Proteus Treves (SMOG 1888 #54)

I was recently perusing the Smart Max catalog to see if there was/were any piece/s that I might have been a tad hasty with in my initial judgment. When I reached Dr. Proteus Treves (SMOG 1888 #54), I could not believe I had dismissed this one so readily!!! The allusion to Joseph Merrick, the legendary “Elephant Man” was, of course, fairly obvious. But there was more. . . Treves--Sir Frederick Treves, 1^st Baronet, renowned surgeon and Merrick’s attending physician--and friend. Though Merrick for the better part of the 20^th c. was thought to have suffered from neurofibromatosis, in 1986 a theory was postulated that attributed his symptoms to Proteus Syndrome: shortly after the turn of the century, neurofibromatosis was restored as a contributory condition.

Hence Dr. Proteus Treves, who, in the SMOG 1888 canon, “became infected with one of his patients’ mysterious disease that started to horribly distort his body. When his frantic medical researches for a cure failed, he turned to the darkest magic. Yet, his unsufferable [sic] pain and increasing powers finally overcame the formerly devoted doctor Treves and led him to madness, turning his suffering into bittersweet pleasure and his fear into deep-rooted hatred. “

Of course, no such fate befell Sir Frederick, but what a brilliant spin and conflation! While I certainly do not have a problem with Smart Max’s development of the SMOG-verse—all to the contrary!—I do wish they would pursue more subjects along the path taken to create Treves: a bit of the historical + a dash of the fantasy, with a generous splash of the imaginative , to provide us with another inspired concoction.

This is one of the larger Smart Max pieces, well over 60mm to the top of the head—minus the bowler. It is also relatively massive. Cast in 10 pieces + the cobblestoned plinth, this is not only one of the more substantial SM offerings, it is also one of the more ambitious in terms of design and engineering, as we shall see when I launch this project.

All that remains is to heartily applaud Smart Max’s vision and execution. . . !!!!!