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diff --git a/14824-0.txt b/14824-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..e5c1de3 --- /dev/null +++ b/14824-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,5097 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 14824 *** + +FURNISHING THE HOME OF GOOD TASTE + +A BRIEF SKETCH OF THE PERIOD STYLES IN INTERIOR DECORATION WITH +SUGGESTIONS AS TO THEIR EMPLOYMENT IN THE HOMES OF TODAY + +BY + +LUCY ABBOT THROOP + + +NEW YORK ROBERT M. MCBRIDE & CO. + +1920 + + + * * * * * + + +1910 THE CROWELL PUBLISHING CO. + +1911, 1912, MCBRIDE, NAST & CO. + +1920, ROBERT M. MCBRIDE & CO. + + +NEW AND REVISED EDITION + +Published, September, 1920 + + + * * * * * + + +[Illustration: _Trowbridge & Livingston, architects._ + +A principle which can be applied to both large and small +houses is shown in the beauty of the panel spacing and the adequate +support of the cornice by the pilasters.] + + +_Contents_ + +PREFACE i + +EGYPT AND GREECE 1 + +THE RENAISSANCE IN ITALY 7 + +THE DEVELOPMENT OF DECORATION IN FRANCE 17 + +LOUIS XIV 29 + +THE REGENCY AND LOUIS XV 87 + +LOUIS XVI 47 + +THE EMPIRE 58 + +ENGLISH FURNITURE FROM GOTHIC DAYS TO THE PERIOD OF QUEEN ANNE 59 + +QUEEN ANNE 78 + +CHIPPENDALE AND THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY IN ENGLAND 79 + +ROBERT ADAM 91 + +HEPPLEWHITE 97 + +SHERATON 103 + +A GENERAL TALK 111 + +GEORGIAN FURNITURE 135 + +FURNISHING WITH FRENCH FURNITURE 149 + +COUNTRY HOUSES 159 + +THE NURSERY AND PLAY-ROOM 169 + +CURTAINS 175 + +FLOORS AND FLOOR COVERINGS 185 + +THE TREATMENT OF WALLS 195 + +ARTIFICIAL LIGHTING 209 + +PAINTED FURNITURE 221 + +SYNOPSIS OF PERIOD STYLES AS AN AID IN BUYING FURNITURE 231 + + + + +_The Illustrations_ + +A modern dining-room _Frontispiece_ + + FACING PAGE +Italian Renaissance fireplace and overmantel, modern 8 + +Doorways and pilaster details, Italian Renaissance 9 + +Two Louis XIII chairs 22 + +A Gothic chair of the fifteenth century 23 + +A Louis XIV chair 32 + +Louis XIV inlaid desk-table 33 + +Louis XIV chair with underbracing 33 + +A modern French drawing-room 40 + +A drawing-room, old French furniture and tapestry 41 + +Early Louis XIV chair 44 + +Louis XV _bergère_ 44 + +Louis XVI bench 45 + +Louis XVI from Fontainebleau 50 + +American Empire bed 51 + +An Apostles bed of the Tudor period 60 + +Adaptation of the style of William and Mary to dressing table 61 + +Reproduction of Charles II chair 61 + +Living-room with reproductions of different periods 64 + +Original Jacobean sofa 65 + +Reproductions of Charles II chairs 65 + +Reproductions of Queen Anne period 72 + +Reproduction of James II chair 73 + +Reproduction of William and Mary chair 73 + +Gothic and Ribbonback types of Chippendale chairs 78 + +Chippendale mantel mirror showing French influence 79 + +Chippendale fretwork tea-table 79 + +Chippendale china cupboard 82 + +Typical chairs of the eighteenth century 83 + +Chippendale and Hepplewhite sofas 86 + +Adam mirror, block-front chest of drawers, and Hepplewhite chair 87 + +Two Adam mantels 92 + +A group of old mirrors 93 + +Dining-room furnished with Hepplewhite furniture 96 + +Old Hepplewhite sideboard 97 + +Reproduction of Hepplewhite settee 97 + +Sheraton chest of drawers 104 + +Sheraton desk and sewing-table 105 + +Dining-room in simple country house 112 + +Dining-room furnished with fine old furniture 113 + +Dorothy Quincy's bed-room 124 + +Two valuable old desks 125 + +Pembroke inlaid table 144 + +Sheraton sideboard 144 + +Four post bed 145 + +Doorway detail, Compiègne 152 + +Reproduction of a bed owned by Marie Antoinette 153 + +Reproduction of Louis XVI bed 153 + +A Georgian hallway 162 + +Rare block-front chest of drawers 163 + +A modern living-room 178 + +Curtain treatment for a summer home 179 + +Hallway showing rugs 188 + +Hallway showing rugs 189 + +Colonial bed-room 189 + +Dining-room with paneled walls 196 + +Four post bed owned by Lafayette 197 + +Modern dining-room 204 + +Four post bed 205 + +Reproductions of Adam painted furniture 222 + +Three-chair Sheraton settee 223 + +Reproduction of a Sheraton wing-chair 223 + +Slat-backed chair 223 + +Group of chairs and pie-crust table 232 + +Groups of chairs 233 + +Reproduction of Jacobean buffet 236 + +Group of mirrors 237 + +Reproduction of William and Mary settee 240 + +Adaptation of Georgian ideas to William and Mary dressing table 240 + +Two Adam chairs 241 + +Jacobean day-bed 241 + +Reproductions of Chippendale table and Hepplewhite desk 244 + +Reproduction of Sheraton chest of drawers 245 + +Reproduction of William and Mary chest of drawers 245 + +A modern sun-room 246 + +Sheraton sofa 247 + +Hepplewhite chair and nest of tables 247 + +Chippendale wing-chair 247 + +Modern paneled living-room 248 + +Empire bed 248 + +Hancock desk, and fine old highboy 249 + + + + +_Preface_ + + +To try to write a history of furniture in a fairly short space is almost +as hard as the square peg and round hole problem. No matter how one +tries, it will not fit. One has to leave out so much of importance, so +much of historic and artistic interest, so much of the life of the +people that helps to make the subject vivid, and has to take so much for +granted, that the task seems almost impossible. In spite of this I shall +try to give in the following pages a general but necessarily short +review of the field, hoping that it may help those wishing to furnish +their homes in some special period style. The average person cannot +study all the subject thoroughly, but it certainly adds interest to the +problems of one's own home to know something of how the great periods of +decoration grew one from another, how the influence of art in one +country made itself felt in the next, molding and changing taste and +educating the people to a higher sense of beauty. + +It is the lack of general knowledge which makes it possible for +furniture built on amazingly bad lines to be sold masquerading under the +name of some great period. The customer soon becomes bewildered, and, +unless he has a decided taste of his own, is apt to get something which +will prove a white elephant on his hands. One must have some standard +of comparison, and the best and simplest way is to study the great work +of the past. To study its rise and climax rather than the decline; to +know the laws of its perfection so that one can recognize the +exaggeration which leads to degeneracy. This ebb and flow is most +interesting: the feeling the way at the beginning, ever growing surer +and surer until the high level of perfection is reached; and then the +desire to "gild the lily" leading to over-ornamentation, and so to +decline. However, the germ of good taste and the sense of truth and +beauty is never dead, and asserts itself slowly in a transition period, +and then once more one of the great periods of decoration is born. + +There are several ways to study the subject, one of the pleasantest +naturally being travel, as the great museums, palaces, and private +collections of Europe offer the widest field. In this country, also, the +museums and many private collections are rich in treasures, and there +are many proud possessors of beautiful isolated pieces of furniture. If +one cannot see originals the libraries will come to the rescue with many +books showing research and a thorough knowledge and appreciation of the +beauty and importance of the subject in all its branches. + +I have tried to give an outline, (which I hope the reader will care to +enlarge for himself), not from a collector's standpoint, but from the +standpoint of the modern home-maker, to help him furnish his house +consistently,--to try to spread the good word that period furnishing +does not necessitate great wealth, and that it is as easy and far more +interesting to furnish a house after good models, as to have it banal +and commonplace. + +The first part of this little book is devoted to a short review of the +great periods, and the second part is an effort to help adapt them to +modern needs, with a few chapters added of general interest to the +home-maker. + +A short bibliography is also added, both to express my thanks and +indebtedness to many learned and delightful writers on this subject of +house furnishing in all its branches, and also as a help to others who +may wish to go more deeply into its different divisions than is possible +within the covers of a book. + +I wish to thank the Editors of _House and Garden_ and _The Woman's Home +Companion_ for kindly allowing me to reprint articles and portions of +articles which have appeared in their magazines. + +I wish also to thank the owners of the different houses illustrated, and +Messrs. Trowbridge and Livingston, architects, for their kindness in +allowing me to use photographs. + +Thanks are also due Messrs. Bergen & Orsenigo, Nahon & Company, Tiffany +Studios, Joseph Wild & Co. and the John Somma Co. for the use of +photographs to illustrate the reproduction of period furniture and rugs +of different types. + + + + + +_Egypt and Greece_ + + +The early history of art in all countries is naturally connected more +closely with architecture than with decoration, for architecture had to +be developed before the demand for decoration could come. But the two +have much in common. Noble architecture calls for noble decoration. +Decoration is one of the natural instincts of man, and from the earliest +records of his existence we find him striving to give expression to it, +we see it in the scratched pieces of bone and stone of the cave +dwellers, in the designs of savage tribes, and in Druidical and Celtic +remains, and in the great ruins of Yucatan. The meaning of these +monuments may be lost to us, but we understand the spirit of trying to +express the sense of beauty in the highest way possible, for it is the +spirit which is still moving the world, and is the foundation of all +worthy achievement. + +Egypt and Assyria stand out against the almost impenetrable curtain of +pre-historic days in all the majesty of their so-called civilization. +Huge, massive, aloof from the world, their temples and tombs and ruins +remain. Research has given us the key to their religion, so we +understand much of the meaning of their wall-paintings and the buildings +themselves. The belief of the Egyptian that life was a short passage and +his house a mere stopping-place on the way to the tomb, which was to be +his permanent dwelling-place, explains the great care and labor spent on +the pyramids, chapels, and rock sepulchers. They embalmed the dead for +all eternity and put statues and images in the tombs to keep the mummy +company. Colossal figures of their gods and goddesses guarded the tombs +and temples, and still remain looking out over the desert with their +strange, inscrutable Egyptian eyes. The people had technical skill which +has never been surpassed, but the great size of the pyramids and temples +and sphinxes gives one the feeling of despotism rather than +civilization; of mass and permanency and the wonder of man's achievement +rather than beauty, but they personify the mystery and power of ancient +Egypt. + +The columns of the temples were massive, those of Karnak being seventy +feet high, with capitals of lotus flowers and buds strictly +conventionalized. The walls were covered with hieroglyphics and +paintings. Perspective was never used, and figures were painted side +view except for the eye and shoulder. In the tombs have been found many +household belongings, beautiful gold and silver work, beside the +offerings put there to appease the gods. Chairs have been found, which, +humorous as it may sound, are certainly the ancestors of Empire chairs +made thousands of years later. This is explained by the influence of +Napoleon's Egyptian campaign, but there is something in common between +the two times so far apart, of ambition and pride, of grandeur and +colossal enterprise. + +Greece may well be called the Mother of Beauty, for with the Greeks came +the dawn of a higher civilization, a striving for harmony of line and +proportion, an ideal clear, high and persistent. When the Dorians from +the northern part of Greece built their simple, beautiful temples to +their gods and goddesses they gave the impetus to the movement which +brought forth the highest art the world has known. Traces of Egyptian +influence are to be found in the earliest temples, but the Greeks soon +rose to their own great heights. The Doric column was thick, about six +diameters in height, fluted, growing smaller toward the top, with a +simple capital, and supported the entablature. The horizontal lines of +the architrave and cornice were more marked than the vertical lines of +the columns. The portico with its row of columns supported the pediment. +The Parthenon is the most perfect example of the Doric order, and +shattered as it is by time and man it is still one of the most beautiful +buildings in the world. It was built in the time of Pericles, from about +460 to 435 B.C., and the work was superintended by Phidias, who did much +of the work himself and left the mark of his genius on the whole. + +The Ionic order of architecture was a development of the Doric, but was +lighter and more graceful. The columns were more slender and had a +greater number of flutes and the capitals formed of scrolls or volutes +were more ornamental. + +The Corinthian order was more elaborate than the Ionic as the capitals +were foliated (the acanthus being used), the columns higher, and the +entablature more richly decorated. This order was copied by the Romans +more than the other two as it suited their more florid taste. All the +orders have the horizontal feeling in common (as Gothic architecture has +the vertical), and the simple plan with its perfect harmony of +proportion leaves no sense of lack of variety. + +The perfection attained in architecture was also attained in sculpture, +and we see the same aspiration toward the ideal, the same wonderful +achievement. This purity of taste of the Greeks has formed a standard to +which the world has returned again and again and whose influence will +continue to be felt as long as the world lasts. + +The minor arts were carried to the same state of perfection as their +greater sisters, for the artists and artisans had the same noble ideal +of beauty and the same unerring taste. We have carved gems and coins, +and wonderful gold ornaments, painted and silver vases, and terra-cotta +figurines, to show what a high point the household arts reached. No work +of the great Grecian painters remains; Apelles, Zeuxis, are only names +to us, but from the wall paintings at Pompeii where late Greek influence +was strongly felt we can imagine how charming the decorations must have +been. Egypt and Greece were the torch bearers of civilization. + + + + +_The Renaissance in Italy_ + + +The Gothic period has been treated in later chapters on France and +England, as it is its development in these countries which most affects +us, but the Renaissance in Italy stands alone. So great was its strength +that it could supply both inspiration and leaders to other countries, +and still remain preëminent. + +It was in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries that this great +classical revival in Italy came, this re-birth of a true sense of beauty +which is called the Renaissance. It was an age of wonders, of great +artistic creations, and was one of the great epochs of the world, one of +the turning points of human existence. It covered so large a field and +was so many-sided that only careful study can give a full realization of +the giants of intellect and power who made its greatness, and who left +behind them work that shows the very quintessence of genius. + +Italy, stirring slightly in the fourteenth century, woke and rose to her +greatest heights in the fifteenth and sixteenth. The whole people +responded to the new joy of life, the love of learning, the expression +of beauty in all its forms. All notes were struck,--gay, graceful, +beautiful, grave, cruel, dignified, reverential, magnificent, but all +with an exuberance of life and power that gave to Italian art its great +place in human culture. The great names of the period speak for +themselves,--Michelangelo, Raphael, Botticelli, Titian, Leonardo da +Vinci, Andrea del Sarto, Machiavelli, Benvenuto Cellini, and a host of +others. + +The inspiration of the Renaissance came largely from the later Greek +schools of art and literature, Alexandria and Rhodes and the colonies in +Sicily and Italy, rather than ancient Greece. It was also the influence +which came to ancient Rome at its most luxurious period. The importance +of the taking of Alexandria and Constantinople in 1453 must not be +underestimated, as it drove scholars from the great libraries of the +East carrying their manuscripts to the nobles and priests and merchant +princes of Italy who thus became enthusiastic patrons of learning and +art. This later type of Greek art lacked the austerity of the ancient +type, and to the models full of joy and beauty and suffering, the +Italians of the Renaissance added the touch of their own temperament and +made them theirs in the glowing, rich and astounding way which has never +been equaled and probably never will be. Perfection of line and beauty +was not sufficient, the soul with its capacity for joy and suffering, +"the soul with all its maladies" as Pater says, had become a factor. The +impression made upon Michelangelo by seeing the Laocoön disinterred is +vividly described by Longfellow-- + +[Illustration: An exquisite and true Renaissance feeling is shown in +the pilasters.] + +[Illustration: The Italian Renaissance is still inspiring the world. In +the two doorways the use of pilasters and frieze, and the pedimented and +round over-door motifs are typical of the period.] + + "Long, long years ago, + Standing one morning near the Baths of Titus, + I saw the statue of Laocöon + Rise from its grave of centuries like a ghost + Writhing in pain; and as it tore away + The knotted serpents from its limbs, I heard, + Or seemed to hear, the cry of agony + From its white parted lips. And still I marvel + At the three Rhodian artists, by whose hands + This miracle was wrought. Yet he beholds + Far nobler works who looks upon the ruins + Of temples in the Forum here in Rome. + If God should give me power in my old age + To build for him a temple half as grand + As those were in their glory, I should count + My age more excellent than youth itself, + And all that I have hitherto accomplished + As only vanity." + +"It was an age productive in personalities, many-sided, centralized, +complete. Artists and philosophers and those whom the action of the +world had elevated and made keen, breathed a common air and caught light +and heat from each other's thoughts. It is this unity of spirit which +gives unity to all the various products of the Renaissance, and it is to +this intimate alliance with mind, this participation in the best +thoughts which that age produced, that the art of Italy in the fifteenth +century owes much of its grave dignity and influence."[A] + +[A] Walter Pater: "Studies in the Renaissance." + +It is to this unity of the arts we owe the fact that the art of +beautifying the home took its proper place. During the Middle Ages the +Church had absorbed the greater part of the best man had to give, and +home life was rather a hit or miss affair, the house was a fortress, the +family possessions so few that they could be packed into chests and +easily moved. During the Renaissance the home ideal grew, and, although +the Church still claimed the best, home life began to have comforts and +beauties never dreamed of before. The walls glowed with color, +tapestries and velvets added their beauties, and the noble proportions +of the marble halls made a rich background for the elaborately carved +furniture. + +The doors of Italian palaces were usually inlaid with woods of light +shade, and the soft, golden tone given by the process was in beautiful, +but not too strong, contrast with the marble architrave of the doorway, +which in the fifteenth century was carved in low relief combined with +disks of colored marble, sliced, by the way, from Roman temple pillars. +Later as the classic taste became stronger the carving gave place to a +plain architrave and the over-door took the form of a pediment. + +Mantels were of marble, large, beautifully carved, with the fireplace +sunk into the thickness of the wall. The overmantel usually had a carved +panel, but later, during the sixteenth century, this was sometimes +replaced by a picture. The windows of the Renaissance were a part of the +decoration of the room, and curtains were not used in our modern +manner, but served only to keep out the draughts. In those days the +better the house the simpler the curtains. There were many kinds of +ceilings used, marble, carved wood, stucco, and painting. They were +elaborate and beautiful, and always gave the impression of being +perfectly supported on the well-proportioned cornice and walls. The +floors were usually of marble. Many of the houses kept to the plan of +mediæval exteriors, great expanses of plain walls with few openings on +the outsides, but as they were built around open courts, the interiors +with their colonnades and open spaces showed the change the Renaissance +had brought. The Riccardi Palace in Florence and the Palazzo della +Cancelleria in Rome, are examples of this early type. The second phase +was represented by the great Bramante, whose theory of restraining +decoration and emphasizing the structure of the building has had such +important influence. One of his successors was Andrea Palladio, whose +work made such a deep impression on Inigo Jones. The Library of St. +Mark's at Venice is a beautiful example of this part. The third phase +was entirely dominated by Michelangelo. + +The furniture, to be in keeping with buildings of this kind, was large +and richly carved. Chairs, seats, chests, cabinets, tables, and beds, +were the chief pieces used, but they were not plentiful at all in our +sense of the word. The chairs and benches had cushions to soften the +hard wooden seats. The stuffs of the time were most beautiful Genoese +velvet, cloth of gold, tapestries, and wonderful embroideries, all +lending their color to the gorgeous picture. The carved marriage chest, +or cassone, is one of the pieces of Renaissance furniture which has most +often descended to our own day, for such chests formed a very important +part of the furnishing in every household, and being large and heavy, +were not so easily broken as chairs and tables. Beds were huge, and were +architectural in form, a base and roof supported on four columns. The +classical orders were used, touched with the spirit of the time, and the +fluted columns rose from acanthus leaves set in an urn supported on +lion's feet. The tester and cornice gave scope for carving and the +panels of the tester usually had the lovely scrolls so characteristic of +the period. The headboard was often carved with a coat-of-arms and the +curtains hung from inside the cornice. + +Grotesques were largely used in ornament. The name is derived from +grottoes, as the Roman tombs being excavated at the time were called, +and were in imitation of the paintings found on their walls, and while +they were fantastic, the word then had no unkindly humorous meaning as +now. Scrolls, dolphins, birds, beasts, the human figure, flowers, +everything was called into use for carving and painting by genius of the +artisans of the Renaissance. They loved their work and felt the beauty +and meaning of every line they made, and so it came about that when, in +the course of years, they traveled to neighboring countries, they spread +the influence of this great period, and it is most interesting to see +how on the Italian foundation each country built her own distinctive +style. + +Like all great movements the Renaissance had its beginning, its splendid +climax, and its decline. + + + + +_The Development of Decoration in France._ + + +When Caesar came to Gaul he did more than see and conquer; he absorbed +so thoroughly that we have almost no knowledge of how the Gauls lived, +so far as household effects were concerned. The character which +descended from this Gallo-Roman race to the later French nation was +optimistic and beauty-loving, with a strength which has carried it +through many dark days. It might be said to be responsible for the +French sense of proportion and their freedom of judgment which has +enabled them to hold their important place in the history of art and +decoration. They have always assimilated ideas freely but have worked +them over until they bore the stamp of their own individuality, often +gaining greatly in the process. + +One of the first authentic pieces of furniture is a _bahut_ or chest +dating from sometime in the twelfth century and belonging to the Church +of Obazine. It shows how furniture followed the lines of architecture, +and also shows that there was no carving used on it. Large spaces were +probably covered with painted canvas, glued on. Later, when panels +became smaller and the furniture designs were modified, moldings, etc., +began to be used. These _bahuts_ or _huches_, from which the term +_huchiers_ came (meaning the Corporation of Carpenters), were nothing +more than chests standing on four feet. From all sources of information +on the subject it has been decided that they were probably the chief +pieces of furniture the people had. They served as a seat by day and, +with cushions spread upon them, as a bed by night. They were also used +as tables with large pieces of silver _dressé_ or arranged upon them in +the daytime. From this comes our word "dresser" for the kitchen shelves. +In those days of brigands and wars and sudden death, the household +belongings were as few as possible so that the trouble of speedy +transportation would be small, and everything was packed into the +chests. As the idea of comfort grew a little stronger, the number of +chests grew, and when a traveling party arrived at a stopping-place, out +came the tapestries and hangings and cushions and silver dishes, which +were arranged to make the rooms seem as cheerful as possible. The germ +of the home ideal was there, at least, but it was hard work for the +arras and the "ciel" to keep out the cold and cover the bare walls. When +life became a little more secure and people learned something of the +beauty of proportion, the rooms showed more harmony in regard to the +relation of open spaces and walls, and became a decoration in +themselves, with the tapestries and hangings enhancing their beauty of +line. It was not until some time in the fifteenth century that the +habit of traveling with all one's belongings ceased. + +The year 1000 was looked forward to with abject terror, for it was +firmly believed by all that the world was then coming to an end. It cast +a gloom over all the people and paralyzed all ambition. When, however, +the fatal year was safely passed, there was a great religious +thanksgiving and everyone joined in the praise of a merciful God. The +semi-circular arch of the Romanesque style gave way to the pointed arch +of the Gothic, and wonderful cathedrals slowly lifted their beautiful +spires to the sky. The ideal was to build for the glory of God and not +only for the eyes of man, so that exquisite carving was lavished upon +all parts of the work. This deeply reverent feeling lasted through the +best period of Gothic architecture, and while household furniture was at +a standstill church furniture became more and more beautiful, for in the +midst of the religious fervor nothing seemed too much to do for the +Church. Slowly it died out, and a secular attitude crept into +decoration. One finds grotesque carvings appearing on the choir stalls +and other parts of churches and cathedrals and the standard of +excellence was lowered. + +The chest, table, wooden arm-chair, bed, and bench, were as far as the +imagination had gone in domestic furniture, and although we read of +wonderful tapestries and leather hangings and clothes embroidered in +gold and jewels, there was no comfort in our sense of the word, and +those brave knights and fair ladies had need to be strong to stand the +hardships of life. Glitter and show was the ideal and it was many more +years before the standard of comfort and refinement gained a firm +foothold. + +Gothic architecture and decoration declined from the perfection of the +thirteenth and fourteenth centuries to the over-decorated, flamboyant +Gothic of the fifteenth century, and it was in the latter period that +the transition began between the Gothic and the Renaissance epochs. + +The Renaissance was at its height in Italy in the fifteenth century, and +its influence began to make itself felt a little in France at that time. + +When the French under Louis XII seized Milan, the magnificence of the +court of Ludovico Sforza, the great duke of Milan, made such an +impression on them that they could not rest content with the old order, +and took home many beautiful things. Italian artisans were also +imported, and as France was ready for the change, their lessons were +learned and the French Renaissance came slowly into existence. This +transition is well shown by the Chateau de Gaillon, built by Cardinal +d'Amboise. Gothic and Renaissance decoration were placed side by side in +panels and furniture, and we also find some pure Gothic decoration as +late as the early part of the sixteenth century, but they were in parts +of France where tradition changed slowly. Styles overlap in every +transition period, so it is often difficult to place the exact date on a +piece of furniture; but the old dies out at last and gives way to the +new. + +With the accession of Frances I in 1515 the Renaissance came into its +own in France. He was a great patron of art and letters, and under his +fostering care the people knew new luxuries, new beauties, and new +comforts. He invited Andrea del Sarto and Leonardo da Vinci to come to +France. The word Renaissance means simply revival and it is not +correctly used when we mean a distinct style led or inspired by one +person. It was a great epoch, with individuality as its leading spirit, +led by the inspiration of the Italian artists brought from Italy and +molded by the genius of France. This renewal of classic feeling came at +the psychological moment, for the true spirit of the great Gothic period +had died. The Renaissance movements in Italy, France, England and +Germany all drew their inspiration from the same source, but in each +case the national characteristics entered into the treatment. The +Italians and Germans both used the grotesque a great deal, but the +Germans used it in a coarser and heavier way than the Italians, who used +it esthetically. The French used more especially conventional and +beautiful floral forms, and the inborn French sense of the fitness of +things gave the treatment a wonderful charm and beauty. If one studies +the French chateaux one will feel the true beauty and spirit of the +times--Blois with its history of many centuries, and then some of the +purely Renaissance chateaux, like Chambord. Although great numbers of +Italian artists came to France, one must not think they did all the +beautiful work of the time. The French learned quickly and adapted what +they learned to their own needs, so that the delicate and graceful +decorations brought from Italy became more and more individualized until +in the reign of Henry II the Renaissance reached its high-water mark. + +The furniture of the time did not show much change or become more varied +or comfortable. It was large and solid and the chairs had the +satisfactory effect of good proportion, while the general squareness of +outline added to the feeling of solidity. Oak was used, and later +walnut. The chair legs were straight, and often elaborately turned, and +usually had strainers or under framing. Cushions were simply tied on at +first, but the knowledge of upholstering was gaining ground, and by the +time of Louis XIII was well understood. Cabinets had an architectural +effect in their design. The style of the decorative motive changed, but +it is chiefly in architecture and the decorative treatment of it that +one sees the true spirit of the Renaissance. Two men who had great +influence on the style of furniture of the time were Androuet du Cerceau +and Hugues Sambin. They published books of plates that were eagerly +copied in all parts of France. Sambin's influence can be traced in the +later style of Louis XIV. + +[Illustration: Louis XIII chair now in the Cluny Museum showing the +Flemish influence.] + +[Illustration: A typical Louis XIII chair, many of which were covered +with velvet or tapestry.] + +[Illustration: _By courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art_ + +This Gothic chair of the 16th century shows the beautiful linen-fold +design in the carving on the lower panels, and also the keyhole which +made the chest safe when traveling.] + +The marriage of Henry II and Catherine de Medici naturally continued the +strong Italian influence. The portion of the Renaissance called after +Henry II lasted about seventy-five years, and corresponds with the +Elizabethan period in England. + +During the regency of Marie de Medici, Flemish influence became very +strong, as she invited Rubens to Paris to decorate the Luxembourg. There +were also many Italians called to do the work, and as Rubens had studied +in Italy, Italian influence was not lacking. + +Degeneracy began during the reign of Henry IV, as ornament became +meaningless and consistency of decoration was lost in a maze of +superfluous design. + +It was in the reign of Louis XIII that furniture for the first time +became really comfortable, and if one examines the engravings of Abraham +Bosse one will see that the rooms have an air of homelikeness as well as +richness. The characteristic chair of the period was short in the back +and square in shape--it was usually covered with leather or tapestry, +fastened to the chair with large brass nails, and the back and seat +often had a fringe. A set of chairs usually consisted of arm-chairs, +plain chairs, folding stools and a _lit-de-repos_. Many of the +arm-chairs were entirely covered with velvet or tapestry, or, if the +woodwork showed, it was stained to harmonize with the covering on the +seat and back. + +The twisted columns used in chairs, bedposts, etc., were borrowed from +Italy and were very popular. Another shape often used for chair legs was +the X that shows Flemish influence. The _lit-de-repos_, or +_chaise-longue_, was a seat about six feet long, sometimes with arms and +sometimes not, and with a mattress and bolster. The beds were very +elaborate and very important in the scheme of decoration, as the ladies +of the time held receptions in their bedrooms and the king and nobles +gave audiences to their subjects while in bed. These latter were +therefore necessarily furnished with splendor. The woodwork was usually +covered with the same material as the curtains, or stained to harmonize. +The canopy never reached to the ceiling but was, from floor to top, +about 7 ft. 3 in. high, and the bed was 6-1/2 ft. square. The curtains +were arranged on rods and pulleys, and when closed this "_lit en +housse_" looked like a huge square box. The counterpane, or "_coverture +de parade_," was of the curtain material. The four corners of the canopy +were decorated with bunches of plumes or panache, or with a carved +wooden ornament called pomme, or with a "_bouquet_" of silk. The beds +were covered with rich stuffs, like tapestry, silk, satin, velvet, +cloth-of-gold and silver, etc., all of which were embroidered or trimmed +with gold or silver lace. One of the features of a Louis XIII room was +the tapestry and hangings. A certain look of dignity was given to the +rooms by the general square and heavy outlines of the furniture and the +huge chimney-pieces. + +The taste for cabinets kept up and the cabinets and presses were large, +sometimes divided into two parts, sometimes with doors, sometimes with +open frame underneath. The tables were richly carved and gilded, often +ornamented with bronze and copper. The cartouche was used a great deal +in decoration, with a curved surface. This rounded form appears in the +posts used in various kinds of furniture. When rectangles were used they +were always broader than high. The garlands of fruit were heavy, the +cornucopias were slender, with an astonishing amount of fruit pouring +from them, and the work was done in rather low relief. Carved and gilded +mirrors were introduced by the Italians as were also sconces and glass +chandeliers. It was a time of great magnificence, and shadowed forth the +coming glory of Louis XIV. It seems a style well suited to large +dining-rooms and libraries in modern houses of importance. + + + + +_Louis XIV_ + + +It is often a really difficult matter to decide the exact boundary lines +between one period and another, for the new style shows its beginnings +before the old one is passed, and the old style still appears during the +early years of the new one. It is an overlapping process and the years +of transition are ones of great interest. As one period follows another +it usually shows a reaction from the previous one; a somber period is +followed by a gay one; the excess of ornament in one is followed by +restraint in the next. It is the same law that makes us want cake when +we have had too much bread and butter. + +The world has changed so much since the seventeenth and eighteenth +centuries that it seems almost impossible that we should ever again have +great periods of decoration like those of Louis XIV, Louis XV and Louis +XVI. Then the monarch was supreme. "_L'état c'est moi_," said Louis XIV, +and it was true. He established the great Gobelin works on a basis that +made France the authority of the world and firmly imposed his taste and +his will on the country. Now that this absolute power of one man is a +thing of the past, we have the influence of many men forming and molding +something that may turn into a beautiful epoch of decoration, one that +will have in it some of the feeling that brought the French Renaissance +to its height, though not like it, for we have the same respect for +individuality working within the laws of beauty that they had. + +The style that takes its name from Louis XIV was one of great +magnificence and beauty with dignity and a certain solidity in its +splendor. It was really the foundation of the styles that followed, and +a great many people look upon the periods of Louis XIV, the Regency, +Louis XV and Louis XVI as one great period with variations, or ups and +downs--the complete swing and return of the pendulum. + +Louis XIV was a man with a will of iron and made it absolute law during +his long reign of seventy-two years. His ideal was splendor, and he +encouraged great men in the intellectual and artistic world to do their +work, and shed their glory on the time. Condé, Turenne, Colbert, +Molière, Corneille, La Fontaine, Racine, Fénélon, Boulle, Le Brun, are a +few among the long and wonderful list. He was indeed Louis the +Magnificent, the Sun King. + +One of the great elements toward achieving the stupendous results of +this reign was the establishment of the "Manufacture des Meubles de la +Couronne," or, as it is usually called, "Manufacture des Gobelins." +Artists of all kinds were gathered together and given apartments in the +Louvre and the wonderfully gifted and versatile Le Brun was put at the +head. Tapestry, goldsmiths' work, furniture, jewelry, etc., were made, +and with the royal protection and interest France rose to the position +of world-wide supremacy in the arts. Le Brun had the same taste and love +of magnificence as Louis, and had also extraordinary executive ability +and an almost unlimited capacity for work, combined with the power of +gathering about him the most eminent artists of the time. André Charles +Boulle was one, and his beautiful cabinets, commodes, tables, clocks, +etc., are now almost priceless. He carried the inlay of metals, +tortoise-shell, ivory and beautiful woods to its highest expression, and +the mingling of colors with the exquisite workmanship gave most +wonderful effects. Sheets of white metal or brass were glued together +and the pattern was then cut out. When taken apart the brass scrolls +could be fitted exactly into the shell background, and the shell scrolls +into the brass background, thus making two decorations. The shell +background was the more highly prized. The designs usually had a +Renaissance feeling. The metal was softened in outline by engraving, and +then ormolu mounts were added. Ormolu or gilt bronze mounts, formed one +of the great decorations of furniture. The most exquisite workmanship +was lavished on them, and after they had been cast they were cut and +carved and polished until they became worthy ornaments for beautiful +inlaid tables and cabinets. The taste for elaborately carved and gilded +frames to chairs, tables, mirrors, etc., developed rapidly. Mirrors +were made by the Gobelins works and were much less expensive than the +Venetian ones of the previous reign. Walls were painted and covered with +gold with a lavish hand. Tapestries were truly magnificent with gold and +silver threads adding richness to their beauty of color, and were used +purely as a decoration as well as in the old utilitarian way of keeping +out the cold. The Gobelins works made at this time some of the most +beautiful tapestries the world has known. The massive chimney-pieces +were superseded by the "_petite-cheminée_" and had great mirrors over +them or elaborate over-mantels. The whole air of furnishing and +decoration changed to one of greater lightness and brilliancy. The ideal +was that everything, no matter how small, must be beautiful, and we find +the most exquisite workmanship lavished on window-locks and door-knobs. + +[Illustration: One of a set of three rare Louis XIV chairs, beautifully +carved and gilded, and said to have belonged to the great Louis himself.] + +In the early style of Louis XIV, we find many trophies of war and +mythological subjects used in the decorative schemes. The second style +of this period was a softening and refining of the earlier one, becoming +more and more delicate until it merged into the time of the Regency. It +was during the reign of Louis XIV that the craze for Chinese decoration +first appeared. _La Chinoiserie_ it was called, and it has daintiness +and a curious fascination about it, but many inappropriate things were +done in its name. The furniture of the time was firmly placed upon the +ground, the arm-chairs had strong straining-rails, square or curved +backs, scroll arms carved and partly upholstered and stuffed seats +and backs. The legs of chairs were usually tapering in form and +ornamented with gilding, or marquetry, or richly carved, and later the +feet ended in a carved leaf design. Some of the straining-rails were in +the shape of the letter X, with an ornament at the intersection, and +often there was a wooden molding below the seat in place of fringe. Many +carved and gilded chairs had gold fringe and braid and were covered with +velvet, tapestry or damask. + +[Illustration: _By courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art_ + +Inlaid desk with beautifully chiselled ormolu mounts.] + +[Illustration: Rare Louis XIV chair, showing the characteristic +underbracing.] + +There were many new and elaborate styles of beds that came into fashion +at this time. There was the _lit d'ange_, which had a canopy that did +not extend over the entire bed, and had no pillars at the foot, the +curtains were drawn back at the head and the counterpane went over the +foot of the bed. There was the _lit d'alcove_, the _lit de bout_, _lit +clos_, _lit de glace_, with a mirror framed in the ceiling, and many +others. A _lit de parade_ was like the great bed of Louis XIV at +Versailles. + +Both the tall and bracket clocks showed this same love of ornament and +they were carved and gilded and enriched with chased brass and wonderful +inlay by Boulle. The dials also were beautifully designed. Consoles, +tables, cabinets, etc., were all treated in this elaborate way. Many of +the ceilings were painted by great artists, and those at Versailles, +painted by Le Brun and others, are good examples. There was always a +combination of the straight line and the curve, a strong feeling of +balance, and a profusion of ornament in the way of scrolls, garlands, +shells, the acanthus, anthemion, etc. The moldings were wide and +sometimes a torus of laurel leaves was used, but in spite of the great +amount of ornament lavished on everything, there is the feeling of +balance and symmetry and strength that gives dignity and beauty. + +Louis was indeed fortunate in having the great Colbert for one of his +ministers. He was a man of gigantic intellect, capable of originating +and executing vast schemes. It was to his policy of state patronage, +wisely directed, and energetically and lavishly carried out, that we owe +the magnificent achievements of this period. + +Everywhere the impression is given of brilliancy and splendor--gold on +the walls, gold on the furniture, rich velvets and damasks and +tapestries, marbles and marquetry and painting, furniture worth a king's +ransom. It all formed a beautiful and fitting background for the proud +king, who could do no wrong, and the dazzling, care-free people who +played their brilliant, selfish parts in the midst of its splendor. They +never gave a thought to the great mass of the common people who were +over-burdened with taxation; they never heard the first faint mutterings +of discontent which were to grow, ever louder and louder, until the +blood and horror of the Revolution paid the debt. + + + + +_The Regency and Louis XV_ + + +When Louis XIV died in 1715, his great-grandson, Louis XV, was but five +years old, so Philippe, Duc d'Orleans, became Regent. During the last +years of Louis XIV's life the court had resented more or less the gloom +cast over it by the influence of Madame de Maintenon, and turned with +avidity to the new ruler. He was a vain and selfish man, feeling none of +the responsibilities of his position, and living chiefly for pleasure. +The change in decoration had been foreshadowed in the closing years of +the previous reign, and it is often hard to say whether a piece of +furniture is late Louis XIV or Regency. + +The new gained rapidly over the old, and the magnificent and stately +extravagance of Louis XIV turned into the daintier but no less +extravagant and rich decoration of the Regency and Louis XV. One of the +noticeable changes was that rooms were smaller, and the reign of the +boudoir began. It has been truly said that after the death of Louis XIV +"came the substitution of the finery of coquetry for the worship of the +great in style." There was greater variety in the designs of furniture +and a greater use of carved metal ornament and gilt bronze, beautifully +chased. The ornaments took many shapes, such as shells, shaped foliage, +roses, seaweed, strings of pearls, etc., and at its best there was +great beauty in the treatment. + +It was during the Regency that the great artist and sculptor in metal, +Charles Cressant, flourished. He was made _ébeniste_ of the Regent, and +his influence was always to keep up the traditions when the reaction +against the severe might easily have led to degeneration. There are +beautiful examples of his work in many of the great collections of +furniture, notably the wonderful commode in the Wallace collection. The +dragon mounts of ormolu on it show the strong influence the Orient had +at the time. He often used the figures of women with great delicacy on +the corners of his furniture, and he also used tortoise-shell and many +colored woods in marquetry, but his most wonderful work was done in +brass and gilded bronze. + +In 1723, when Louis was thirteen years old, he was declared of age and +became king. The influence of the Regent was, naturally, still strong, +and unfortunately did much to form the character of the young king. +Selfishness, pleasure, and low ideals, were the order of court life, and +paved the way for the debased taste for rococo ornament which was one +marked phase of the style of Louis XV. + +The great influence of the Orient at this time is very noticeable. There +had been a beginning of it in the previous reign, but during the Regency +and the reign of Louis XV it became very marked. "_Singerie_" and +"_Chinoiserie_" were the rage, and gay little monkeys clambered and +climbed over walls and furniture with a careless abandon that had a +certain fascination and charm in spite of their being monkeys. The +"_Salon des Singes_" in the Chateau de Chantilly gives one a good idea +of this. The style was easily overdone and did not last a great while. + +During this time of Oriental influence lacquer was much used and +beautiful lacquer panels became one of the great features of French +furniture. Pieces of furniture were sent to China and Japan to be +lacquered and this, combined with the expense of importing it, led many +men in France to try to find out the Oriental secret. Le Sieur Dagly was +supposed to have imported the secret and was established at the Gobelins +works where he made what was called "_vernis de Gobelins_." + +The Martin family evolved a most characteristically French style of +decoration from the Chinese and Japanese lacquers. The varnish they +made, called "_vernis Martin_," gave its name to the furniture decorated +by them, which was well suited to the dainty boudoirs of the day. All +kinds of furniture were decorated in this way--sedan chairs and even +snuff-boxes, until at last the supply became so great that the fashion +died. There are many charming examples of it to be seen in museums and +private collections, but the modern garish copies of it in many shops +give no idea of the charm of the original. Watteau's delightful +decorations also give the true spirit of the time, with their gayety +and frivolity showing the Arcadian affectations--the fad of the moment. + +As the time passed decoration grew more and more ornate, and the +followers of Cressant exaggerated his traits. One of these was Jules +Aurèle Meissonier, an Italian by birth, who brought with him to France +the decadent Italian taste. He had a most marvelous power of invention +and lavished ornament on everything, carrying the rocaille style to its +utmost limit. He broke up all straight lines, put curves and +convolutions everywhere, and rarely had two sides alike, for symmetry +had no charms for him. The curved endive decoration was used in +architraves, in the panels of overdoors and panel moldings, everywhere +it possibly could be used, in fact. His work was in great demand by the +king and nobility. He designed furniture of all kinds, altars, sledges, +candelabra and a great amount of silversmith's work, and also published +a book of designs. Unfortunately it is this rococo style which is meant +by many people when they speak of the style of Louis XV. + +Louis XV furniture and decoration at its best period is extremely +beautiful, and the foremost architects of the day were undisturbed by +the demand for rococo, knowing it was a vulgarism of taste which would +pass. In France, bad as it was, it never went to such lengths as it did +in Italy and Spain. + +[Illustration: The mantel with its great glass reaching to the cornice, +the wall panels, paintings over the doors, and beautiful furniture, all +show the spirit of the best Louis XV period. The fur rug is an +anachronism and detracts from the effect of the room.] + +[Illustration: The rare console tables and chairs and the Gobelin +tapestry, "Games of Children," show to great advantage in this +beautifully proportioned room of soft dull gold. The side-and +centre-lights, reflected in the mirror, light the room correctly.] + +The easy generalization of the girl who said the difference between the +styles of Louis XV and Louis XVI was like the difference in hair, one +was curly and one was straight, has more than a grain of truth in it. +The curved line was used persistently until the last years of Louis XV's +time, but it was a beautiful, gracious curve, elaborate, and in +furniture, richly carved, which was used during the best period. The +decline came when good taste was lost in the craze for rococo. + +Chairs were carved and gilded, or painted, or lacquered, and also +beautiful natural woods were used. The sofas and chairs had a general +square appearance, but the framework was much curved and carved and +gilded. They were upholstered in silks, brocades, velvets, damasks in +flowered designs, edged with braid. Gobelin, Aubusson and Beauvais +tapestry, with Watteau designs, were also used. Nothing more dainty or +charming could be found than the tapestry seats and chair backs and +screens which were woven especially to fit certain pieces of furniture. +The tapestry weavers now used thousands of colors in place of the +nineteen used in the early days, and this enabled them to copy with +great exactness the charming pictures of Watteau and Boucher. The idea +of sitting on beautiful ladies and gentlemen airily playing at country +life, does not appeal to our modern taste, but it seems to be in accord +with those days. + +Desks were much used and were conveniently arranged with drawers, +pigeon-holes and shelves, and roll-top desks were made at this time. +Commodes were painted, or richly ornamented with lacquer panels, or +panels of rosewood or violet wood, and all were embellished with +wonderful bronze or ormolu. Many pieces of furniture were inlaid with +lovely Sèvres plaques, a manner which is not always pleasing in effect. +There were many different and elaborate kinds of beds, taking their +names from their form and draping. "_Lit d'anglaise_" had a back, +head-board and foot-board, and could be used as a sofa. "_Lit a +Romaine_" had a canopy and four festooned curtains, and so on. + +The most common form of salon was rectangular, with proportions of 4 to +3, or 2 to 1. There were also many square, round, octagonal and oval +salons, these last being among the most beautiful. They all were +decorated with great richness, the walls being paneled with carved and +gilded--or partially gilded--wood. Tapestry and brocade and painted +panels were used. Large mirrors with elaborate frames were placed over +the mantels, with panels above reaching to the cornice or cove of the +ceiling, and large mirrors were also used over console tables and as +panels. The paneled overdoors reached to the cornice, and windows were +also treated in this way. Windows and doors were not looked upon merely +as openings to admit air and light and human beings, but formed a part +of the scheme of decoration of the room. There were beautiful brackets +and candelabra of ormolu to light the rooms, and the boudoirs and +salons, with their white and gold and beautifully decorated walls and +gilded furniture, gave an air of gayety and richness, extravagance and +beauty. + +An apartment in the time of Louis XV usually had a vestibule, rather +severely decorated with columns or pilasters and often statues in +niches. The first ante-room was a waiting-room for servants and was +plainly treated, the woodwork being the chief decoration. The second +ante-room had mirrors, console tables, carved and gilded woodwork, and +sometimes tapestry was used above a wainscot. Dining-rooms were +elaborate, often having fountains and plants in the niches near the +buffet. Bedrooms usually had an alcove, and the room, not counting the +alcove, was an exact square. The bed faced the windows and a large +mirror over a console table was just opposite it. The chimney faced the +principal entrance. + +A "_chambre en niche_" was a room where the bed space was not so large +as an alcove. The designs for sides of rooms by Meissonier, Blondel, +Briseux Cuilles and others give a good idea of the arrangement and +proportions of the different rooms. The cabinets or studies, and the +_garde robes_, were entered usually from doors near the alcove. The +ceilings were painted by Boucher and others in soft and charming colors, +with cupids playing in the clouds, and other subjects of the kind. Great +attention was given to clocks and they formed an important and +beautiful part of the decoration. + +The natural consequence of the period of excessive rococo with its +superabundance of curves and ornament, was that, during the last years +of Louis's reign, the reaction slowly began to make itself felt. There +was no sudden change to the use of the straight line, but people were +tired of so much lavishness and motion in their decoration. There were +other influences also at work, for Robert Adam had, in England, +established the classic taste, and the excavations at Pompeii were +causing widespread interest and admiration. The fact is proved that what +we call Louis XVI decoration was well known before the death of Louis +XV, by his furnishing Luciennes for Madam Du Barri in almost pure Louis +XVI style. + +[Illustration: A chair from Fontainebleau, typical of the early Louis +XIV epoch before the development of its full grandeur.] + +[Illustration: This Louis XV bergère is especially interesting as it +shows the broad seat made to accommodate the full dresses of the +period.] + +[Illustration: There is a special charm about this old Louis XVI bench +with its Gobelin tapestry cover.] + + + + +_Louis XVI_ + + +Louis XVI came to the throne in 1774, and reigned for nineteen years, +until that fatal year of '93. He was kind, benign, and simple, and had +no sympathy with the life of the court during the preceding reign. Marie +Antoinette disliked the great pomp of court functions and liked to play +at the simple life, so shepherdesses, shepherd's crooks, hats, wreaths +of roses, watering-pots and many other rustic symbols became the +fashion. + +Marie Antoinette was but fifteen years old when in 1770 she came to +France as a bride, and it is hardly reasonable to think that the taste +of a young girl would have originated a great period of decoration, +although the idea is firmly fixed in many minds. It is known that the +transition period was well advanced before she became queen, but there +is no doubt that her simpler taste and that of Louis led them to accept +with joy the classical ideas of beauty which were slowly gaining ground. +As dauphin and dauphiness they naturally had a great following, and as +king and queen their taste was paramount, and the style became +established. + +Architecture became more simple and interior decoration followed suit. +The restfulness and beauty of the straight line appeared again, and +ornament took its proper place as a decoration of the construction, and +was subordinate to its design. During the period of Louis XVI the rooms +had rectangular panels formed by simpler moldings than in the previous +reign, with pilasters of delicate design between the panels. The +overdoors and mantels were carried to the cornice and the paneling was +usually of oak, painted in soft colors or white and gilded. Walls were +also covered with tapestry and brocade. Some of the most characteristic +marks of the style are the straight tapering legs of the furniture, +usually fluted, with some carving. Fluted columns and pilasters often +had metal quills filling them for a part of the distance at top and +bottom, leaving a plain channel between. The laurel leaf was used in +wreath form, and bell flowers were used on the legs of furniture. Oval +medallions, surmounted by a wreath of flowers and a bow-knot, appear +very often, and in about 1780 round medallions were used. Furniture was +covered with brocade or tapestry, with shepherds and shepherdesses or +pastoral scenes for the design. The gayest kinds of designs were used in +the silks and brocades; ribbons and bow-knots and interlacing stripes +with flowers and rustic symbols scattered over them. Curtains were less +festooned and cut with great exactness. The canopies of beds became +smaller, until often only a ring or crown held the draperies, and it +became the fashion to place the bed sideways, "_vu de face_." + +There was a great deal of beautiful ornament in gilded bronze and ormolu +on the furniture, and many colored woods were used in marquetry. The +fashion of using Sèvres plaques in inlay was continued. There was a +great deal of white and colored marble used and very fine ironwork was +made. Riesener, Roentgen, Gouthiére, Fragonard and Boucher are some of +the names that stand out most distinctly as authors of the beautiful +decorations of the time. Marie Antoinette's boudoir at Fontainebleau is +a perfect example of the style and many of the other rooms both there +and at the Petit Trianon show its great beauty, gayety and dignity +combined with its richness and magnificence. + +The influence of Pompeii must not be overlooked in studying the style of +Louis XVI, for it appeared in much of the decoration of the time. The +beautiful little boudoir of the Marquise de Sérilly is a charming +example of its adaptation. The problem of bad proportion is also most +interestingly overcome. The room was too high for its size, so it was +divided into four arched openings separated by carved pilasters, and the +walls covered with paintings. The ceiling was darker than the walls, +which made it seem lower, and the whole color scheme was so arranged +that the feeling of extreme height was lessened. The mantel is a +beautiful example of the period. This room was furnished about 1780-82. + +Compared to the lavish curves of the style of Louis XV, the fine +outlines and the beautiful ornament of Louis XVI appear to some people +cold, but if they look carefully at the matter, they will find them not +really so. The warmth of the Gallic temperament still shows through the +new garb, giving life and beauty to the dainty but strong furniture. + +If one studies the examples of the styles of Louis XIV, Louis XV and +Louis XVI that one finds in the great palaces, collections, museums and +books of prints and photographs, one will see that the wonderful +foundation laid by Louis XIV was still there in the other two reigns. +During the time of Louis XVI the pose of rustic simplicity was a very +sophisticated pose indeed, but the reaction from the rocaille style of +Louis XV led to one of the most beautiful styles of decoration that the +world has seen. It had dignity, true beauty and the joy of life +expressed in it. + +[Illustration: Rare Louis XVI chair--an original from Fontainebleau.] + +[Illustration: The American Empire sofa, when not too elaborate, is a +very beautiful article of furniture.] + + + + +_The Empire_ + + +The French Revolution made a tremendous change in the production of +beautiful furniture, as royalty and the nobility could no longer +encourage it. Many of the great artists died in poverty and many of them +went to other countries where life was more secure. + +After the Revolution there was wholesale destruction of the wonderful +works of art which had cost such vast sums to collect. Nothing was to +remain that would remind the people of departed kings and queens, and a +committee on art was appointed to make selections of what was to be +saved and what was to be destroyed. That committee of "tragic comedians" +set up a new standard of art criticism; it was not the artistic merits +of a piece of tapestry, for instance, that interested them, but whether +a king or queen dared show their heads upon it. If so, into the flames +it went. Thousands of priceless things were destroyed before they +finished their dreadful work. + +When Napoleon came into power he turned to ancient Rome for inspiration. +The Imperial Cæsars became his ideal and gave him a wide field in which +to display his love for splendor, uncontrolled by any true artistic +sense. It gave decoration a blow from which it was hard to recover. +Massive furniture without real beauty of line, loaded with ormolu, took +the place of the old. The furniture was simple in construction with +little carving, until later when all kinds of animal heads and claws, +and animals never seen by man, and horns of plenty, were used to support +tables and chairs and sofas. Everywhere one turned the feeling of +martial grandeur was in the air. Ormolu mounts of bay wreaths, torches, +eagles, military emblems and trophies, winged figures, the sphinx, the +bee, and the initial N, were used on furniture; and these same motives +were used in wall decoration. The furniture was left the natural color +of the wood, and mahogany, rosewood, and ebony, were used. Veneer was +also extensively used. The front legs of chairs were usually straight, +and the back legs slightly curved. Beds were massive, with head and +foot-board of even height, and the tops rolled over into a scroll. Swans +were used on the arms of chairs and sofas and the sides of beds. Tables +were often round, with tripod legs; in fact, the tripod was a great +favorite. There was a great deal of inlay of the favorite emblems but +little carving. Plain columns with Doric caps and metal ornaments were +used. The change in the use of color was very marked, for deep brown, +blue and other dark colors were used instead of the light and gay ones +of the previous period. The materials used were usually of solid colors +with a design in golden yellow, a wreath, or a torch, or the bee, or one +of the other favorite emblems being used in a spot design, or powdered +on. Some of the color combinations in the rooms we read of sound quite +alarming. + +Since the time of the Empire, France has done as the rest of the world +has, gone without any special style. + + + + +_English Furniture from Gothic Days to the Period of Queen Anne._ + + +The early history of furniture in all countries is very much the +same--there is not any. We know about kings and queens, and war and +sudden death, and fortresses and pyramids, but of that which the people +used for furniture we know very little. Research has revealed the +mention in old manuscripts once in a while of benches and chests, and +the Bayeux tapestry and old seals show us that William the Conquerer and +Richard Coeur de Lion sat on chairs, even if they were not very +promising ones, but at best it is all very vague. It is natural to +suppose that the early Saxons had furniture of some kind, for, as the +remains of Saxon metalwork show great skill, it is probable they had +skill also in woodworking. + +In England, as in France, the first pieces of furniture that we can be +sure of are chests and benches. They served all purposes apparently, for +the family slept on them by night and used them for seats and tables by +day. The bedding was kept in the chests, and when traveling had to be +done all the family possessions were packed in them. There is an old +chest at Stoke d'Abernon church, dating from the thirteenth century, +that has a little carving on it, and another at Brampton church of the +twelfth or thirteenth century that has iron decorations. Some chests +show great freedom in the carving, St. George and the Dragon and other +stories being carved in high relief. + +[Illustration: An Apostles bed of the Tudor period, so-called from the +carved panels of the back. The over elaboration of the late Tudor work +corresponded in time with France's deterioration in the reign of Henry +IV.] + +Nearly all the existing specimens of Gothic furniture are +ecclesiastical, but there are a few that were evidently for household +use. These show distinctly the architectural treatment of design in the +furniture. Chairs were not commonly used until the sixteenth century. +Our distinguished ancestors decided that one chair in a house was +enough, and that was for the master, while his family and friends sat on +benches and chests. It is a long step in comfort and manners from the +fifteenth to the twentieth century. Later the guest of honor was given +the chair, and from that may come the saying that a speaker "takes the +chair." Gothic tables were probably supported by trestles, and beds were +probably very much like the early sixteenth century beds in general +shape. There were cupboards and armoires also, but examples are very +rare. From an old historical document we learn that Henry III, in 1233, +ordered the sheriff to attend to the painting of the wainscoted chamber +in Winchester Castle and to see that "the pictures and histories were +the same as before." Another order is for having the wall of the king's +chamber at Westminster "painted a good green color in imitation of a +curtain." These painted walls and stained glass that we know they had, +and the tapestry, must have given a cheerful color scheme to the +houses of the wealthy class even if there was not much comfort. + +[Illustration: In this walnut dressing-table the period of William and +Mary has been adapted to modern needs.] + +[Illustration: This reproduction of a Charles II chair shows cherubs +supporting crowns.] + +The history of the great houses of England, and also the smaller +manor-houses, is full of interest in connection with the study of +furniture. There are many manor-houses that show all the characteristics +of the Gothic, Renaissance, Tudor and Jacobean periods, and from them we +can learn much of the life of the times. The early ones show absolute +simplicity in the arrangement, one large hall for everything, and later +a small room or two added. The fire was on the floor and the smoke +wandered around until it found its way out at the opening, or louvre, in +the roof. Then a chimney was built at the dais end of the hall, and the +mantelpiece became an important part of the decoration. The hall was +divided by "screens" into smaller rooms, leaving the remainder for +retainers, and causing the clergy to inveigh against the new custom of +the lord of the manor "eating in secret places." The staircase developed +from the early winding stair about a newel or post to the beautiful +broad stairs of the Tudor period. These were usually six or seven feet +broad, with about six wide easy steps and then a landing, and the +carving on the balusters was often very elaborate and sometimes very +beautiful--a ladder raised to the _n_th power. + +Slowly the Gothic period died in England and slowly the Renaissance took +its place. There was never the gayety of decorative treatment that we +find in France, but the English workmen, while keeping their own +individuality, learned a tremendous amount from the Italians who came to +the country. Their influence is shown in the Henry VIIth Chapel in +Westminster Abbey, and in the old part of Hampton Court Palace, built by +Cardinal Wolsey. + +The religious troubles between Henry VIII and the Pope and the change of +religion helped to drive the Italians from the country, so the +Renaissance did not get such a firm foothold in England as it did in +France. The mingling of Gothic and Renaissance forms what we call the +Tudor period. During the time of Elizabeth all trace of Gothic +disappeared, and the influence of the Germans and Flemings who came to +the country in great numbers, helped to shorten the influence of the +Renaissance. The over-elaboration of the late Tudor time corresponded +with the deterioration shown in France in the time of Henry IV. The Hall +of Gray's Inn, the Halls of Oxford, the Charterhouse and the Hall of the +Middle Temple are all fine examples of the Tudor period. + +We find very few names of furniture makers of those days; in fact, there +are very few names known in connection with the buildings themselves. +The word architect was little used until after the Renaissance. The +owner and the "surveyor" were the people responsible, and the plans, +directions and details given to the workmen were astonishingly meager. + +The great charm that we all feel in the Tudor and Jacobean periods is +largely due to the beautiful paneled walls. Their woodwork has a color +that only age can give and that no stain can copy. The first panels were +longer than the later ones. Wide use was made of the beautiful +"linen-fold" design in the wainscoting, and there was also much +elaborate carving and strapwork. Scenes like the temptation of Adam and +Eve were represented, heads in circular medallions, and simply +decorative designs were used. In the days of Elizabeth it became the +fashion to have the carving at the top of the paneling with plain panels +below. Tudor and Jacobean mantelpieces were most elaborate and were of +wood, stone, or marble richly carved, to say nothing of the beautiful +plaster ones, and there are many fine examples in existence. They were +fond of figure decoration, and many subjects were taken from the Bible. +The overmantels were decorated with coats-of-arms and other carving, and +the entablature over the fireplace often had Latin mottoes. The earliest +firebacks date from the fifteenth century. Coats-of-arms and many +curious designs were used upon them. + +The furniture of the Tudor period was much carved, and was made chiefly +of oak. Cornices of beds and cabinets often had the egg-and-dart molding +used on them, and the S-curve is often seen opposed on the backs of +settees and chairs. It has a suggestion of a dolphin and is reminiscent +of the dolphins of the Renaissance. The beds were very large, the +"great bed of Ware" being twelve feet square. The cornice, the bed-head, +the pedestals and pillars supporting the cornice were all richly carved. +Frequently the pillars at the foot of the bed were not connected with +it, but supported the cornice which was longer than the bed. The +"Courtney bedstead," dated 1593, showing many of the characteristics of +the ornament of the time, is 103-1/2 inches high, 94 inches long, 68 +inches wide. The majority of the beds were smaller and lower, however, +and the pillars usually rose out of drum-like members, huge acorn-like +bulbs that were often so large as to be ugly. They appeared also on +other articles of furniture. When in good proportion, with pillars +tapering from them, they were very effective, and gradually they grew +smaller. Some of the beds had the four apostles, Matthew, Mark, Luke and +John, carved on the posts. They were probably the origin of the nursery +rhyme: + + "Four corners to my bed, + Four angels round my head, + Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, + Bless the bed that I lie on." + +[Illustration: In this living-room, Italian, Jacobean, and modern +stuffed furniture, give a satisfactory effect because each piece is good +of its kind and is in a certain relationship to each other. The huge +clock with chimes and the animal casts are out of keeping.] + +Bed hanging were of silk, velvet, damask, wool damask, tapestry, etc., +and there were fine linen sheets and blankets and counterpanes of wool +work. The chairs were high-backed of solid oak with cushions. There +were also jointed stools, folding screens, chests, cabinets, tables with +carpets (table covers) tapestry hangings, curtains, cushions, silver +sconces, etc. + +[Illustration: Original Jacobean settle with tapestry covering. These +pieces of furniture range in price between $900 and $1,400.] + +[Illustration: Fine reproductions of Jacobean chairs of the time of +Charles II. The carved front rail balances the carving on the back +perfectly.] + +The Jacobean period began with James I, and lasted until the time of +William and Mary, or from 1603 to about 1689. In the early part there +was still a strong Tudor feeling, and toward the end foreign influence +made itself felt until the Dutch under William became paramount. Inigo +Jones did his great work at this time in the Palladian style of +architecture. His simpler taste did much to reduce the exaggeration of +the late Tudor days. + +Chests of various kinds still remained of importance. Their growth is +interesting: first the plain ones of very early days, then panels +appeared, then the pointed arch with its architectural effect, then the +low-pointed arch of Tudor and early Jacobian times, and the geometrical +ornament. Then came a change in the general shape, a drawer being added +at the bottom, and at last it turned into a complete chest of drawers. + +Cabinets or cupboards were also used a great deal, and the most +interesting are the court-and livery-cupboards. The derivation of the +names is a bit obscure, but the court cupboard probably comes from the +French _court_, short. The first ones were high and unwieldy and the +later ones were lower with some enclosed shelves. They were used for a +display of plate, much as the modern sideboard is used. The number of +shelves was limited by rank; the wife of a baronet could have two, a +countess three, a princess four, a queen five. They were beautifully +carved, very often, the doors to the enclosed portions having heads, +Tudor roses, arches, spindle ornaments and many other designs common to +the Tudor and Jacobean periods. They had a silk "carpet" put on the +shelves with the fringe hanging over the ends, but not the front, and on +this was placed the silver. + +The livery-cupboard was used for food, and the word probably comes from +the French _livrer_, to deliver. It had several shelves enclosed by +rails, not panels, so the air could circulate, and some of them had open +shelves and a drawer for linen. They were used much as we use a +serving-table, or as the kitchen dresser was used in old New England +days. In them were kept food and drink for people to take to their +bedrooms to keep starvation at bay until breakfast. + +Drawing-tables were very popular during Jacobean times. They were +described as having two ends that were drawn out and supported by +sliders, while the center, previously held by them, fell into place by +its own weight. Another characteristic table was the gate-legged or +thousand-legged table, that was used so much in our own Colonial times. +There were also round, oval and square tables which had flaps supported +by legs that were drawn out. Tables were almost invariably covered with +a table cloth. + +Some of the chairs of the time of James I were much like those of Louis +XIII, having the short back covered with leather, damask, or tapestry, +put on with brass or silver nails and fringe around the edge of the +seat. The chief characteristic of the chairs of this time was solidity, +with the ornament chiefly on the upper parts, which were molded oftener +than carved, with the backs usually high. A plain leather chair called +the "Cromwell chair," was imported from Holland. The solid oak back gave +way at last to the half solid back, then came the open back with rails, +and then the Charles II chair, with its carved or turned uprights, its +high back of cane, and an ornamental stretcher like the top of the chair +back, between the front legs. This is a very attractive feature, as it +serves to give balance of decoration and also partly hides the plain +stretcher from sight. A typical detail of Charles II furniture is the +crown supported by cherubs or opposed S-curves. James II used a crown +and palm leaves. + +Grinling Gibbons did his wonderful work in carving at this time, using +chiefly pear and lime wood. The greater part of his work was wall +decoration, but he made tables, mirrors and other furniture as well. The +carving was often in lighter wood than the background, and was in such +high relief that portions of it had often to be "pinned" together, for +it seemed almost in the round. Evelyn discovered Gibbons in a little +shop working away at such a wonderful piece of carving that he could +not rest until he had taken him to Sir Christopher Wrenn. From this +introduction came the great amount of work they did together. The +influence of his work was still seen in the early eighteenth century. + +The room at Knole House that was furnished for James I is of great +interest, as it is the same to-day as when first furnished. The bed is +said to have cost £8,000. As it is one of the show places of England one +should not miss a chance of seeing it. + +Until the time of the Restoration the furniture of England could not +compare in sumptuousness with that of the Continental countries. +England, besides having a simpler point of view, was in a perpetual +state of unrest. The honest and hard-working English joiners and +carpenters adapted in a plain and often clumsy way the styles of the +different foreigners who came to the country. Through it all, however, +they kept the touch of national character that makes the furniture so +interesting, and they often did work of great beauty and worth. When +Charles II came to the throne he brought with him the ideas of France, +where he had spent so many years, and the change became very marked. The +natural Stuart extravagance also helped to form his taste, and soon we +hear of much more elaborate decoration throughout the land. + +Many of the country towns were far behind London in the style of +furniture, and this explains why some furniture that is dated 1670, for +instance, seems to belong to an earlier time. The famous silver +furniture of Knole House, Seven-oaks, belongs to this time. Evelyn +mentions in his diary that the rooms of the Duchess of Portsmouth were +full of "Japan cabinets and screens, pendule clocks, greate vases of +wrought plate, tables, stands, chimney furniture, sconces, branches, +baseras, etc., all of massive silver," and later he mentions again her +"massy pieces of plate, whole tables and stands of incredible value." + +In the reign of William and Mary, Dutch influence was naturally very +pronounced, as William disliked everything English. The English, being +now well grounded in the knowledge of construction, took the Dutch ideas +as a foundation and developed them along their own lines, until we have +the late Queen Anne type made by Chippendale. + +The change in the style of chairs was most marked and noticeable. They +were more open backed than in Charles's time and had two uprights and a +spoon-or fiddle-shaped splat to support the sitter's back. The chair +backs took more the curve of the human figure, and the seats were +broader in front than in the back; the cabriole legs were broad at the +top and ended in claw or pad feet, and there were no straining-rails. +The shell was a common form of ornament, and all crowns and cherubs had +disappeared. Inlay and marquetry came to be generously used, but there +had been many cabinets of Dutch marquetry brought to England even +before the time of William and Mary. Flower designs in dyed woods, +shell, mother-of-pearl, and ivory were used. + +The marquetry clocks made at this time are wonderful and characteristic +examples of the work, and are among the finest clocks ever made for +beauty of line and finish, and proportion. + +Although marquetry and inlay have much in common there is one great +difference between them, and they should not be used as synonymous +terms. In marquetry the entire surface of the article is covered with +pieces of different colored woods cut very thin and glued on. It is like +a modern picture puzzle done with regard to the design. In inlay, the +design only is inlaid in the wood, leaving a much larger plain +background. Veneering is a thin layer of beautiful and often rare wood +glued to a foundation of some cheaper kind. The tall clocks and cabinets +of William and Mary's time and the wonderful work of Boulle in France +are examples of marquetry, the fine furniture of Hepplewhite and +Sheraton are masterly examples of inlay. + +[Illustration: Examples of line reproductions. The lacquer chairs carry +out the true feeling of the old with great skill.] + +[Illustration: A reproduction of a walnut chair with cane seat and +back, of the William and Mary period.] + +[Illustration: Reproduction of chair showing the transition between the +time of Charles II and William and Mary. The carved strut remains but +the back is lower and simpler.] + + + + +_Queen Anne_ + + +"Queen Anne" furniture is a very elastic term, for it is often used to +cover the reigns of William and Mary, Queen Anne, George I, and a part +of the reign of George II, or, in other words, all the time of Dutch +influence. The more usual method is to leave out William and Mary, but +at best the classification of furniture is more or less arbitrary, for +in England, as well as other countries, the different styles overlap +each other. Chippendale's early work was distinctly influenced by the +Dutch. + +Walnut superseded oak in popularity, and after 1720 mahogany gradually +became the favorite. There was a good deal of walnut veneering done, and +the best logs were saved for the purpose. Marquetry died out and gave +place to carving, and the cabriole leg, one of the chief marks of Dutch +influence, became a firmly fixed style. The carving was put on the knees +and the legs ended in claw and ball and pad feet. Some chairs were +simply carved with a shell or leaf or scroll on top rail and knees of +the legs. In the more elaborately carved chairs the arms, legs, splat, +and top rail were all carved with acanthus leaves, or designs from +Gibbons's decoration. Chairs were broad in the seat and high of back +with wide splats, often decorated with inlay, in the early part of the +period. The top rail curved into the side uprights, and the seat was set +into a rebate or box-seat. The chair backs slowly changed in shape, +becoming broader and lower, the splat ceased to be inlaid and was +pierced and carved, and the whole chair assumed the shape made so +familiar to us by Chippendale. + +Tables usually had cabriole legs, although there were some gate-or +thousand-legged, tables, and card tables, writing-tables, and +flap-tables, were all used. It was in the Queen Anne period that +highboys and lowboys made their first appearance. + +In the short reign of Anne it also became the fashion to have great +displays of Chinese porcelain, and over-mantels, cupboards, shelves and +tables were covered with wonderful pieces of it. Addison, in Sir Roger +de Coverley, humorously describes a lady's library of the time. + +"... And as it was some time before the lady came to me I had an +opportunity of turning over a great many of her books, which were ranged +in a very beautiful order. At the end of the folios (which were finely +bound and gilt) were great jars of china placed one above another in a +very noble piece of architecture. The quartos were separated from the +octavos by a pile of smaller vessels, which rose in a delightful +pyramid. The octavos were bounded by tea-dishes of all shapes, colors, +and sizes, which were so disposed on a wooden frame that they looked +like one continued pillar indented with the finest strokes of sculpture +and stained with the greatest variety of dyes. Part of the library was +enclosed in a kind of square, consisting of one of the prettiest +grotesque works that ever I saw, and made up of scaramouches, lions, +monkeys, mandarins, trees, shells, and a thousand other odd figures in +china ware. In the midst of the room was a little Japan table." + +Between 1710 and 1730 lacquer ware became very fashionable, and many +experiments were made to imitate the beautiful Oriental articles brought +home by Dutch traders. In Holland a fair amount of success was attained +and a good deal of lacquered furniture was sent from there to England +where the brass and silver mounts were added. English and French were +experimenting, the French with the greatest success in their Vernis +Martin, mentioned elsewhere, which really stood quite in a class by +itself, but the imitations of Chinese and Japanese lacquer were inferior +to the originals. Pine, oak, lime, and many other woods, were used as a +base, and the fashion was so decided that nearly all kinds of furniture +were covered with it. This lacquer ware of William and Mary's and Queen +Anne's time must not be confounded with the Japanned furniture of +Hepplewhite's and Sheraton's time, which was quite different and of much +lower grade. + +It was in the reign of Queen Anne that the sun began to rise on English +cabinet work; it shone gloriously through the eighteenth century, and +sank in early Victorian clouds. + +[Illustration: Two important phases of Chippendale's work--an elaborate +ribbon-back chair, and one of the more staid Gothic type.] + +[Illustration: An elaborately carved and gilded Chippendale mantel +mirror, showing French influence.] + +[Illustration: One of the most beautiful examples of Chippendale's +fretwork tea-tables in existence.] + + + + +_Chippendale and the Eighteenth Century in England._ + + +The classification of furniture in England is on a different basis from +that of France, as the rulers of England were not such patrons of art as +were the French kings. Flemish, Dutch and French influences all helped +to form the taste of the people. The Jacobean period lasted from the +time of James I to the time of William and Mary. William brought with +him from Holland the strong Dutch feeling that had a tremendous +influence on the history of English furniture, and during Anne's short +reign the Dutch feeling still lasted. + +It was not until the early years of the reign of George II that the +Georgian period came into its own with Chippendale at its head. Some +authorities include William and Mary and Queen Anne in the Georgian +period, but the more usual idea is to divide it into several parts, +better known as the times of Chippendale, Adam, Hepplewhite and +Sheraton. French influence is marked throughout and is divided into +parts. The period of Chippendale was contemporaneous with that of Louis +XV, and the second part included the other three men and corresponded +with the last years of Louis XV, when the transition to Louis XVI was +beginning, and the time of Louis XVI. + +It was not until the latter part of Chippendale's life that he gave up +his love of rococo curves and scrolls, dripping water effects, and his +Chinese and Gothic styles. His early chairs had a Dutch feeling, and it +is often only by ornamentation that one can date them. + +The top of the Dutch chair had a flowing curve, the splat was first +solid and plain, then carved, and later pierced in geometrical designs; +then came the curves that were used so much by Chippendale. The carving +consisted of swags and pendants of fruit and flowers, shells, acanthus +leaves, scrolls, eagle's heads, carved in relief on the surface. + +Dutch chairs were usually of walnut and some of the late ones were of +mahogany. Mahogany was not used to any extent before 1720, but at that +time it began to be imported in large quantities, and its lightness and +the ease with which it could be worked made it appropriate for the +lighter style of furniture then coming into vogue. + +Chippendale began to make chairs with the curved top that is so +characteristic of his work. The splat back was always used, in spite of +the French, and its treatment is one of the most interesting things in +the history of English furniture. It gave scope for great originality. +Although, as I have said before, foreign influence was strong, the ideas +were adapted and worked out by the great cabinet-makers of the Georgian +period with a vigor and beauty that made a distinct English style, and +often went far, far ahead of the originals. + +There were, so far as we know, three Thomas Chippendales: the second was +the great one. He was born in Worcester, England, about 1710, and died +in 1779. He and his father, who was also a carver, came to London before +1727. Very little is known about his life, but we may feel sure he was +that rare combination: a man of genius with decided business ability. He +not only designed the furniture which was made in his shop, but executed +a large part of it also, and superintended all the work done there by +others. That he was a man of originality shows distinctly through his +work, for although he adapted and copied freely and was strongly +influenced by the Dutch, French, and "Chinese taste," there is always +his own distinctive touch. The furniture of his best period, and those +belonging to his school, has great beauty of line and proportion, and +the exquisite carving shows a true feeling for ornament in relation to +plain surfaces. There are a few examples in existence of carving in +almost as high relief as that of Grinling Gibbons, swags, etc., and in +his most rococo period his carving was very elaborate. It always had +great clearness of edge and cut, and a wonderful feeling for light and +shade. In what is called "Irish Chippendale," which was furniture made +in Ireland after the style of Chippendale, the carving was in low relief +and the edges fairly smoothed off, which made it much less interesting. + +Chippendale looked upon his work as one of the arts and placed his ideal +of achievement very high, and that he received the recognition of the +best people of the time as an artist of merit is proved by his election +to the Society of Arts with such men as Sir Joshua Reynolds, Horace +Walpole, Samuel Johnson, David Garrick, and others. + +The genius of Chippendale justly puts him in the front rank of +cabinet-makers and his influence was the foundation of much of the fine +work done by many others during the eighteenth century. He is often +criticized for his excessive rococo taste as displayed in the plates of +the "Gentleman's and Cabinet-maker's Director," and in some of his +finished work. Many of the designs in the "Director" were probably never +carried out, and some of them were probably added to by the soaring +imaginations of the engraver. This is true of all the books published by +the great cabinet-makers, and it always seems more fair to have their +reputations rest on their finished work which has come down to us. + +[Illustration: The dripping-water effect, of which Chippendale was so +fond at one time, is plainly shown on the doors of this particularly +fine example of his work.] + +Chippendale, of course, must bear the chief part of the charge of +over-elaboration, and he frankly says that he thinks "much enrichment is +necessary." He copied Meissonier's designs and had a great love for +gilding, but the display of rococo taste is not in all his work by any +means, nor was it so excessive as that of the French. The more +self-restrained temperament of the Anglo-Saxon race makes a deal of +difference. He early used the ogee curve and cabriole leg, the knees of +which he carved with cartouches and leaves or other designs. The front +rail of the chair also was often carved. There were several styles of +curved leg, the cabriole leg of Dutch influence, and the curved style of +Louis XV. There were also several variations on the claw and ball foot. +Many Chippendale chairs were without stretchers, but the straight legged +style usually had four. The seats were sometimes in a box frame or +rebate, and sometimes the covering was drawn over the frame and fastened +with brass headed nails. Chippendale in the "Director" speaks of red +morocco, Spanish leather, damask, tapestry and other needlework as being +appropriate for the covering of his chairs. + +[Illustration: A chair from early in the 18th century of the Dutch type.] + +[Illustration: One of the Chippendale patterns, dating from about 1750.] + +[Illustration: Hepplewhite's characteristic shield-shaped back.] + +[Illustration: Thomas Sheraton's rectangular type of chair-back.] + +In about 1760 or 1765 he began to use the straight leg for his chairs. +The different shapes of splats will often help in deciding the dates of +their making, and its development is of great interest. The curves shown +in the diagram on page 84 are the merest suggestions of the outline of +the splat, and they were carved most beautifully in many different +designs. Ribbon-back chairs are dated about 1755 and show the adapted +French influence. His Gothic and Chinese designs were made about +1760-1770. Ladder-back chairs nearly always had straight legs, either +plain or with double ogee curve and bead moldings, but there are a few +examples of ladder-back and cabriole legs combined, although these are +very rare. The chair settees of the Dutch time, with backs having the +appearance of chairs side by side, were also made by Chippendale. "Love +seats" were small settees. It was naïvely said that "they were too large +for one and too small for two." A large armchair that shows a decided +difference in the manners of the early eighteenth century and the +present day was called the "drunkard's chair." + +[Illustration: DIFFERENT TYPES OF CHAIR SPLATS USED BY CHIPPENDALE.] + +When the craze for "Indian work" was at its height, there were many +pieces of old oak and walnut furniture covered with lacquer to bring it +up to the fashionable standard, but their forms were not suitable, and +oak especially, with its coarse grain did not lend itself to the +process. The stands for lacquer cabinets vary in style, but were often +gilded in late Louis XIV and Louis XV style. The difference between true +lacquer and its imitations is hard to explain. The true was made by +repeated coats of a special varnish, each rubbed down and allowed to +become hard before the next was put on. This gave a hard, cool, smooth +surface with no stickiness. Modern work, done with paint and French +varnish, has not this delightful feeling, but is nearly always clammy to +the touch, and the colors are hurt by the process of polishing. +Chippendale did not use much lacquer, but in the "Director" he often +says such and such designs would be suitable for it. + +Much of the furniture that Chippendale made was heavy, but the best of +it had much beauty. His delicate fretwork tea-tables are a delight, with +their fretwork cupboards and carving. He seemed to combine many sides in +his artistic temperament, a fact that many people lay to his power of +assimilating the work of others. He did not make sideboards in our sense +of the word. His were large side-tables, sometimes with a drawer for +silver and sometimes not. Pier-tables were very much like them in shape, +but smaller, and were often gilded to match the mirrors which were +placed above them. + +The larger pieces of Chippendale furniture have the same characteristic +of perfect workmanship and detail which the chairs possess. +Dining-tables were made in sections consisting of two semi-circular ends +and two center pieces with flaps which could all be joined together and +make a very large table. The beds he made had four posts and cornice +tops elaborately carved and often gilded, with a strong Louis XV +feeling. The curtains hung from the inside of the cornice. He also made +many other styles of beds, such as canopy beds, tent beds, flat tester +beds, Chinese beds, Gothic beds: there was almost nothing he did not +make for the house from wall brackets to the largest wardrobes. + +To many people used to the simple Chippendale furniture which is +commonly seen, the idea of rich and beautiful carving and gilding comes +as a surprise, and even in the "Director" there are no plates which show +his most beautiful work. His elaborate furniture was naturally chiefly +order work, and so was not pictured, and much of it that is left is +still in the possession of the descendants of the original owners. The +small number of authentic pieces which have reached public sales have +been eagerly snapped up by private collectors and museums at large +prices. + +[Illustration: It is interesting to compare the generous curves of the +Chippendale sofa with the greater severity of Hepplewhite's taste..] + +In America much of the furniture called Chippendale was not made by +Chippendale himself, but was made after his designs and copied from +imported pieces by clever cabinet-makers here in the, then, colonies. +The average American of the eighteenth century was a simple and not over +rich person of good breeding and refined taste who appreciated the +fact that the elaborate furniture of England and France would not be +in keeping with life in America, and so either imported the simpler +kinds, or demanded that the home cabinet-maker choose good models for +his work. This partly explains why we have so much really good Colonial +furniture, and not so much of the elaborately carved and gilded variety. + +[Illustration: A valuable collection of an Adam mirror, a block-front, +knee-hole chest of drawers, and a Hepplewhite chair.] + + + + +_Robert Adam_ + + +Robert Adam was the second of the four sons of William Adam, and was +born in 1728. The Adam family was Scotch of good social position. Robert +early showed a talent for drawing. He was ambitious, and, as old Roman +architecture interested him above all other subjects, he decided that he +could attain his ideals only by study and travel in Italy. He returned +to England in 1758 after four years of hard work with the results of his +labors, the chief treasure being his careful drawings of Diocletian's +villa. His classical taste was firmly established, and was to be one of +the important influences of the eighteenth century. + +Robert and James Adam went into partnership and became the most noted +architects of their day in England. The list of their buildings is long +and interesting, and much of their architectural and decorative work is +still in existence. + +To many people it will seem like putting the cart before the horse to +say that Robert Adam had in any way influenced the style we call Louis +XVI, but it is a plausible theory and certainly an interesting one. Mr. +G. Owen Wheeler in his interesting book on "Old English Furniture" makes +a strong case in favor of the Adam Brothers. Classical taste was well +established in England by 1765, before the transition from Louis XV to +Louis XVI began, and Robert Adam published his book in parallel columns +of French and English, which shows it must have been in some demand in +France. The great influence of the excavations at Pompeii must naturally +not be underestimated, as it was far reaching, but with the beautiful +Adam style well developed, just across the Channel, it seems probable +that it may have had its share in forming French taste. The foundation +being there, the French put their characteristic touch to it and +developed a much richer style than that of the Adam Brothers, but the +two have so much in common that Louis XVI furniture may be put into an +Adam room with perfect fitness, and vice versa. As the Adams cared only +to design furniture some one else had to carry out the designs, and +Chippendale was master carver and cabinet-maker under them at Harewood +House, Yorkshire, and probably was also in many other instances. + +[Illustration: A mantel of marble and steel in the drawing-room, Rushton +Hall, Northamptonshire--the work of the brothers Adam.] + +[Illustration: Another Adam mantel. It is interesting to note how +clearly these mantels are the inspiration of our own Colonial work.] + +The early furniture of Adam was plain, and the walls were treated with +much decoration that was classic in feeling. He possessed the secret of +a composition of which his exquisite decorations on walls and ceilings +were made. After 1770 he simplified his walls and elaborated his +furniture designs until they met in a beautiful and graceful harmony. He +designed furniture to suit the room it was in, and with the dainty and +charming coloring, the beauty of proportion and the charm of the wall +decoration, the scheme had great beauty. + +[Illustration: This group of old mirrors indicates the extent to which +refinement of design was carried during the Georgian period in +England--the time of the great cabinet-makers.] + +He used the ram's head, wreaths, honeysuckle, mythological subjects, +lozenge-shaped, oval and octagonal panels, and many other designs. He +was one of the first to use the French idea of decorating furniture with +painting and porcelain plaques, and the furniture itself was simple and +beautiful in line. The stucco ceilings designed by the brothers were +picked out with delicate colors and have much beauty of line. + +A great deal of the most beautiful Adam decoration was the painting on +walls and ceilings and furniture by Angelica Kaufmann, Zucchi, +Pergolesi, Cipriani, and Columbani. The standard of work was so high +that only the best was satisfactory. + +Adam usually designed his furniture for the room in which it was to +stand, and he often planned the house and all its contents, even to the +table silver, to say nothing of the door-locks. The chairs were of +mahogany, or painted, or gilded, wood. Some had oval upholstered backs, +with the covering specially designed for the room, and some had lyre +backs, later used so much by Sheraton, and others had small painted +panels placed in the top rail, with beautiful carving. Mirrors were +among the most charming articles designed by Adam, and had composition +wreaths and cupids and medallions for ornament. They were usually made +in pairs in both large and small sizes. A pair of antique mirrors +should be kept together, as they are very much more valuable than when +separated. + +Adam was one of the first to assemble the pieces that later grew into +the sideboard--a table, two pedestals, and a cellaret. There is a +sideboard designed by him for Gillows, in which the parts are connected, +and it is at least one of the ancestors of the beautiful Shearer and +Hepplewhite ones and our modern useful, though not always beautiful, +article. When, late in his career, Adam attempted to copy the French, he +was not so successful, as he did not have their flexibility of +temperament, and was unable to give the warmer touch to the classic, +which they did so well. His paneled walls, however, have great dignity +and purity of line and feeling, and the applied ornament was really an +ornament, and not a disfigurement as too often happens in our day. With +Adam one feels the surety of knowledge and the refinement of good taste +led by a high ideal. + +[Illustration: There are many details worthy of notice in this room, the +mahogany doors, the paneled walls with the old picture paper, the +over-mantel, the knife boxes on the sideboard, the Hepplewhite +furniture, and the side-lights. The chandelier is badly chosen.] + +[Illustration: A fine old Hepplewhite sideboard, with old glass and +silver, but the modern wallpaper is not in harmony.] + +[Illustration: A modern Hepplewhite settee, showing the draped scarf +carving he used so much.] + + + + +_Hepplewhite_ + + +The work of Hepplewhite and his school lasted from about 1760 to 1795; +the last nine years of the time the business was carried on by his +widow, Alice, under the name of A. Hepplewhite & Co. For five years +after that some work was done after his manner, but it was distinctly +inferior. In the early seventies Hepplewhite's work was so well known +and so much admired that its influence was shown in the work of his +contemporaries. There was a great difference between his style and that +of Chippendale, his being much lighter in construction and effect, +besides the many differences of design. Hepplewhite was strongly +influenced by the French style of Louis XVI, and also the pure taste of +Robert Adam at its height. Hepplewhite, however, like all the great +cabinet-makers, both French and English, was a great genius himself and +stamped the impress of his own personality upon his work. + +Many people date Hepplewhite's fame from the time of the publication of +his book, "The Cabinet Maker and Upholsterer's Guide," in 1788, not +realizing that he had been dead for two years when it appeared. Its +publication was justified by the well established popularity of his +furniture and the success with which his designs were carried out by A. +Hepplewhite & Co. + +It is interesting to notice the difference in the size of chairs which +became apparent during Hepplewhite's time. Hoop-skirts and stiffened +coats went out of fashion, and with them went the need of large chair +seats. The transition chairs made by Hepplewhite were not very +attractive in proportion, as the backs were too low for the width. The +transition from Chippendale to Hepplewhite was not sudden, as the last +style of Chippendale was simpler and had more of the classic feeling in +it. Hepplewhite says, in the preface to his book: "To unite elegance and +utility, and blend the useful with the agreeable, has ever been +considered a difficult, but an honorable task." He sometimes failed and +sometimes succeeded. His knowledge of construction enabled him to make +his chairs with shield, oval, and heart-shaped backs. The tops were +slightly curved, also the tops of the splats, and at the lower edge +where the back and the splat join, a half rosette was carved. He often +used the three feathers of the Prince of Wales, sheaves of wheat, +anthemion, urns, and festoons of drapery, all beautifully carved, and +forming the splat. The backs of his chairs were supported at the sides +by uprights running into the shield-shaped back and did not touch the +seat frame in any other way. With this apparent weakness of construction +it is wonderful how many of his chairs have come down to us in perfect +condition, but it was his knowledge of combining lightness with strength +which made it possible. + +Hepplewhite used straight or tapering legs with spade feet for his +furniture, often inlaid with bellflowers in satinwood. The legs were +sometimes carved with a double ogee curve and bead molding. He did not +use carving in the lavish manner of Chippendale, but it was always +beautifully done, and he used a great deal of inlay of satinwood, etc., +oval panels, lines, urns, and many other motives common to the other +cabinet-makers of the day, and also painted some of his furniture. His +Japan work was inferior in every way to that of the early part of the +eighteenth century. The upholstery was fastened to the chairs with +brass-headed tacks, often in a festoon pattern. Oval-shaped brass +handles were used on his bureaus, desks, and other furniture. He made +many sideboards, some, in fact, going back to the side table and +pedestal idea, and bottle-cases and knife-boxes were put on the ends of +the sideboards. His regular sideboards were founded on Shearer's design. + +Shearer's furniture was simple and dainty in design, and he has the +honor of making the first real serpentine sideboard, about 1780, which +was not a more or less disconnected collection of tables and pedestals. +It was the forerunner of the Hepplewhite and Sheraton sideboards that we +know so well. Shearer is now hardly known even by name to the general +world, but without doubt his ideal of lightness and strength in +construction had a good deal of influence on his contemporaries and +followers. + +Hepplewhite was very fond of oval and semi-circular shapes, and many of +his tables are made in either one way or the other. His sideboards, +founded on Shearer's designs, are very elegant, as he liked to say, in +their simplicity of line, their inlay, and their general beauty of wood. +He was most successful in his chairs, sideboards, tables, and small +household articles, for his larger pieces of furniture were often too +heavy. Some of the worst, however, were made by other cabinet-makers +after his designs, and not by Hepplewhite himself. + + + + +_Sheraton_ + + +Thomas Sheraton was born in 1750, and was a journeyman cabinet-maker +when he went to London. His great genius for furniture design was +combined with a love of writing tracts and sermons. Unfortunately for +his success in life, he had a most disagreeable personality, being +conceited, jealous, and perfectly willing to pour scorn on his brother +cabinet-makers. This impression he quite frankly gives about himself in +his books. The name of Robert Adam is not mentioned, and this seems +particularly unpleasant when one thinks of the latter's undoubted +influence on Sheraton's work. Sheraton's unfortunate disposition +probably helped to make his life a failure. + +It is very sad to see such possibilities as his not reaping their true +reward, for poverty dogged his steps all through life, and he was always +struggling for a bare livelihood. His books were not financially +successful, and at last he gave up his workshop and ceased to make the +furniture he designed. He was an expert draughtsman and his designs were +carried out by the skillful cabinet-makers of the day. Adam Black gives +a very pitiful account of the poverty in which Sheraton lived, and says: +"That by attempting to do everything he does nothing." His "nothing," +however, has proved a very big something in the years which have +followed, for Sheraton is responsible for one of the most beautiful +types of furniture the world has known, and although his life was hard +and bitter, his fame is great. + +Sheraton took the style of Louis XVI as his standard, and some of his +best work is quite equal to that of the French workmen. He felt the lack +of the exquisite brass and ormolu work done in France, and said if it +were only possible to get as fine in England, the superior +cabinet-making of the English would put them far ahead in the ranks. To +many of us this loss is not so great, for the beauty of the wood counts +for more, and is not detracted from by an oversupply of metal ornament, +as sometimes happened in France. "Enough is as good as a feast." +Sheraton, at his best, had beauty, grace, and refinement of line without +weakness, lightness and yet perfect construction, combined with balance, +and the ornament just sufficient to enhance the beauty of the article +without overpowering it. It is this fine work which the world remembers +and which gave him his fame, and so it is far better to forget his later +period when nearly all trace of his former greatness was lost. + +[Illustration: A Sheraton bureau with a delightful little +dressing-glass.] + +Sheraton profited by the work of Chippendale, Adam, and Hepplewhite, for +these great men blazed the trail for him, so to speak, in raising the +art of cabinet-making to so high a plane that England was full of +skilled workmen. The influence of Adam, Shearer, and Hepplewhite, was +very great on his work, and it is often difficult to tell whether he +or Hepplewhite or Shearer made some pieces. He evidently did not have +business ability and his bitter nature hampered him at every turn. The +Sheraton school lasted from about 1790 to 1806. He died in 1806, fairly +worn out with his struggle for existence. Poor Sheraton, it certainly is +a pitiful story. + +[Illustration: One of Sheraton's charming desks, with sliding doors made +of thin strips of wood glued on cloth.] + +[Illustration: A sewing-table having the spirit of both Hepplewhite and +Sheraton.] + +Sheraton's chair backs are rectangular in type, with urn splats, and +splats divided into seven radiates, and also many other designs. The +chairs were made of mahogany and satinwood, some carved, some inlaid, +and some painted. The splat never ran into the seat, but was supported +on a cross rail running from side to side a few inches above the seat. +The material used for upholstery was nailed over the frame with +brass-headed tacks. + +Bookcases were of mahogany and satinwood veneer, and the large ones were +often in three sections, the center section standing farther out than +the two sides. The glass was covered with a graceful design in moldings, +and the pediments were of various shapes, the swan-neck being a +favorite. + +Sideboards were built on very much the lines of those made by Shearer +and Hepplewhite. There were drawers and cupboards for various uses. The +knife-boxes to put on the top came in sets of two, and sometimes there +was a third box. The legs were light and tapering with inlay of +satinwood, and sometimes they were reeded. There was inlay also on the +doors and drawers. There were also sideboards without inlay. The legs +for his furniture were at first plain, and then tapering and reeded. He +used some carving, and a great deal of satinwood and tulip-wood were +inlaid in the mahogany; he also used rosewood. The bellflower, urn, +festoons, and acanthus were all favorites of his for decoration. + +He made some elaborate and startling designs for beds, but the best +known ones are charming with slender turned posts or reeded posts, and +often the plain ones were made of painted satinwood. + +The satinwood from the East Indies was fine and of a beautiful yellow +color, while that from the West Indies was coarser in grain and darker +in color. It is a slow growing tree, and that used nowadays cannot +compare with the old, in spite of the gallant efforts of the hard +working fakirs to copy its beautiful golden tone. + +All the cabinet-makers of the eighteenth century made ingenious +contrivances in the way of furniture, washstands concealed in what +appear to be corner cupboards, a table that looks as simple as a table +possibly can, but has a small step-ladder and book rest hidden away in +its useful inside, and many others. Sheraton was especially clever in +making these conveniences, as these two examples show, and his books +have many others pictured in them. Sheraton's list of articles of +furniture is long, for he made almost everything from knife-boxes to +"chamber-horses," which were contrivances of a saddle and springs for +people to take exercise upon at home. + +Sheraton's "Drawing Book" was the best of those he published. It was +sold chiefly to other cabinet-makers and did not bring in many orders, +as Chippendale's and Hepplewhite's did. His other books showed his +decline, and his "Encyclopedia," on which he was working at the time of +his death, had many subjects in it beside furniture and cabinet-making. +His sideboards, card-tables, sewing-tables, tables of every kind, +chairs--in fact, everything he made during his best period--have a +sureness and beauty of line that makes it doubly sad that through the +stress of circumstances he should have deserted it for the style of the +Empire that was then the fashion in France. One or two of his Empire +designs have beauty, but most of them are too dreadful, but it was the +beginning of the end, and the eighteenth century saw the beautiful +principles of the eighteenth century lost in a bog of ugliness. + +There were many other cabinet-makers of merit that space does not allow +me to mention, but the great four who stood head and shoulders above +them all were Chippendale, Adam, Hepplewhite and Sheraton. They, being +human, did much work that is best forgotten, but the heights to which +they all rose have set a standard for English furniture in beauty and +construction that it would be well to keep in mind. + +The nineteenth century passed away without any especial genius, and in +fact, with a very black mark against its name in the hideous early +Victorian era. The twentieth century is moving along without anything we +can really call a beautiful and worthy style being born. There are many +working their way towards it, but there is apt to be too much of the +bizarre in the attempts to make them satisfactory, and so we turn to the +past for our models and are thankful for the legacy of beauty it has +left to the world. + + + + +_A General Talk_ + + +When one faces the momentous question of furnishing a house, there are +numerous things which must be looked into and thoroughly understood if +success is to be assured. If one is building in the country the first +question is the placing of the house in regard to the view, but in town +there is not much choice. The architect being chosen with due regard to +the style of house one wishes, the planning can go merrily on. The +architect should be told if there are any especially large and beautiful +pieces of furniture or tapestry to be planned for, so they shall receive +their rightful setting. After all, architects are but human, and cannot +tell by intuition what furniture is in storage. + +It is sad to see how often architecture and decoration are looked upon +as two entirely disconnected subjects, instead of being closely allied, +playing into each other's hands, as it were, to make a perfect whole. To +many people, a room is simply a room to be treated as they wish; whereas +many rooms are absolute laws unto themselves, and demand a certain kind +of treatment, or disaster follows. In America this kind of house is not +found so often as in Europe, but the number is growing rapidly as +architects and their clients realize more and more the beauties and +possibilities of the great periods as applied to the modern house. It is +only to the well-trained architect and decorator with correct taste that +one may safely turn, for the ill-trained and commonplace still continue +to make their astounding errors, and so to have the decoration of a room +truly successful one must begin with the architect, for he knows the +correct proportions of the different styles and appreciates their +importance. He will plan the rooms so that they, when decorated, may +complete his work and form a beautiful and convincing whole. This will +give the restfulness and beauty that absolute appropriateness always +lends. + +[Illustration: This room shows how fresh and charming white paint and +simplicity can be.] + +This matter of appropriateness must not be overlooked, and the whole +house should express the spirit of the owner; it should be in absolute +keeping with his circumstances. There are few houses which naturally +demand the treatment of palaces, but there are many which correspond +with the smaller chateaux of France and the manor-houses of England. It +is to these we must turn for our inspiration, for they have the beauty +of good taste and high standards without the lavishness of royalty; but +even royalty did not always live in rooms of state, for at Versailles, +and Petit Trianon, there is much simple exquisite furniture. The +wonderful and elaborate furniture of the past must be studied of course, +but to the majority of people, then as now, the simpler expression of +its fundamental lines of beauty are more satisfactory. The trouble +with many houses is that their furnishings are copied from too grand +models, and the effect in an average modern house is unsuitable in every +way. They cannot give the large vistas and appropriate background in +color and proportion which are necessary. Beauty does not depend upon +magnificence. + +[Illustration: The warm tones of a brown Chinese wallpaper are +attractive with the mahogany furniture, and the pattern is prevented +from becoming monotonous by the strong rectangular lines of the ivory +woodwork which frames it. The corner cupboard and the exceptionally fine +dining-table and the variety of chairs are interesting.] + +If one has to live in a house planned and built by others one often has +to give up some long cherished scheme and adopt something else more +suited to the surroundings. For instance, the rooms of the great French +periods were high, and often the modern house has very low ceilings, +that would not allow space for the cornice, over-doors and correctly +proportioned paneling, that are marked features of those times. Mrs. +Wharton has aptly said: "Proportion is the good breeding of +architecture," and one might add that proportion is good breeding +itself. One little slip from the narrow path into false proportion in +line or color or mass and the perfection of effect is gone. + +Proportion is another word for the fitness of things, and that little +phrase, "the fitness of things," is what Alice in Wonderland calls a +"portmanteau" phrase, for it holds so much, and one must feel it +strongly to escape the pitfalls of period furnishing. Most amazing +things are done with perfect complacency, but although the French and +English kings who gave their names to the various periods were far from +models of virtue, they certainly deserved no such cruel punishment as +to have some of the modern rooms, such as we have all seen, called after +them. + +The best decorators refuse to mix styles in one room and they thus save +people from many mistakes, but a decorator without a thorough +understanding of the subject, often leads one to disaster. A case in +point is an apartment where a small Louis XV room opens on a narrow hall +of nondescript modern style, with a wide archway opening into a Mission +dining-room. As one sits in the midst of pink brocade and gilding and +looks across to the dining-room, fitted out in all the heavy +paraphernalia of Mission furniture, one's head fairly reels. No contrast +could be more marked or more unsuitable, and yet this is by no means an +uncommon case. + +If one intends to adopt a style in decorating one's house, there should +be a uniformity of treatment in all connecting rooms, and there must be +harmony in the furniture and architecture and ornament, as well as +harmony in the color scheme. The foundation must be right before the +decoration is added. The proportion of doors and windows, for instance, +is very important, with the decorated over-door reaching to the ceiling. +The over-doors and mantels were architectural features of the rooms, and +it was not until wallpapers came into common use, in the early part of +the nineteenth century, that these decorative features slowly died out. + +The mantel and fireplace should be a center of interest and should be +balanced with something of importance on the other side of the room, +either architectural or decorative. It was this regard for symmetry, +balance, proportion, and harmony, which made the old rooms so +satisfying; there was no magic about it, it was artistic common sense. + +The use for which a room is intended must be kept in view and carried +out with real understanding of its needs. The individuality of the owner +is of course a factor. Unfortunately the word individuality is often +confounded with eccentricity and to many people it means putting +perfectly worthy and unassuming articles to startling uses. By +individuality one should really mean the best expression of one's sense +of beauty and the fitness of things, and when it is guided by the laws +of harmony and proportion the result is usually one of great charm, +convenience, and comfort. These qualities must be in every successful +house. + +In furnishing any house, whether in some special period or not, there +are certain things which must be taken into account. One of these is the +general color scheme. Arranging a color scheme for a house is not such a +difficult matter as many people suppose, nor is it the simple thing that +many others seem to think. There is a happy land between the two +extremes, and the guide posts pointing to it are a good color sense, a +true feeling for the proportion and harmony of color, and an +understanding of the laws of light. The trouble is that people often do +not use their eyes; red is red to them, blue is blue, and green is +green. They have never appeared to notice that there are dozens of +tones in these colors. Nature is one of the greatest teachers of color +harmony if we would but learn from her. Look at a salt marsh on an +autumn day and notice the wonderful browns and yellows and golds in it, +the reds and russets and touches of green in the woods on its edge, and +the clear blue sky over all with the reflections in the little pools. It +is a picture of such splendor of color that one fairly gasps. Then look +at the same marsh under gray skies and see the change; there is just as +much beauty as before, the same russets and golds and reds, but +exquisitely softened. One is sparkling, gay, a harmony of brilliancy; +the other is more gentle, sweet and appealing, a harmony of softened +glory. + +Again, Nature makes a thousand and one shades of green leaves to +harmonize with her flowers; the yellow green of the golden rod, the +silver green of the milkweed, the bright green of the nasturtium. Notice +the woods in wintertime with the wonderful purple browns and grays of +the tree trunks and branches, the bronze and russet of the dead leaves, +and the deep shadows in the snow. Everywhere one turns there are lessons +to learn if one will only use seeing eyes and a thinking mind. + +A house should be looked at as a whole, not as so many units to be +treated in a care-free manner. A room is affected by all the rooms +opening from it, as they, in turn, are affected by it. There can be +variety of color with harmony of contrast, or there can be the same +color used throughout, with the variety gained by the use of its +different tones. The plan of each floor should be carefully studied to +get the vistas in all directions so that harmony may reign and there +will be no danger of a clashing color discord when a door is opened. The +connecting rooms need not be all in one color, of course, but they +should form a perfect color harmony one with another, with deft touches +of contrast to accent and bring out the beauty of the whole scheme: This +matter of harmony in contrast is an important one. The idea of using a +predominant color is a restful one, and adds dignity and apparent size +to a house. The walls, for instance, could be paneled in white enameled +wood, or plaster, and the necessary color and variety could be supplied +by the rugs, hangings, furniture, and pictures. + +Another charming plan is to have different tones of one color used--a +scheme running from cream or old ivory through soft yellow and tan to a +russet brown would be lovely, especially if the house did not have an +over supply of light. Greens may be used with discretion, and a cool and +attractive scheme is from white to soft blue through gray. If different +colors are to be used in the different rooms the number of combinations +is almost unlimited, but there must always be the restraining influence +of a good color sense in forming the scheme or the result will be +disappointing, to say the least. + +A very important matter in the use of color is in its relation to the +amount and quality of the light. Dreary rooms can be made cheerful, and +too bright and dazzling rooms can be softened in effect, by the skillful +use of color. The warm colors,--cream white, yellows--but not lemon +yellow--orange, warm tans, russet, pinks, yellow greens, yellowish reds +are to be used on the north or shady side of the house. The cool +colors,--white, cream white, blues, grays, greens, and violet, are for +the sunny side. Endless combinations may be made of these colors, and if +a gray room, for example, is wished on the north side of the house, it +can be used by first choosing a warm tone of gray and combining with it +one of the warm colors, such as certain shades of soft pink or yellow. +We can stand more brilliancy of color out-of-doors than we can in the +house, where it is shut in with us. It is too exciting and we become +restless and nervous. No matter on what scale a house is furnished one +of its aims should be to be restful. + +There is one great mistake which many people make of thinking of red as +a cheerful color, and one which is good to use in a dark room. The +average red used in large quantities absorbs the light in a most +disheartening manner, making a room seem smaller than it really is; it +makes ugly gloomy shadows in the corners, for at night it seems to turn +to a dingy black, and increases the electric light bill. Red is also a +severe strain on the eyes, and many a red living-room is the cause of +seemingly unaccountable headaches. I do not mean to say that red should +never be used, for it is often a very necessary color, but it must be +used with the greatest discretion, and one must remember that a little +of it goes a long way. A room, for instance, paneled with oak, with an +oriental rug with soft red in it, red hangings, and a touch of red in an +old stained glass panel in the window, and red velvet cushions on the +window seat, would have much more warmth and charm than if the walls +were covered entirely with red. One red cushion is often enough to give +the required note. The effect of color is very strong upon people, +although a great many do not realize it, but nearly everyone will +remember a sudden and apparently unexplained change of mood in going +into some room. One can learn a deal by analyzing one's own sensations. +Figured wall-papers should also be chosen with the greatest care for +this same reason. Papers which have perpetual motion in their design, or +eyes which seem to peer, or an unstable pattern of gold running over it, +must all be ignored. People who choose this kind of paper are blest, or +cursed, whichever way one looks at it, by an utter lack of imagination. + +A room is divided into three parts, the floor, the walls, and the +ceiling, and the color of the room naturally follows the law of nature; +the heaviest or darkest at the bottom, or floor; the medium tone in the +center, or walls; and the lightest at the top, or ceiling. It is only +when one has to artificially correct the architectural proportions of a +room that the ceiling should be as dark, or darker, than the walls. A +ceiling can also be seemingly lowered by bringing the ceiling color down +on the side walls. A low room should never have a dark ceiling, as it +makes the room seem lower. + +Walls should be treated as a background or as a decoration in +themselves. In the latter case any pictures should be set in specially +arranged panels and should be pictures of importance, or fresco +painting. The walls of the great periods were of this decorative order. +They were treated architecturally and the feeling of absolute support +which they gave was most satisfactory. The pilasters ran from base or +dado to the cornice and the over-doors made the doors a dignified part +of the scheme, rather than mere useful holes in the wall as they too +often are nowadays. + +Paneling is one of the most beautiful methods of wall decoration. There +are many styles of paneling, stone, marble, stucco, plaster, and wood, +and each period has its own distinctive way of using them, and should be +the correct type for the style chosen. The paneling of a Tudor room is +quite different from a Louis XVI room. In the course of a long period +like that of Louis XV the paneling slowly changed its character and the +rococo style was followed by the more dignified one that later became +the style of Louis XVI. + +Tapestry and paintings of importance should have panels especially +planned for them. If one does not wish to have the paneling cover the +entire wall, a wainscot or dado with the wall above it covered with +tapestry, silk, painting, or paper, will make a beautiful and +appropriate room for many of the different styles of furniture. A +wainscot should not be too high; about thirty-six inches is a good +height, but should form a background for the chairs, sofas, and tables, +placed around the room. + +A wainscot six or more feet high is not as architecturally correct as a +lower one, because a wall is, in a way, like an order in its divisions, +and if the base, or wainscot, is too high it does not allow the wall, +which corresponds to the column, to have its fair proportion. This +feeling is very strong in many apartment houses where small rooms are +overburdened by this kind of wainscot, and to make matters worse, the +top is used as a plate-rail. A high wainscot should be used only in a +large room, and if there are pilasters arranged to connect it with the +cornice, and the wall covering is put on in panel effect between, the +result is much better than if the wall were left plain, as it seems to +give more of a _raison d'être_. + +Tapestry is another of the beautiful and important wall coverings, and +the happy possessor of Flemish or Gobelin, or Beauvais, tapestries, is +indeed to be envied. A rare old tapestry should be paneled or hung so it +will serve as a background. Used as portières, tapestry does not show +the full beauty of its wonderful time-worn colors and its fascination +of texture. It is not everyone, however, who is able to own these almost +priceless treasures of the past, and so modern machinery has been called +to the aid of those who wish to cover their walls and furniture with +tapestry. Many of these modern manufactures are really beautiful, thick +in texture, soft in color, and often have the little imperfections and +unevennesses of hand weaving reproduced, so that we feel the charm of +the old in the new. Many do not realize that in New York there are looms +making wonderful hand-woven tapestries with the true decorative feeling +of the best days of the past. On the top floor of a large modern +building stand the looms of various sizes, the dyeing tubs, the dripping +skeins of wool and silk, the spindles and bobbins, and the weavers hard +at work carrying out the beautiful designs of the artist owner. There +are few colors used, as in mediæval days, but wonderful effects are +produced by a method of winding the threads together which gives a +vibrating quality to the color. When the warp in some of the coarser +fabrics is not entirely covered it is sometimes dyed, which gives an +indescribable charm. Tapestries of all sizes have been made on these +looms, from the important decoration of a great hall, to sofa and chair +coverings. Special rugs are also made. It is a pleasure to think that an +art which many considered dead is being practiced with the highest +artistic aim and knowledge and skill in the midst of our modern rush. +This hand-woven tapestry is made to fit special spaces and rooms, and +there is nothing more beautiful and suitable for rooms of importance to +be found in all the long list of possibilities. + +The effect of modern tapestry, like the old, is enhanced if the walls +are planned to receive it, for it was never intended to be used as +wall-paper. It is sometimes used as a free hanging frieze, so to speak, +and sometimes a great piece of it is hung flat against the wall, but as +a general thing to panel it is the better way. + +Another beautiful wall covering is leather. It should be used much more +than it is, and is especially well adapted for halls, libraries, +dining-rooms, smoking-and billiard-rooms, and dens. Its wonderful +possibilities for rooms which are to be furnished in a dignified and +beautiful manner are unsurpassed. It may be used in connection with +paneling or cover the wall above a wainscot. + +Fresco painting is another of the noble army of wall treatments which +lends itself beautifully to all kinds and styles of rooms. + +Amidst all the grandeur of tapestry and painting one must not lose sight +of the simpler methods, for they are not to be distained. Wall-papers +are growing more and more beautiful in color, design, and texture, and +one can find among them papers suited to all needs. Fabrics of all kinds +have become possibilities since their dust-collecting capacity is now no +longer a source of terror, as vacuum cleaners are one of the +commonplaces of existence. Painting or tinting the walls, when done +correctly, is very satisfactory in many rooms. + +There is no doubt that in many houses are wonderful collections of +furniture, tapestries and treasures of many kinds, that are placed +without regard to the absolute harmony of period, although the general +feeling of French or Italian or English is kept. They are usually great +houses where the sense of space keeps one from feeling discrepancies +that would be too marked in a smaller one, and the interest and beauty +of the rare originals against the old tapestries have an atmosphere all +their own that no modern reproduction can have. There are few of us, +however, who can live in this semi-museum kind of house, and so one +would better stick to the highway of good usage, or there is danger of +making the house look like an antique shop. + +[Illustration: Dorothy Quincy's bedroom contains a fine old mahogany +field bed, which is appropriately covered with the flowered chintz +popular at the end of the Eighteenth Century. The chairs are fitting for +all bedrooms decorated in Colonial style. Notice the woodwork in the +room and hall.] + +To carry out a style perfectly, all the small details should be attended +to--the door-locks, the framework of the doors and windows, the carving. +All these must be taken into account if one wishes success. It is better +not to attempt a style throughout if it is to be a makeshift affair and +show the effects of inadequate knowledge. The elaborate side of any +style carried out to the last detail is really only possible and also +only appropriate for those who have houses to correspond, but one can +choose the simpler side and have beautiful and charming rooms that are +perfectly suited to the average home. For instance, if one does not +wish elaborate gilded Louis XVI furniture, upholstered in brocade, one +can choose beautiful cane furniture of the time and have it either in +the natural French walnut or enameled a soft gray or white to match the +woodwork, with cushion of cretonne or silk in an appropriate design. +Period furnishing does not necessarily mean a greater outlay than the +nondescript and miscellaneous method so often seen. + +[Illustration: A very solid but not especially pleasing desk that was +used by Washington while he was President. The railing is interesting. +The idea was used by Chippendale in his gallery tables.] + +[Illustration: The tambour work doors in the upper part of this Sheraton +secretary roll back; also notice the handles and inlay and tapering +legs.] + +Whatever the plan for furnishing a house may be, the balance of +decoration must be kept; the same general feeling throughout all +connecting parts. If a drawing-room is too fine for the hall through +which one has to pass to reach it, the balance is upset. If too simple +chairs are used in a grand dining-room the balance is upset, the fitness +of things is not observed. When the happy medium is struck throughout +the house one feels the delightful well-bred charm which a regard for +the unities always gives. It is not only in the quality of the +decorations that this feeling of balance must be kept, but in the style +also. If one chooses a period style for the drawing-room it is better to +keep to it through the house, using it in its different expressions +according to the needs of the different rooms. If one style throughout +should seem a bit monotonous at least one nationality should be kept, +such as French, or English. If several styles of French furniture are +used do not have them in the same room; for instance, Louis XV and +Empire have absolutely nothing in common, but very late Louis XVI and +early Empire have to a certain extent. It does not give the average +person a severe shock to walk from a Louis XVI hall into a Louis XV +drawing-room, but the two mixed in one room do not give a pleasing +effect. The oak furniture of Jacobean days does not harmonize with the +delicate mahogany furniture of the eighteenth century in England. The +delicate beauty of Adam furniture would be lost in the greatness of a +Renaissance salon. A lady whose dining-room was furnished in Sheraton +furniture one day saw two elaborate rococo Louis XV console tables which +she instantly bought to add to it. The shopman luckily had more sense of +the fitness of things than a mere desire to sell his wares, and was so +appalled when he saw the room that he absolutely refused to have them +placed in it. She saw the point, and learned a valuable lesson. One +could go on indefinitely, giving examples to warn people against +startling and inappropriate mixtures which put the whole scheme out of +key. + +I am taking it for granted that reproductions are to be chosen, as +originals are not only very rare, but also almost prohibitive in price. +Good reproductions are carefully made and finished to harmonize with the +color scheme. The styles most used at present are, Louis XIV, XV, XVI, +Jacobean, William and Mary, and Georgian. Gothic, Italian and French +Renaissance, Louis XIII, and Tudor styles are not so commonly used. We +naturally associate dignity and grandeur with the Renaissance, and it +is rather difficult to make it seem appropriate for the average American +house, so it is usually used only for important houses and buildings. +Some of the Tudor manor houses can be copied with delightful effect. The +styles of Henri II and Louis XIII can both be used in libraries and +dining-rooms with most effective and dignified results. + +The best period of the style of Louis XV is very beautiful and is +delightfully suited to ball-rooms, small reception-rooms, boudoirs, and +some bedrooms. In regard to these last, one must use discretion, for one +would not expect one's aged grandmother to take real comfort in one. Nor +does this style appeal to one for use in a library, as its gayety and +curves would not harmonize with the necessarily straight lines of the +bookcases and rows of books. Any one of the other styles may be chosen +for a library. + +The English developed the dining-room in our modern sense of the word, +while the French used small ante-chambers, or rooms that were used for +other purposes between meals, and I suppose this is partly the reason we +so often turn to an English ideal for one. There are many beautiful +dining-rooms done in the styles of Louis XV and XVI, but they seem more +like gala rooms and are usually distinctly formal in treatment. Georgian +furniture, or as we so often say, Colonial, is especially well suited to +our American life, as one can have a very simple room, or one carried +out in the most delightful detail. In either case the true feeling must +be kept and no startling anachronisms should be allowed; radiators, for +instance, should be hidden in window-seats. This same style may be used +for any room in the house, and there are beautiful reproductions of +Chippendale, Adam, Hepplewhite, and Sheraton furniture that are +appropriate for any need. + +In choosing new "old" furniture, do not buy any that has a bright and +hideous finish. The great cabinet-makers and their followers used wax, +or oil, and rubbed, rubbed, rubbed. This dull finish is imitated, but +not equaled, by all good furniture makers, and the bright finish simply +proclaims the cheap department store. + +In parts of the country Georgian furniture has been used and served as a +standard from the first, and it is a happy thing for the beauty of our +homes that once more it has come into its own. It is the high grade of +reproduction which has made it possible. + +The mahogany used by Chippendale, and in fact by all the eighteenth +century cabinet-makers, was much more beautiful than is possible to get +to-day, for the logs were old and well seasoned wood, allowed to dry by +the true process of time, which leaves a wonderful depth of color quite +impossible to find in young kiln-dried wood. The best furniture makers +nowadays, those who have a high standard and pride in their work, have +by careful and artistic staining and beautiful finish, achieved very +fine results, but the factory article with its dreadful "mahogany" +stain, its coarse carving, and its brilliant finish, shows a sad +difference in ideal. The best reproductions are well worth buying, and, +as they are made with regard to the laws of construction, they stand a +very good chance of becoming valued heirlooms. There are certain +characteristics of all the eighteenth century cabinet-makers, both +English and French, which are picked out and overdone by ill-informed +manufacturers. The rococo of Chippendale is coarsened, his Chinese style +loses its fine, if eccentric, distinction, and the inlay of Hepplewhite +and Sheraton is another example of spoiling a beautiful thing. +Thickening a line here and there, or curving a curve a bit more or less, +or enlarging the amount of inlay, achieves a vulgarity of appearance +quite different from the beautiful proportions of the originals, and it +is this which one must guard against in buying reproductions. The lack +of knowledge of correct proportion is not confined to the cheaper +grades, where necessary simplicity is often a protection, but is apt to +be found in all. The best makers, as I have said, take a pride in their +work and one can rely on them for fine workmanship and being true to the +spirit of the originals. + +There is one matter of great importance to be kept in mind and practiced +with the sternest self-control, and that is, to eliminate, eliminate, +eliminate. Walk into the center of a room and look about with seeing, +but impersonal eyes, and you will be astonished to find how many things +there are which are unnecessary, in fact, how much the room would be +improved without them. In every house the useless things which go under +the generic name of "trash" accumulate with alarming swiftness, and one +must be up with the lark to keep ahead of the supply. If something is +ugly and spoils a room, and there is no hope of bringing it into +harmony, discard it; turn your eyes aside if you must while the deed is +being done, but screw your courage to the sticking point, and do it. She +is, indeed, a lucky woman who can start from the beginning or has only +beautiful heritages from the past, for the majority of people have some +distressingly strong pieces of ugly furniture which, for one reason or +another, must be kept. One sensible woman furnished a room with all her +pieces of this kind, called it the Chamber of Horrors, and used it only +under great stress and strain, which was much better than letting her +house be spoiled. + +A home should not be a museum, where one grows exhausted going from one +room to another looking at wonderful things. Rather should it have as +many beautiful things in it as can be done full justice to, where the +feeling of simplicity and restfulness and charm adds to their beauty, +and the whole is convincingly right. The fussy house is, luckily, a +thing of the past, or fast getting to be so, but we should all help the +good cause of true simplicity. It does not debar one from the most +beautiful things in the world, but adds dignity and worth to them. It +does not make rooms stiff and solemn, but makes it possible to have the +true gayety and joy of life expressed in the best periods. + + + + +_Georgian Furniture_ + + +A delightful renaissance of the Georgian period in house decoration is +being felt more and more, and every day we see new evidence that people +are turning with thanksgiving to the light and graceful designs of the +eighteenth century English cabinet-makers. There is a charm and +distinction about their work which appeals very strongly to us, and its +beauty and simplicity of line makes delightful schemes possible. + +The Georgian period seems especially fitted for use in our homes, for it +was the inspiration of our Colonial houses and furniture, which we +adapted and made our own in many ways. The best examples of Colonial +architecture are found in the thirteen original states. In many of these +houses we find an almost perfect sense of proportion, of harmony and +balance, of dignity, and a spaciousness and sense of hospitality, which +few of our modern houses achieve. The halls were broad and often went +directly through the house, giving a glimpse of the garden beyond; the +stairs with their carefully thought-out curve and sweep and well placed +landings, gave at once an air of importance to the house, while the +large rooms opening from the hall, with their white woodwork, their +large fireplaces, and comfortable window-seats, confirmed the +impression. + +It is to this ideal of simple and beautiful elegance that many people +are turning. By simplicity I do not mean poverty of line and decoration, +but the simplicity given by the fundamental lines being simple and +beautiful with decoration which enhances their charms, but does not +overload them. Even the most elaborate Adam room with its exquisite +painted furniture, its beautifully designed mantel and ceiling and +paneled walls, gave the feeling of delightful and beautiful simplicity. +This same feeling is expressed in the furniture of Louis XVI, for no +matter how elaborate it may be, it is fundamentally simple, but with a +warmer touch than is found in the English furniture of the same time. + +The question of period furnishing has two sides, and by far the more +delightful side is the one of having originals. There is a glamor about +old furniture, a certain air of fragility, although in reality it is +usually much stronger than most of our modern factory output, which adds +to the charm. With furniture, as with people, breeding will out. When +one has inherited the furniture, the charm is still greater, for it is +pleasant to think of one's own ancestors as having used the chairs and +tables, and danced the stately minuet, with soft candle-light falling +from the candelabra, and the great logs burning on the old brass +andirons. But if one cannot have one's own family traditions, the next +best thing is to have furniture with some other family's traditions, +and the third choice is to have the best modern reproductions, and build +up one's own traditions oneself. + +The feeling which many people have that Georgian furniture was stiff and +uncomfortable is not borne out by the facts. The sofas were large and +roomy, the settees delightful, the arm-chairs and wing chairs regular +havens of rest, and when one adds the comfort which modern upholstery +gives, there is little left to desire. Even the regulation side-chair of +the period, which some think was the only chair in very common use, is +absolutely comfortable for its purpose. Lounging was much less in vogue +then than nowadays and the old cabinet-makers realized that one must be +comfortable when sitting up as well as when taking one's ease. One must +not be deterred by this unfounded bugaboo of discomfort if one wishes a +room or house done after the great period styles of the eighteenth +century. With care and knowledge, the result is sure to be delightful +and beautiful. + +This little book, as I have said before, is not intended to be a guide +for collectors, for that is a very big subject in itself, but is meant +to try to help a little about the modern side of the question. There are +many grades of furniture made, and one should buy with circumspection, +and the best grade which is possible for one to afford. The very best +reproductions are made with as much care and knowledge and skill as the +originals, and will last as long, and become treasured heirlooms like +those handed down to us. They are works of art like their eighteenth +century models. The wood is chosen with regard to its beauty of grain, +and is treated and finished so the beauty and depth of color is brought +out, and the surface is rubbed until there is a soft glow to it. If one +could have the ages-old mahogany which Chippendale and his +contemporaries used, there would be little to choose between the +originals and our best reproductions, so far as soundness of +construction and beauty of detail go. But the fact that they were the +originals of a great style, that no one since then has been able to +design any furniture of greater beauty than that of England and France +in the eighteenth century, and that we are still copying it, gives an +added charm to a rare old chair or sideboard or mirror. The modern +workman in the best workshops is obliged to know the different styles so +well that he cannot make mistakes, and if he ventures to take a little +flight of fancy on his own account, it will be done with such +correctness of feeling that one is glad he flew; but few attempt it. In +the lower grade of reproductions one must have an eagle eye when buying. +I saw a rather astounding looking Chippendale chair in a shop one day, +with a touch of Gothic--a suspicion of his early Dutch manner--and, to +give a final touch, tapering legs with carved bellflowers! "What +authority have you for that chair?" I asked, for I really wanted to know +what they would call the wonder. + +"That," the shopman answered, the pride of knowledge shining in his +eyes, "is Chinese Chippendale." + +Another anachronism which has appeared lately, and sad to say in some of +the shops that should know better, is painted Adam furniture with +pictures on it of the famous actresses of the eighteenth century. The +painting of Angelica Kauffman, Cipriani, Pergolesi and the others, was +charming and delightful. Nymphs and cupids, flowers, wreaths, musical +instruments, and poetical little scenes, but never the head of a living +woman! The bad taste of it would have been as apparent to them as +putting the picture of Miss Marlowe, or Lillian Russell on a chair back +would be to us. + +The finish is another matter to bear in mind. There is a thick red +stain, which for some mysterious reason is called mahogany, which is put +on cheaper grades of furniture and finished with a high polish. +Fortunately, it is chiefly used on furniture of vulgar design, but it +sometimes creeps in on better models. Shun it whenever seen. The handles +must be correct also, and a glance at the different illustrations will +be of help in this matter. + +The pieces of furniture used throughout a house, no matter what the +period may be, are more or less the same, so many chairs, tables, beds, +mirrors, etc., and when one has decided what one's needs are, the matter +of selection is much simplified. Of course one's needs are influenced by +the size of the house, one's circumstances, and one's manner of life. +To be successful, a house must be furnished in absolute harmony with the +life within its walls. A small house does not need an elaborate +drawing-room, which could only be had at the expense of family comfort; +a simple drawing-room would be far better, really more of a living-room. +In a large house one may have as many as one wishes. + +A house could be furnished throughout with Chippendale furniture and +show no sign of monotony of treatment. The walls could be paneled in +some rooms, wainscoted in others, and papered in others. This question +of paper is one we have taken in our own hands nowadays, and although it +was not used much before the late eighteenth and early nineteenth +centuries, there are so many lovely designs copied from old-time stuffs +and landscape papers, which are in harmony with the furniture, that they +are used with perfect propriety. One must be careful not to choose +anything with a too modern air, and a plain wall is always safe. + +The average hall will probably need a pair of console tables and +mirrors, some chairs, Oriental rugs, a tall clock if one wishes, and, if +the hall is very large and calls for more furniture, there are many +other interesting pieces to choose from. A hall should be treated with a +certain amount of formality, and the greater the house, the greater the +amount; but it also should have an air of hospitality, of impersonal +welcome, which makes one wish to enter the rooms beyond where the real +welcome waits. + +The window frames of Colonial and Georgian houses were often of such +good design that no curtains were used, and the wooden inside shutters +were shut at night. Nowadays the average house has what might be called +utility woodwork at its windows and so we cover them with curtains. +These curtains may be of linen, cretonne, damask, or brocade, according +to the house, and may either fall straight at the side with a slight +drapery or shaped or plain valance at the top, or be drawn back from the +center. A carved cornice or the regular box frame may be used. + +The stairs were often of beautifully polished hardwood, and they were +sometimes covered with rugs. Large Chinese porcelain jars on the console +tables are suitable, and other beautiful ornaments. + +As the drawing-room usually opens from the hall, it is better to keep +both rooms in the same general scale of furnishing. The average sized +drawing-room will need sofas, a small settee, two or three tables, one +of them a gallery table if desired, chairs of different shapes and size, +mirrors, a cabinet if one has rare pieces of old porcelain, and +candelabra. Oriental rugs, a fire screen, ornaments, and pictures, but +these last should not be of the modern impressionistic school. The +woodwork should be white, or light, and the furniture covered with +damask, needlework, brocade or tapestry. + +The dining-room can be made most charming with corner cupboards and +cabinet, a large mahogany table and side table and beautiful morocco +covered chairs. Chippendale did not make sideboards in our sense of the +word, but used large side tables. One of the modern designs which many +like to use, for to them it seems a necessity, is a sideboard made in +the style of Chippendale. The screen may be leather painted after "the +Chinese taste," or it may be damask. The chairs may be covered with +tapestry or damask if one does not care for morocco. Portraits are +interesting in a dining-room, or old prints, or paintings, and if you +can get the old dull gold carved frames, so much the better. They may +also be set in panels. + +The bedrooms may have either four-post canopy beds or low-posts beds. +Chippendale's canopy beds had usually a carved cornice with the curtains +hung from the inside. The other furniture should consist of a +dressing-table, a chest of drawers to correspond with a chiffonier, a +highboy, a sewing table, a bedside table, a comfortable sofa, a fireside +or wing chair and other chairs according to one's need. The walls may be +covered with either an old-fashioned or plain paper,--or paneled, with +hangings and chair coverings of chintz or cretonne. The bed hangings may +be of cretonne also, for it makes a very charming room, but if one +objects to colored bed hangings, white dimity, or muslin or linen may be +used. + +It is the art of keeping the correct feeling which makes or mars a room +of this kind, and no pieces of markedly modern and inharmonious +furniture should be used. In furnishing a house in Georgian or Colonial +manner one need not keep all the rooms in the same division of the +period, for there is a certain general air of harmony and relationship +about them all, and the common bond of mahogany makes it possible to +have a Chippendale library, an Adam drawing-room, a Hepplewhite +dining-room and a Sheraton hall, or any other combination desired. The +spirit of all the eighteenth century cabinet-makers was one of honest +construction and beauty of line and workmanship. When they took ideas +from other sources they made them so distinctly their own, so +essentially English that there is a family resemblance through all their +work. + +Adam decoration and furniture makes most delightful rooms. The painted +satinwood furniture for dining-room, drawing-room and bedrooms, lends +itself to lovely schemes with its soft golden tones, its delightfully +woven cane chair backs and panels. A room on the sunny side of the +house, with a soft old ivory colored wall, dull blue silk curtains, and +a yellow and blue Chinese rug, would be most charming with this +satinwood furniture. + +Then, as I have said before, there are the many different shades of +enameled and carved furniture and also beautiful natural wood. One can +have more of a sideboard in an Adam than in a Chippendale room, as he +used two pedestals, one at each end of a large serving-table. He often +made tables to fit in niches, which is a charming idea. + +An Adam mantel is very distinctive and one should be careful in having +it correct. There are beautiful reproductions made. The lamp and candle +shades should also be designed in the spirit of the time. There are +lovely Adam designs in nearly all materials suitable for hangings and +chair coverings. Oriental rugs or plain colored carpets appeal to us +more than large-figured rugs. Adam sometimes had special rugs made +exactly reproducing the design of the ceiling, but it is an idea that is +better forgotten. + +With Hepplewhite and Sheraton the same general ideas hold; keep to the +spirit of the furniture, try to have a central idea in the house +furnishing, so that the restful effect of harmony may be given. + +[Illustration: Pembroke tables were made by Hepplewhite. This is a fine +example and shows characteristic inlay and the legs sloping on the +inside edge only. The flaps fold down and make a small oblong table.] + +[Illustration: This fine Sheraton sideboard shows curved doors, and +knife boxes with oval inlay of satinwood. The center cupboard is +straight. The legs are reeded.] + +The rugs which harmonize best with Georgian furniture are Orientals of +different weaves and colors, or plain domestic carpet rugs. The floor +should be the darkest of the three divisions of a room--the floor, the +walls, the ceiling, but it should be an even gradation of color value, +the walls half-way in tone between the other two. This is a safe general +plan, to be varied when necessity demands. In drawing-rooms light and +soft colors are usually in better harmony than dark ones, and a wide and +beautiful choice can be made among Kermanshah, Kirman, Khorasan, Tabriz, +Chinese, Oman rugs, and many others. It is more restful in effect if the +greater part of the floor is covered with a large rug, but if one has +beautiful small rugs they may be used if they are enough alike in +general tone to escape the appearance of being spotty. One should try +them in different positions until the best arrangement is found. + +[Illustration: A pleasing design of the old field bed. The chairs here +are samples of some eighteenth century manufacture that are to-day +reproduced in admirable consistency. The patch work quilt is interesting +and the bed hanging are exceptionally good.] + +Living-rooms and libraries are usually more solid in color than +drawing-rooms and so need deeper tones in the rugs. The choice is wide, +and the color scheme can be the deciding note if one is buying new rugs. +If one already has rugs they must be the foundation for the color scheme +of the room. + + + + +_Furnishing With French Furniture_ + + +"This is my Louis XVI drawing-room," said a lady, proudly displaying her +house. + +"What makes you think so?" asked her well informed friend. + +To guard against the possibility of such biting humor one must be ever +on the alert in furnishing a period room. It is not a bow-knot and a +rococo curve or two that will turn a modern room, fresh from the +builder's hands, into a Louis XV drawing-room. + +French furniture is not appropriate to all kinds of houses, and it is +often difficult to adapt it to circumstances over which one has no +control. The leisurely and pleasant custom of our ancestors of building +a house as they wished it, and what is more, living in it for +generations, is more or less a thing of the past. Nowadays a house is +built, and is complete and beautiful in every way, but almost before the +house-warming is over, business is sitting on the doorstep, and so the +family moves on. We, as a nation, have not the comfortable point of view +of the English who consider their home, their home, no matter how the +outside world may be behaving. Their front doors are the protection +which insures their cherished privacy, and the feeling that they are as +settled as the everlasting hills gives a calmness to their attitude +toward life which is often missing from ours. How many times have we +heard people say when talking over plans--"Have it thus and so, for it +would be much better in case we ever care to sell." This attitude, to +which of course there are hundreds of exceptions, is an outgrowth of our +busy life and our tremendous country. The larger part of the home ideal +is the one which Americans so firmly believe in and act upon--that it is +the spirit and atmosphere which makes a home, and not only the bricks +and mortar. + +It is this point of view which makes it possible for many of us to live +happily in rented houses whose architecture and arrangement often give +us cold shivers. We are not to blame if all the proportions are wrong; +and there is a certain pleasure in getting the better of difficulties. + +If one is building a house, or is living in one planned with a due +regard to some special period, and has a well thought out scheme of +decoration, the work is much simplified; but if one has to live in the +average nondescript house and wishes to use French furniture, the +problem will take time and thought to solve. In this kind of house, if +one cannot change it at all, it is better to keep as simple and +unobtrusive a background as possible, to have the color scheme and +hangings and furniture so beautiful that they are a convincing reason +themselves of the need of their being there, but one should not try to +turn the room itself into a period room, for it would mean failure. The +walls may be covered with a light plain paper, or silk, the woodwork +enameled white or cream or ivory, and then with one's mirrors and +furnishings, the best thing possible has been done, and it ought to be a +charming room, if not a perfect one. If one can make a few changes I +advise new lighting fixtures and a new mantel, for these two important +objects in the room are conspicuous and nearly always wrong. + +It is almost impossible to give a list of furniture for each room in a +house, as each house is a law unto itself, but the fundamental +principles of beauty and utility and appropriateness apply to all. + +The furniture of the time of Louis XIV, having so much that is +magnificent about it, is especially well suited to large rooms for state +occasions, great ballrooms and state drawing-rooms. These rooms not +being destined for everyday use should be treated as a brilliant +background; paneling, painting, tapestry, and gilding should decorate +the walls, and beautiful lights and mirrors should aid in the effect of +brilliancy. It must be done with such knowledge that there is no +suggestion of an hotel about it. Console tables, and large and dignified +chairs should be used for furniture. Nothing small and fussy in the way +of ornaments should be put in the rooms, for they would be completely +out of scale and ruin the effect. + +Every house does not need these rooms for the elaborate side of life, +and the average drawing-room is a much simpler affair. If both kinds are +required the simpler one should be in the same general style as the +great rooms, but not on so grand a scale. If the style of Louis XV is +chosen for all, in the family drawing-and living-rooms the paneling, or +dado, and furniture should be of the simpler kind, and beautiful, gay, +and home-like rooms, evolved with soft colored brocades, Beauvais or +Gobelin tapestry, and either gilded or enameled or natural walnut +furniture. The arm-chairs or _bergères_ of both Louis XV and Louis XVI +are very comfortable, the _chaise-longue_ cannot be surpassed, and the +settees of different shapes and sizes are delightful. There need be no +lack of comfort in any period room, whether French or English. + +A music room, to be perfect, should not have heavy draperies to deaden +the sound, and the window and door openings should be treated +architecturally to make this possible. In a French music room the walls +may be either paneled, or have a dado with a soft tint above it. This +space may be treated in several ways: it may have silk panels outlined +with moldings, or dainty pastoral scenes painted and framed with wreaths +and garlands of composition. The style of the Regency with its use of +musical instruments for decorative motifs is also attractive. The chairs +should be comfortable, the lights soft and well shaded side-lights, with +a plentiful supply near the piano. + +[Illustration: A beautiful doorway in the bedroom of the Empress, +Compiègne. The fastening shows how much thought was expended on small +matters, so the balance of decoration would be kept. The chairs are +Louis XVI.] + +[Illustration: An exquisite reproduction of the bed of Marie +Antoinette.] + +[Illustration: A simple but charming Louis XVI bed in enamel and cane.] + +A piano is usually a difficulty, for they are so unwieldy and dark that +they are quite out of key with the rest of the room. We have become so +used to its ugliness, however, that, sad to say, we are not so much +shocked by it as we should be, thinking it a necessary evil. If we walk +through the show rooms of one of the great piano companies we shall see +that this is a mistake, for there are many cases made of light colored +woods, and some have a much more graceful outline than the regulation +piano. Cases can be made to order to suit any scheme, if one has a +competent designer. A music room should not have small and meaningless +ornaments in it; the ideal is a restful and charming room where one may +listen with an undistracted mind. + +The modern dining-room with all its comforts is really of English +descent. In France, even in the eighteenth century, only the palaces and +great houses had rooms especially set apart for dining-rooms. Usually a +small ante-chamber was used, which served as a boudoir or reception room +between meals. To our more established point of view it seems a very +casual method. At last, late in the century, the real ideal of a +dining-room began to gain ground, and although they were very different +from ours, we find really charming ones described and pictured. The +walls were usually light in tone, paneled, with graceful ornamentation, +and often there were niches containing wall-fountains of delightful +design. The sideboards were either large side-tables, or a species of +side-table built in niches, with a fountain between them which was used +as a wine cooler. These fountains where cupids and dolphins disported +themselves would be a most attractive feature to copy in some of our +rooms, in country houses especially. The tables were round or square, +but not the extension type which came later from England, and the chairs +were comfortable, with broad upholstered or cane seats, and rather low +backs. There should be a screen to harmonize with the room in front of +the pantry door. We also add hangings, for, as I have said many times, +our window-frames are not a decoration in themselves. Old prints show +most delightfully the manner in which curtains were hung when they were +used; the very elaborate methods, however, were not used by the better +class. + +A morning-room should be furnished as a small informal living-room, and +the simpler style of the chosen period used. + +The style of Louis XVI is beautifully adapted to libraries, for they do +not have to be dark and solid in style, as many seem to think. In fact a +library may be in any style if carried out with the true feeling and +love of books, but of course some styles are more appropriate than +others. In a Louis XVI library the paneling gives way to the built-in +bookcases which are spaced with due regard to keeping the correct +proportions. There is usually a cupboard space running round the room +about the height of a dado and projecting a little beyond the bookcases +above. The colors of the rugs and hangings may be warm and rich as the +books give the walls a certain strength. + +There are also beautiful reproductions of bedroom furniture, chairs and +dressing-tables, desks, chiffoniers and _Chaises-longues,_ and beds. + +Andirons, side-lights for the walls and dressing-table, doorknobs and +locks, can all be carried out perfectly. Lamp and candle shades and sofa +cushions should all be in keeping. The walls may be paneled in wood +enameled with white or some light color, or they may be covered with +silk or paper, in a panel design, with curtains to match. There are +lovely designs in French period stuffs. + +The rugs most appropriate for French period rooms are light or medium in +tone, and of Persian design. The floral patterns of the Persians seem to +harmonize better with the curves and style of furniture than do the +geometrical designs of the Caucasian rugs. Savonnerie and Aubusson rugs +may also be used, if chosen with care, and the plain carpets and rugs +mentioned later are a far better choice than gaudy Orientals of modern +make, or bad imitations. + + + + +_Country Houses_ + + +The Country House is a comparatively modern idea, and one which has +added much to the joy of life. There are all kinds and conditions of +them, great and small, grand and simple, and each is a joy to the proud +possessor. + +Life was such a turbulent affair in the Middle Ages that country life in +the modern sense was an impossibility. The chateaux and castles and +large manor-houses were strongly fortified, and there were inner courts +for exercise. When war became the exception and not the rule, the +inherent love in all human beings for the open began to assert itself, +and the country house idea began to grow. + +Italy was the first country where we find this freedom of attitude +exemplified in the beautiful Renaissance villas near Rome and Florence. +The best were built during the sixteenth century, and were owned by the +great Italian families, like the de Medici and d'Este. They seem more +like places built for the parade and show of life than homes, but the +home ideal with all its conveniences was another outgrowth of peace. + +The plan of an Italian villa is very interesting to study, to see how +every advantage was taken of the land, how the residence, or casino, was +placed in regard to the formal garden and the view over the valley, for +they were usually on a hillside and the slope was terraced, how the +statues and fountains, the beautiful ilex and cypress and orange trees, +the box-edged flower-beds and gravel paths, all formed a wonderful +setting for the house, and together made a perfect whole. The Italian +villa was not necessarily large, in fact the Villa Lante contains only +six acres, which are divided into four terraces, the house being on the +second and built in two parts, one on each side. Each terrace has a +beautiful fountain, with a cascade connecting those on the fourth and +third. This villa is indeed, an example of taking advantage of a fairly +small space. It was built by the great Vignola in 1547, and although +slightly showing the wear of time, has all the beauty and charm and +romance which only centuries can give. + +The Italian villa can be adapted to the American climate and scenery and +point of view, but it must be done by one of the architects who have +made a deep study of the Italian Renaissance so the true feeling will be +kept. There are some beautiful examples already in the country. + +In France, the chateaux which have most influenced country house +building are those which were built during the sixteenth century, many +of them during the reign of Francis 1st. Among the number are Azay le +Rideau, Chenonceaux, and Chaumont. Blois and Amboise are also +absorbingly interesting, but belong partly to an earlier time. The +chateau region in Touraine is a treasure land of architectural beauty. +In the time of Louis XIV Le Nôtre changed many of these old chateaux +from their fortified state to the more open form made possible by a +peaceful life. + +We turn to England for the most perfect examples of country houses, for +the theory of country living is so thoroughly understood there, one +might really say it is a national institution. Many of the manor-houses, +both great and small, are beautiful examples of Tudor architecture, +which seems especially suited to their setting of lovely green parks. +The smaller country house, which has no pretention to being a show +place, is as perfect in its way. The English love for out-of-doors makes +them achieve wonders with even small gardens, and the climate, being +gentle, helps matters immensely. + +In America we are taking up the English country house ideal more and +more and adapting it to our own needs. The question of architecture is a +question of personal choice influenced by climate, and there are now +numberless charming houses scattered over the length and breadth of the +land which have been built with the purpose of being country homes. They +are not for summer use only, but all the year round keep their +hospitable doors open, or else the season begins so early and ends so +late, that, with the holiday time between, the house hardly seems +closed at all. It is this attitude which is changing country house +architecture to a great extent. The terraces and porches and gardens and +glasshouses are all there, but the house itself is more solidly built +and is prepared to stand cold weather. + +For the average American the best types of country house to choose from +are the smaller Tudor manor-houses, Italian villas, Georgian +architecture in England, and our own Colonial style which of course was +founded on the Georgian. In the south and southwestern parts of this +country a modified Spanish type may be used in place of Tudor, which +does not give the feeling of cool spaces so necessary in hot climates. +The bungalow type is also popular in the South. + +There are many architects in this country who understand thoroughly the +plan and spirit of Colonial times, and who succeed in giving to the +comforts of modern days the true stamp of the eighteenth century. The +style makes most delightful houses, and with the great supply of +appropriate furniture from which to choose, it would be hard to fail in +having a charming whole. + +The house and garden should be planned together to have the best effect. +Each can be added to as time goes on, but when a plan is followed there +is a look of belonging together which adds greatly to the charm. + +[Illustration: A hall to conjure with--although a Hepplewhite or +Sheraton chair would be more in keeping.] + +In an all-the-year country house a vestibule is a necessity as much as +in a town house, and the hall should be treated with the dignity a +hall deserves, and not as a second living-room. In many English houses +of Tudor days the stairs were behind a carved screen, or concealed in +some manner, which made it possible to use the hall as a gathering +place. Our modern hall is not a descendant of this old hall of a past +day (the living-room is much more so), but is really only a passage, +often raised to the _n_th power, connecting the different rooms of the +house, and should be treated as such. The stairs and landing and vista +should be beautiful, and the furnishing should be dignified and in +perfect scale with the rest of the house. Marble stairs and tapestry and +old carved furniture and beautiful rugs, or the simplest possible +furniture, may be used, but the hall should have an impersonally +hospitable air, one which gives the keynote of the house, but reserves +its full expression until the privacy of the living-rooms is reached. + +[Illustration: A very rare block-front chest of drawers with the +original brasses.] + +The average country house is neither very magnificent nor very simple, +but strikes the happy medium and achieves a most delightful home-like +charm, which at the very outset makes life seem well worth living. It is +rarely furnished in a period style throughout, but has the modern air of +comfort which good taste and correct feeling give. For instance, the +hall may have paneling and Chippendale mirror, a table, and chairs; the +living-room furnished in a general Colonial manner mixed with some +comfortable stuffed furniture, but not over-stuffed, lovely chintz or +silk hangings, and a wide fireplace; the morning-room on something the +same plan, but a little less formal; and the drawing-room a little more +so, say in Adam or simple Louis XVI furniture. The library should have +plenty of comfortable sofas and chairs, and a large table (it is hard to +get one too large), some of the bookcases should be built in to form +part of the architectural plan of the room, and personally I think it is +a better idea to have all the space intended for bookcases built in in +the first place, as this insures harmony of plan. Another important +thing in a library is to have the lights precisely right, and the +window-seats and the fireplace should be all that their names imply in +the way of added charm and comfort to the room. The dining-room should +be bright and cheerful and in harmony with the near-by rooms. A +breakfast-room done in lacquer is very charming. + +The bedrooms should be light and airy, and so planned that the beds can +be properly placed. They may be furnished in old mahogany, French walnut +in either Louis XV or XVI style, or in carefully chosen Empire; painted +Adam furniture is also lovely, and willow furniture makes a fresh and +attractive room. The curtains should be hung so they can be drawn at +night if desired, and the material should be chosen to harmonize in +design with the room. + +The children's rooms should be sunny and bright and furnished according +to their special tastes, which if too astounding, as sometimes happens, +can be tactfully guided into safe channels. + +The servants should be given separate bedrooms, a bathroom, and a +comfortable sitting-room beside their dining-room. Making them +comfortable seems a simple way of solving the servant question. + +The bungalow type of small country house is usually very simply +furnished, and the best type of Mission furniture or willow is +especially well suited to it. Bungalows are growing more and more in +favor, and, although they originated in America in the West, we find +delightful ones everywhere, on the Maine coast and in the woods and +mountains. They are a tremendous advance over the small and elaborate +house of a few years ago. + +Cretonne and chintz can be used in all the rooms of a country house with +perfect propriety, and is a really lovely method of furnishing, as it is +fresh and washable, and comes in all gradations of price. Willow +furniture with cretonne cushions makes a pleasant variety with mahogany +in simple rooms. + +Fresh air and sunlight, lovely vistas through doors and windows of the +garden beyond, cool and comfortable rooms furnished appropriately, and +with an atmosphere about them which expresses a hospitable and charming +home spirit, is the ideal standard for a country house. + + + + +_The Nursery and Play-room_ + + +We should be thankful that the old idea of a nursery has passed away and +instead of the dreary and rather shabby room has come the charming +modern nursery with its special furniture and papers, its common sense +and sanitary wisdom and its regard for the childish point of view. The +influence of surroundings during the formative years of childhood has a +deal to do with the child's future attitude toward life, and now that +parents realize this more, the ideal nursery has simplicity, charm and +artistic merit, all suited to the needs of its romping inhabitants. + +The wall-papers for nurseries are especially attractive with their gay +friezes of wonderful fairy-tale people, Mother Goose, Noah's Ark and +happy little children playing among the flowers. Some of the designs +come in sets of four panels that can be framed if desired. A Noah's Ark +frieze with the animals marching two by two under the watchful eyes of +the Noah family, with an ark and stiff little Noah's Ark trees, will +give endless pleasure if placed about three feet from the floor where +small tots can take in its charm. If placed too high, it is very often +not noticed at all. Some of the most attractive nurseries have painted +walls with special designs stenciled on them. + +If any one of these friezes is placed above a simple wainscot, the +effect is charming. The paper for nurseries is usually waterproof, for a +nursery must be absolutely spick and span. Another thing that gives much +pleasure in a nursery is to build on one side of the room a platform +about a yard wide and six inches high, and cover it with cushions. + +The furniture in a day nursery should consist of a toy cupboard stained +to match the color scheme of the room and large enough for each child to +have his own special compartment in it. If the children's initials are +painted or burned on the doors, it gives an added feeling of pride in +keeping the toys in order. There are many designs of small tables and +chairs made with good lines, and the wicker ones with gay cretonne +cushions are very attractive. The tables and chairs should not have +sharp corners and should be heavy enough not to tip over easily. There +should be a bookcase for favorite picture-books. Besides the special +china for the children's own meals there should be a set of play china +for doll's parties. A sand table, with a lump of clay for modeling, a +blackboard and, in the spring, window-boxes where the children can plant +seeds, will all add vastly to the joy of life. + +And do not forget a comfortable chair for the nurse-maid. White muslin +curtains with side hangings of washable chintz or linen or some special +nursery design in cretonne should hang to the sill. + +The colors in both day and night nurseries should be soft and cheerful, +and the color scheme as carefully thought out as for the rest of the +house. Both rooms should be on the sunny side of the house, and far +enough away from the family living-room to avoid any one's being +disturbed when armies charge up and down the play-room battle-ground or +Indians start out on the warpath. + +The best floor covering for a day nursery is plain linoleum, as it is +not dangerously slippery and is easily kept clean. If the floor is hard +wood, it must not have a slippery wax finish. It will also save tumbles +if the day nursery has no rugs, but the night nursery ought to have one +large one or several small ones by the beds and in front of the open +fire. Washable cotton rugs are best to use for this purpose. + +When children are very small, it is necessary to have sides to the beds +to keep them from falling out. The beds should be placed so that the +light does not shine directly in the children's eyes in the morning, and +there should be plenty of fresh air. The rest of the night nursery +furniture should consist of a dressing-table, a chest of drawers, a +night table and some chairs. There should be a few pictures on the walls +hung low, and beautiful and interesting in subjects and treatment. The +fire should be well screened. + +Pictures like the "Songs of Childhood," for instance, would be charming +simply framed. If there is only one nursery for both day and night use, +the room should be decorated as a day nursery and the bed-cover made of +white dimity with a border of the curtain stuff or made entirely of it. + + + + +_Curtains_ + + +The modern window, with its huge panes of glass and simple framework, +makes an insistent demand for curtains. Without curtains windows of this +kind give a blank, staring appearance to the room and also a sense of +insecurity in having so many holes in the walls. The beautiful windows +of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries in Italy, England and +France, give no such feeling of incompleteness, for their well-carved +frames, and over-windows, and their small panes of glass, were important +parts of the decorative scheme. Windows and doors were more than mere +openings in those days, but things have changed, and the hard lines of +our perfectly useful windows get on our nerves if we do not soften them +with drapery. In that hopeless time in the last century called "Early +Victorian," when black walnut reigned supreme, the curtains were as +terrifying as the curves of the furniture and the colors of the carpets. +Luckily most of us know only from pictures what that time was, but we +all have seen enough remnants of its past glories to be thankful for +modern ways and days. The over-draped, stuffy, upholstered nightmares +have entirely disappeared, and in their place have come curtains of a +high standard of beauty and practicality--simple, appropriate, and +serving the ends they were intended for. + +The effect of curtains must be taken into account from both the outside +and the inside of the house. The outside view should show a general +similarity of appearance in the windows of each story, in the manner of +hanging the curtains and also of material. The shades throughout the +house should be of the same color, and if a different color is needed +inside for the sake of the color scheme, either two shades should be +used or they should be the double-faced kind. Shades should also be kept +drawn down to the same line, or else be rolled up out of sight, for +there is nothing that gives a more ill-kept look to a house than having +the shades and curtains at any haphazard height or angle. + +And now to "return to our muttons." The average window needs two sets of +curtains and a shade. Sometimes a thin net or lace curtain, a _"bonne +femme"_ is hung close to the glass, but this is usual only in cities +where privacy has to be maintained by main force, or where the curtains +of a floor differ greatly. Thin curtains in combination with side +curtains of some thicker material are most often used. + +Curtains either make or mar a room, and they should be carefully planned +to make it a perfect whole. They must be so convincingly right that one +only thinks at first how restful and pleasant and charming the whole +room is; the details come later. When curtains stand out and astound +one, they are wrong. It is not upholstery one is trying to display, but +to make a perfect background for one's furniture, one's pictures and +one's friends. + +There are so many materials to choose from that all tastes and purses +can be suited; nets, thin silk and gauzes; scrims and batistes; cotton +and silk crepes, muslin or dotted Swiss, cheesecloth, soleil cloth, +madras, and a host of other fascinating fabrics which may be used in any +room of the house. The ready-made curtains are also charming. There are +muslin curtains with appliqué borders cut from flowered cretonne; +sometimes the cretonne is appliqué on net which is let into the curtain +with a four-inch hem at the bottom and sides. A simpler style has a band +of flowered muslin sewed on the white muslin, or used as a ruffle. It is +also added to the valance. There are many kinds of net and lace curtains +ready for use that will harmonize with any kind of room. Some of the +expensive ones are really beautiful examples of needlecraft, with lace +medallions and insertions and embroidery stitches. + +When it comes to the question of side curtains the supply to choose from +is almost unlimited, and this great supply forms the bog in which so +many are lost. A thing may be beautiful in itself and yet cause woe and +havoc in an otherwise charming room. There are linens of all prices, and +cretonnes, both the inexpensive kind and the wonderful shadow ones; +there are silks and velvets and velours, aurora cloth, cotton crêpe and +arras cloth, and a thousand other beautiful stuffs that are cheap or +medium-priced or expensive, whose names only the shopman knows, but +which win our admiration from afar. The curtains for a country house are +usually of less valuable materials than those for a town house, and this +is as it should be, for winter life is usually more formal than summer +life. Nothing can be prettier, however, for a country house than +cretonne. It is fresh and dainty and gives a cool and delightful +appearance to a room. Among the many designs there are some for every +style of decoration. + +[Illustration: The arrangement of sofa and table are excellent, but +there should be other centers of interest in the room. As it is, this +room just misses its aim, and is neither a strict period room nor a +really comfortable modern one.] + +The height and size of a room must be taken into account in hanging +curtains, for with their aid, and also that of wallpaper, we can often +change a room of bad proportions to one of seemingly good ones. If a +room is very low, a stripe more or less marked in the design, and the +curtains straight to the floor, will make it seem higher. A high room +may have the curtains reach only to the sills with a valance across the +top. This style may be used in a fairly low room if the curtain material +is chosen with discretion and is not of a marked design. If the windows +are narrow they can be made to seem wider by having the rod for the side +curtains extend about eight inches on each side of the window, and the +curtain cover the frame and a part of the wall. This leaves all the +window for light and air. A valance connecting the side curtains and +covering the top of the net curtains will also make the window seem +broader. A group of three windows can be treated as one by using only +one pair of side curtains with a connecting ruffle, and a pair of net +curtains at each window. Curtains may hang in straight lines or be +simply looped back, but fancy festooning is not permissible. There is +another attractive method of dividing the curtains in halves, the upper +sections to hang so they just cover the brass rod for the lower +sections, which are pushed back at the sides. These lower sections may +have the rod on which they are run fastened to the window-sash if one +wishes. They will then go up with the window and of course keep clean +much longer, but to my mind it is not so alluring as a gently blowing +curtain on a hot day. I have seen a whole house curtained most +charmingly in this manner, with curtains of unbleached muslin edged with +a narrow little ruffle. They hung close to the glass and reached just to +the sill with the lower part pushed back at the sides. The outside view +was most attractive, and the inside curtains varied according to the +needs of each room. + +[Illustration: A charming window treatment, in a room whose color scheme +is carried out in the garden, giving a unique and delightful touch.] + +Casement windows should have the muslin curtains drawn back with a cord +or a muslin band, and the side curtains should hang straight, with a +little top ruffle; if the windows open into the room the curtains may be +hung on the frames. The muslin curtains may be left out entirely if one +wishes. Net curtains on French doors should be run on small brass rods +at top and bottom, and the heavy curtains that are drawn together at +night for privacy's sake should be so hung that they will not interfere +with the opening of the door. There should be plenty of room under all +ruffles or shaped valances where the curtains are to be drawn to allow +for easy working of the cords, otherwise tempers are liable to be +suddenly lost. + +All windows over eighteen inches wide need two curtains, and the average +allowance of fullness is at least twice the width of the window for net +and any very soft material, while once and a half is usually enough for +material with more body. Great care must be taken to measure curtains +correctly and have them cut evenly. It is also a good plan to allow for +extra length, which can be folded into the top hem and will not show, +but will allow for shrinking. + +Stenciling can be very attractively used for curtains and portières for +country houses. Cheesecloth, scrim, aurora cloth, pongee, linen, and +velours, are a few of the materials that can be used. The design and +kind used in a room should be chosen with due regard to its suitability. +A Louis XVI room could not possibly have arras cloth used in it, while +it would be charming and appropriate in a modern bungalow. Arras cloth +with an appliqué design of linen couched on it makes beautiful curtains +and portières to go with the Mission or Craftsman furniture. + +There is an old farmhouse on Long Island that has been made over into a +most delightful country house, and the furnishing throughout is +consistent and charming. The curtains are reproductions of old designs +in chintz and cretonne. The living-room, with its white paneling to the +ceiling, its wide fireplace, old mahogany furniture, and curtains gay +with parrots and flowers, hanging over cool white muslin, is a room to +conjure with. + +In town houses the curtains and hangings must also harmonize with the +style of furnishing. When the windows are hung with soft colored +brocade, the portières are usually beautiful tapestry or rich toned +velvets, and care is always taken to have the balance of color kept and +the color values correct. There are silks and damasks and velvets, and +many lesser stuffs, made for all the period styles, whether carried out +simply or elaborately, and it is the art of getting the suitable ones +for the different rooms which gives the air of harmony, beauty, and +restfulness, for which the word home stands. + +In hanging these more formal curtains the shaped valance is usually used +with the curtains hanging straight at the sides of the window, so they +can be drawn together at night. The cords and pulleys should always be +in perfect working order. Another method is to have the curtains simply +parted in the center, either with a valance or without, and drawn back +at the sides with heavy cords and tassels, or bands of the stuff. If a +draped effect is desired great care must be taken not to have it too +elaborate. + +If the walls of a room are plain in color one may have either plain or +figured hangings, but if the wall covering is figured it gives a feeling +of unrest if the curtains are also figured. Sometimes one sees bedrooms +and small boudoirs where the walls and curtains show the same design, +but it must be done with skill, or disaster is sure to follow. + +Plain casement cloth or the different "Sunfast" fabrics are attractive +with plain or figured papers, especially in bedrooms of country houses. + +If one has to live in the town house through the summer do not make the +fatal mistake of taking down the curtains and living in bare discomfort +during the hot season. If the curtains are too handsome to be kept up, +buy a second set of inexpensive ones that can be washed without injury. +It is better that they should stop the dust, and then go into the tub, +than that one's lungs should collect it all. Curtains are useful as well +as ornamental, and a house without them is as dreary as breakfast +without coffee. + + + + +_Floors and Floor Coverings_ + + +In planning a room the color values should be divided into the natural +divisions of the heaviest, or darkest, part at the bottom, which is the +floor; the medium color tone in the middle, which is the wall; and the +lightest at the top, which is the ceiling. This keeps the room from +seeming top-heavy and gives the necessary feeling of support for the +wall and ceiling. The walls and floor serve as a background and should +not be insistant or startling in color; and the size and height of the +room, the amount of wall space, the position of doors, windows and +fireplace, the quantity and quality of the light, and the connecting +rooms will all be factors in the color scheme and materials chosen. + +The floor of a room must be right or all the character of the +furnishings will be lost. One should first see that it is in perfect +condition. If it is a hardwood or parquetry floor it should not be +finished the bright and glaring yellow which is sometimes seen, but +should be slightly toned down before the finish is put on. Samples of +different tones should be submitted to be tried with samples of the rug +and stuffs to be used before the decision is made. A wax finish is +better than the usual coats of shellac, for the wax has a soft and +beautiful glow, while shellac has a hard commercial glare. A waxed +floor, if properly taken care of, which is not difficult, wears +extremely well and does not have the distressingly shabby appearance of +a partly worn shellaced floor. If the floor is old and worn and is to be +painted or stained all cracks should be filled, and the color chosen +should be a neutral color-in harmony with the rest of the room, the wood +shades usually being the best, with the exception of cherry and the red +tones of mahogany. Teak is a good tone for hard wood. Soft wood floors +of such woods as pine, fir, and cypress can be made to have the +appearance of hardwood if first scraped or sandpapered and then stained +with an oil stain and finished with a thin coat of shellac and two coats +of prepared floor wax. + +The usual ways of using floor covering are: one large rug which leaves a +border of hard wood floor of about a foot all around it; several small +rugs placed with a well balanced plan upon the floor; and carpet, either +seamless or of strips sewed together, made into one rug or entirely +covering the floor. + +In the majority of cases the use of a single large plain rug is by far +the best plan, for it gives the feeling of an unobtrusive background +whose beauty of color serves to bind the room in the unity of a well +planned scheme; and this sense of dignity and solidity goes a long way +on the road to success. It is one of the most satisfactory methods of +covering a floor imaginable. These plain carpets come in several grades +and many colors and are woven in widths from nine to thirty feet which +can be cut in any desired length. This makes it possible to have a rug +which will be a suitable size for a room. The colors are very good, +especially the soft grays, tans, putty color, and taupe. There are also +some good blues and greens, a very beautiful dark blue having great +possibilities. There are also, besides these wide carpets, narrow +carpets from twenty-seven inches to four feet wide which can be sewed +together and made into rugs, or the carpet can cover the entire floor. +In some cases this is the most attractive thing to do, for it will make +a room seem larger by carrying the vision all the way to the wall +without the break of a border; and it also covers a multitude of sins in +the way of a rough floor. In these days of vacuum cleaners the old +terrors of dust have lost their sting. + +A plain carpet or rug may be used with propriety in any room in the +house, provided the right color is chosen for the surroundings. Some +people, however, prefer a figured carpet in the dining-room on account +of the wear and tear around the table. This risk is not very great if +the rug is of good quality in the first place. A two-toned all-over +design is often chosen for halls and stairs because of the special wear +which they receive, and a Chinese rug is a good selection to make with a +stair carpet of soft blue and yellow Chinese design to match. A small, +figured, all-over design is a good choice for a nursery. + +Bedrooms may have either one large rug or be covered entirely with +carpet, or have several rugs so placed that the floor is practically +covered but is easily kept clean. Plain rugs are more restful in effect +in bedrooms than figured rugs, and with plain walls and chintz are fresh +and charming. These carpet rugs should be made with a flat binding which +turns under and is sewed down, as this looks far better and lies flatter +on the floor than the usual over-and-over finish, which is apt to +stretch. All rugs should be thoroughly stretched before they are +delivered as otherwise they will not lie flat. + +There is a kind of plain woven linen rug, with a different colored +border if desired, which is very good to use in many country houses. +These rugs come in a large assortment of colors and sizes, and, when +sufficient time is allowed, they can be made in special sizes. +Old-fashioned woven and hooked rag rugs are not appropriate in all kinds +of rooms, even in the country. They should only be used in the simple +farm house type and in some bungalows, and should be used with the +simple styles of old furniture and never with fine examples, whether +copies or originals. + +[Illustration: This attractive Colonial hallway shows a good arrangement +of rugs. The border on the portières spoils the effect, but the lamp is +well chosen.] + +The light in a room must be taken into account in choosing a rug, and +cold colors should not be used in north or cheerless rooms. The theory +of color in regard to light has been explained in other chapters, very +fully in the chapter on wallpapers, and its principles should be applied +to all questions of furnishing, or disappointment will be the result. + +[Illustration: The Oriental rug used on the stairs harmonizes with those +used on the floor.] + +[Illustration: This bed-room is a good example of a simple Colonial +bed-room, and the rag rugs are in keeping with it. The repeat design of +the wallpaper ties the room into a unified whole.] + +The question of whether to use Oriental rugs or plain rugs is one which +many people find hard to solve. One of the deciding factors is often +finding just what is right for the room, for really beautiful Oriental +rugs in large or carpet size are rare and also expensive, but soft-toned +Persian rugs with their interesting floral designs, and Chinese rugs +with their wonderful tones of blue and yellow are works of art and well +worth the trouble necessary to discover them and the price asked. They +are best adapted to some libraries and halls and some dining-rooms, but +they should not be startling in either design or color. To my mind +Oriental rugs are not well suited to the majority of living-rooms and +bedrooms because of the constant and varied use of these rooms. When +Oriental rugs are used there should be plenty of plain effect in the +room; the walls, for instance, should be plain. I have never seen a room +which was successful if both walls and rug were figured. A fine tapestry +may be used with Oriental rugs, but that is quite different from a +figured wall. If several rugs are to be used in one room they must be of +the same color value and the same general color tone or the floor will +appear uneven. One does not wish to have a room give the uncomfortable +effect of "the rocky road to Dublin." A rug with a general blue tone +must not be put with other rugs of many colors or an overpowering amount +of red, but should be matched in color by having blue the chief color of +the other rugs also. The color value, too, must be even, for a light +rug next to a dark has the same disagreeable effect. It is impossible to +have a beautiful room if the rug seems to rise up and smite you as you +enter. Persian rugs with their conventional floral designs should not be +used with the marked color and geometrical designs of Caucasian rugs. +These points are important to remember and follow, for otherwise unity +of scheme for the room will be impossible. + +If one has several fine rugs well matched in color value and design they +should be placed with a due regard to the shape of the room and the +position of the furniture. A rug placed cat-a-cornered breaks up the +structural plan of the room and makes it appear smaller than it really +is. The new lines formed are at odds with the lines of the walls and +interfere with the sense of space by stopping the eye in its instinctive +journey to the boundary of things. Oriental rugs should be tried if +possible in the rooms in which they are to be used before the final +choice is made, and one must always try the rug with the light falling +across the nap and also with the nap, for one way makes the rug lighter +and the other darker, and one of the two may be just what is wanted. + +If one owns a rug which seems far too bright to use it can be toned +down, but the owner must take the risk of its being spoiled in the +process. To me it does not seem a great risk, because if the rug is so +bright that it is absolutely nerve-destroying and useless, and there is +a chance that for a small sum it can be made charming, why not take it? +I have never heard of one failing, but I suppose some of them must or +the stipulation would not be made. + +If an Oriental rug is used it should give the keynote for the color +scheme, and the design of the rug will decide whether there can be any +figured material used in the room. It is far easier to build up a scheme +from a satisfactory rug than it is to try to fit one into a room which +is otherwise finished. One's field of choice is much wider. Samples of +wallpaper, curtain material and furniture coverings should always be +tried with the rugs, whether Oriental or plain in color, for the scheme +of a room must be worked out as a whole, not piece-meal. Each room must +be considered in relation to the other rooms near it, because, although +it may be beautiful in itself, if it does not harmonize with the +connecting rooms the whole effect will be a failure. Vistas from one +room to another should be alluring and charming; there should be no +violent and clashing contrasts of color or styles of furniture or sudden +change in the scale of furnishings. One room cannot shake off its +relationship to the rest of the house and be a success, and floor +coverings must bear their full share of responsibility in making the +whole house beautiful. + + + + +_The Treatment of Walls_ + + +The walls of a house hold a most important place in the order of things +and their treatment requires much thought. The floor is the darkest +color value in a room, as it is the foundation, and the walls come next +in color value and consideration. What I have said in other chapters +about the necessity of connecting rooms being harmonious applies of +course to the selection of wall coverings. + +The first question to be settled is: shall paint or paper be used? + +If a house is new the walls are apt to settle a little making the +plaster crack, and it is far better in such a case to allow the walls to +remain white for a year. If the effect of plain white plaster strikes +one as too cold one of the many water tints may be used as this will not +interfere with any later scheme. In houses that have been built for a +number of years the walls are often so badly cracked and marred that to +put them into condition for painting would be more expensive than +preparing them for paper. Estimates should be given for both paint and +paper. + +When the plaster has done its worst and settled down to a quiet life the +work of covering the walls appropriately begun. + +Plain walls, whether painted, tinted, or papered, are more restful in +effect and form better backgrounds than figured walls. This is not a +question of the beauty of the design or the expense of the material, but +simply the fact that a plain surface is quiet, while a figured wall, +even if only two-toned, will at once assert itself more, and so be less +of a background. If many pictures and mirrors are to be used, or a +figured rug and much furniture, by all means have plain walls. If one +has some special object of great beauty and interest, it should be +treated with the dignity and honor it deserves and given a plain +background. A miscellaneous collection of lares and penates can be made +to hold together better by having a plain wall of some soft neutral +color rather than a figured paper, which would only make the confusion +more pronounced. Small rooms should have plain and light colored walls, +as they then appear larger. Plain walls give a wider scope in the matter +of decoration, for, beside the possibilities of plain stuffs, chintz and +various striped silks and linen may be used which would be quite out of +the question with figured walls, more flowers may be used, and +lampshades, always a bit assertive, take their proper place in the +scheme, instead of making another distracting note. + +[Illustration: A built-in corner cupboard has an architecturally +decorative value for it supplies a spot of color in the paneled walls. +The modern china closet is bad, and the chairs have the failing of many +reproductions, the backs are a little too high for the width.] + +The question of paint or paper has often to be decided by circumstances, +such as the condition of the walls or the climate. With paint one can +have the exact shade desired and either a "glossy" or eggshell finish. +With paper it is often a matter of taking the nearest thing to the color +wanted and changing the other colors to harmonize. Paint is better to +use in a damp or foggy climate, as paper may peel from the walls in the +course of time. + +[Illustration: This fine well-curtained four poster, once the property +of Lafayette, the trundle-bed, cradle, chairs and table, are all +interesting, but the wallpaper appears to be of the ugly time of about +1880. Something more appropriate should be chosen.] + +Walls may be tinted or painted, and paneled with strips of molding which +are painted the wall color or a tone lighter or darker as the scheme +requires. Also, the wall inside the moulding may be a tone lighter than +the wall outside, or vice versa, but the contrast must not be strong or +the wall at once becomes uneven in effect and ceases to be a good +background. Paintings may be paneled on the walls. If one has only one +suitable picture for the room it should be placed over the mantel, or in +some other position of importance, making a centre of interest in the +room. Using pictures and pieces of tapestry in this way is quite +different from having the walls painted in two sharply contrasting +colors, because the paint gives the feeling of permanence while the +picture is obviously an added decoration requiring a correct background. +I am speaking of the average house, not of houses and palaces where the +walls have been painted by great artists. + +Painted walls are appropriate for all manner of homes, from the +elaborate country or city house all through the list to the farm house +or small bungalow, but if, for any reason, one cannot have painted +walls, or prefers paper, one need not forego the restful pleasure of +plain backgrounds, for there are many beautiful plain papers to be had. + +Personal taste usually decides whether paint or paper is to be used. +Paint is thought by some to be too cold or hard in appearance (it is +only so when badly done or when disagreeable colors are chosen,) or it +is considered too formal, or, with the memory of New England farm houses +in mind, too informal. For those who wish paper, the possibilities are +very great if the paper is properly chosen. The reason why so many +people are disappointed with the effect of their newly papered rooms is +that they judged the paper at the shop from one piece, and did not +realize that a design which appealed to them there might be overpowering +when repeated again and again and again on the wall. When choosing a +figured paper several strips should be placed side by side to enable one +to judge whether the horizontal repeat is as satisfactory and pleasant +as the perpendicular. When an acceptable one is found a large sample +should be taken home to pin on the wall to show the effect in its future +environment. Samples of the curtains and furniture coverings should also +be tried with the sample of paper before the final choice is made. If a +paper with a decided figure is chosen pictures should be banished, for +their beauty will be killed by the repeated design. The scale of the +design in relation to the size of the room must also be taken into +account. A small room will be overpowered by a large figure, but often +the repeat of a small figure is quite correct in a large room as it +gives an all-over, unobtrusive effect. If the wall space is much cut by +doors and windows one should select a plain, neutral toned paper. It +would be a fatal error to use a figured paper, for the room would look +restless and chaotic and probably out of balance. If the windows are in +groups and the doors balance each other the danger is lessened, but not +done away with. One of the beautiful features in fine old Colonial +houses is this ordered position of doors, but in many a modern house the +doors have a trying way of appearing in a corner, as if they were a bit +ashamed of themselves; and they have good cause to be, for a badly +placed door is a calamity. If one is fortunate enough to plan one's own +house, this matter can be taken care of properly, but in the average +ready made house one has to try to make the doors less conspicuous by +having them painted in very much the tone of the wall. With a gray wall, +for instance, there should have a slightly lighter tone of gray for the +woodwork, with a white and gray striped paper white paint may be used, +with a soft tan a deep old ivory, and so on. + +If a room is badly proportioned it can often be improved by the simple +expedient of using a correct paper. If the room is too high for its size +the ceiling color may be brought down on the side wall for eighteen +inches or so and finished with a moulding. This stops the eye before it +reaches the ceiling and so makes the room seem lower. If the room is too +low a striped paper may be used which will make the room seem higher by +carrying the eye up to the ceiling where the paper is finished with a +moulding. Vertical lines give the appearance of height, horizontal +lines of width. Striped paper should not be used in narrow halls, for it +makes them seem narrower and gives one the feeling of being in a cage. +Two-toned striped papers of nearly the same color value, such as gray +and white, yellow and cream-white, and white and cream color, are better +to use than those of more marked contrast, although some of the green +and white and blue and white are charming and fresh looking for +bedrooms. Black and white is too eccentric for the average house; one +should beware of all eccentric papers. There are a few kinds of paper +which should be left severely alone, for they will spoil any room. One +of them has a plain general tone but a suggestion of other colors which +give it a blurred and mottled appearance which is singularly +disagreeable. Another is plain in color but has a lumpy effect like a +toad's back, and is really quite awful. Others are metallic papers, and +there is a heavy paper embossed in self color with a conventional design +which is apt to have a shining surface. Papers with dashes and little +flecks of gold should be avoided, for the gold gives the wall an +unstable and cheap appearance. Papers with small single figures repeated +all over the surface are apt to look as if a plague of flies or beetles +had arrived and are quite impossible to live with. Borders and cut out +borders have a commonplace appearance and are not in the best of taste. +And then there are papers with vulgarity of design. This quality is hard +to define clearly, for it may be only a slightly redundant curve or +other lack of true feeling for the beauty of line, or a bit too much, or +too little, color, or a bad combination of color, or a lack of knowledge +of the laws of balance and harmony and ornament, or a wrong surface of +texture to the paper. But whatever the cause, a vulgar paper will +vulgarize any room, no matter what is done in the way of furniture. It +will assert itself like an ill-bred person. Luckily both are easily +recognized. + +But the picture is not all dark by any means, for some of the American +made papers, as well as the imported papers, are very beautiful. The +makers are taking great pains to have fine designs and beautiful colors +which will appeal to people of knowledge and taste. The situation is +much better than it was a few years ago. Some of the copies of old +figured and scenic papers are exceptionally fine, and can be used with +great distinction in dining-rooms or halls with ivory or cream-white +woodwork and wainscoting, and Georgian or Colonial furniture. One should +not use pictures with these papers, but mirrors are permissable and will +have the best effect if placed on a wood-paneled over-mantel. These +papers come in tones of gray and white and also sepia. Oriental rugs, if +not of too conspicuous a design, may be used with them, but plain rugs +are better with plain hangings and striped silk chair seats. These +papers are very attractive in country houses. There are also colored +scenic papers, an especially fascinating one having a Chinese design +which could be used as a connected scene or in panels, and would be +lovely in a country house drawing-room or dining-room or hall. It could +also be used in a city house with beautiful effect if due thought be +given to the question of hangings, woodwork, rug, and furniture. +Introduce a false note, and a room of this kind is ruined. These scenic +papers come in sets, but the copies of the other old papers come in the +regular rolls. Some of the lovely old "_Toile de Jouy_" designs have +been used for wall paper, and these with other chintz designs, can be +softened in effect by a special method of glazing which makes them very +harmonious and charming with antique furniture or reproductions of fine +old models. These old chintz papers are lovely for bedrooms or +morning-rooms, with fresh crisp muslin curtains and plain silk or linen +or chambray side-curtains. Either painted or mahogany furniture could be +employed. A motif from the paper can be used for the furniture or it can +simply be striped with the color chosen for the plain curtains. Some of +the good and rather stunning bird design papers treated with this +special glazing make beautiful halls with plain rugs and hangings and +chair covers. + +Papers cost from about forty cents to several dollars a roll, but the +choice is large and attractive between one and three dollars a roll, and +there are also excellent ones for eighty-five cents. It is almost +impossible, however, to give a satisfactory list of prices as they vary +in different parts of the country. The reproductions of old scenic +papers of which I have spoken are expensive, costing about one hundred +dollars a set, but they may go down again now that the war is over. The +difference in expense between paint and paper is not very great, in +fact, with the average paper at a dollar or a dollar and a half a roll, +paint is about the same, or perhaps a bit cheaper if the walls are in +fairly good condition. It is a mistake to use inferior paper, and there +should never be more than a lining paper and the paper itself on the +wall. In some cases where there is only one paper of soft color on the +wall, with no lining paper, this paper may be used as a lining paper if +it is absolutely tight and firm. The risk is that the new paste may +loosen the old a bit and so let all come down. Old paper must be +entirely removed if there are any marred places as they will show +through the new and ruin the effect. + +The amount of wall space and the quality and the quantity of the light +are important factors in deciding the color scheme because by using them +correctly we can brighten a cheerless, dark room or soften the blaze in +a too sunny one. + +If the light is a cold dreary one from the north, the room will be +vastly improved if warm, cheerful colors are used: warm ivory, deep +cream color, soft or bright yellow without any greenish tinge in it, +soft yellow pinks (there is a hard pink which is very ugly), yellow +green (but not olive), and tones of golden tan. It is the dash of yellow +in these colors which makes them cheerful and gives the impression of +sunlight. Tans should never come too close to brown for a dark room, for +nothing is more dreary or hopeless than a room done in that depressing +color. The beautiful tones of old oak, or properly treated modern oak +paneling, are quite a different matter. Small amounts of red or orange +will do wonders, if used with discretion, in brightening a dull room, +and are often just what are needed to bring out the beauty of the rest +of the scheme; but it is a great mistake to think that red walls and a +great deal of red in the hangings and furniture covering will make a +cheerful or pleasant room. Red absorbs light and is also an irritant to +the eyes and nerves, and, unless it is used with great skill, it is apt +to look extremely commonplace and ugly or like an ostentatious hotel or +public building. Few of us have large enough houses to make it possible +to use red in great amounts, and it is well for the average person to +shun it and remember that in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred a red +wall will spoil a room. + +[Illustration: There are few treatments for walls in a Colonial +dining-room that can compare with paneled walls, or wainscoting with a +decorative paper above. The subject, however, must be in keeping. This +paper is extremely inappropriate, and the center light is also badly +chosen and could be eliminated.] + +Cool colors should be used in bright and sunny rooms--blues, greens, +grays, grayish tans, and those delightful colors, old ivory, and soft +deep cream color and linen color. Colors with a tone of yellow in them +are easier to use than cold blues and greens and violets, for the yellow +tinge, be it ever so little, brings them into relation with the majority +of woods used in floors and furniture frames. Light colors make a +room seem larger by apparently making the walls recede, and dark +colors make it seem smaller, as they make us conscious of the walls and +so seem to bring them nearer. Any very bright room may have dark walls +to soften the glare, but if it has to be used by artificial light it +will then be heavy and cheerless in effect; and so a better choice would +be some soft neutral color of medium or lighter color values, such as +gray green, and use awnings and dark shades. This matter of color in +relation to light is important to remember when planning one's house. +There is also another question which has great influence on one's choice +of paper, and that is the amount and kind of furniture to be used in the +room. Georgian furniture calls for plain or paneled walls, or if a +figured paper is used it should be one of the old-fashioned designs or +one of the striped papers. Old-fashioned chintz designs are also +appropriate for bedrooms with mahogany or painted furniture. Plain or +paneled walls, striped paper, and some of the fine floral designs, which +can also be used as panels, and the charming _Toile de Jouy_ designs, +are all appropriate when used with French furniture. Heavily made +furniture like Craftsman or Mission needs the support of strong walls +which may be rough-finished natural-colored or painted plaster, or grass +cloth, or one of the many good plain papers of heavy texture. There are +also figured papers which are appropriate. Wicker furniture will go with +almost any kind of attractive paper which is correct for the room, but +when there is much figure the cushions should be covered with plain +stuff. All-over stuffed furniture when covered with chintz looks best +with plain walls. Painted furniture looks well with plain walls and +chintz. A motif from the chintz can be used on the furniture for the +decoration, but if the wall paper is figured the effect will be more +restful if the furniture is only striped. + +[Illustration: This room is unattractive because of the poor arrangement +of the furniture and the inappropriate bed-hangings. The bed, Sheraton +chair, and card-table, are all very good examples.] + +In summing up: the important points which govern the choice and color of +wall covering are the connecting rooms, the amount and quality of light, +the size and shape of the room, its use, the furnishings which are to be +used, the condition of the walls, and personal preference as to paint or +paper. Do not be afraid of the idea that plain walls, whether paint or +paper, may become tiresome, for one can stand well planned monotony year +in and year out with a cheerful heart. If some rooms are to be papered +with figured paper be sure the selection is made with care and with the +idea in mind that a figured wall is in itself a decoration and should +not have pictures crowded upon it. + + + + +_Artificial Lighting_ + + +To light a room successfully appropriate lights must be placed where +they are needed to keep the feeling of balance and proportion and bring +out the charm of the room by their relation to its furnishing. They +should also be so placed that the life of the household can go on as +cheerfully and smoothly in the evening as in the day time. + +The position and style of lighting fixtures is decided by the type of +house, the size and height of the rooms, the amount of wall space, the +use for which the rooms are intended, their style of furnishing, the +chief centers of interest, such as mantels, doors, furniture, and +pictures of importance, and also the manner in which the walls are +treated, whether paneled or papered. If one is building a house one +should give all possible data to the architect in regard to any special +pieces of furniture or pictures which one may wish to use in certain +places. By doing this the tragedy of a slightly too small wall space +will be escaped, and the lights will be properly placed in the +beginning. + +One must always remember in planning the position of the lights for a +room that the eye naturally seeks the brightest spot, and badly placed +lamps and sidelights will upset the balance of a room. The room must not +be glaringly bright, but there should be a feeling of a certain +evenness in the distribution of light. A top light makes the light come +from the wrong direction. Artificial light in a room should take its +general idea from the lighting of the room in the day time. The daylight +comes from the windows, the sides of the room, and the decoration of the +room is built up with that in mind; so when we are planning the lighting +scheme we should remember this and realize that the light should come +from lamps placed advantageously on tables, and wall lights placed +slightly above eye level. + +Living-rooms should have a sufficient number of well placed sidelights +to enhance the beauty of the room, and they should be placed near +centers of importance such as each side of the fireplace, or wide door, +or on each side of some important picture or mirror. If there is a group +of two or three windows which need to be more convincingly drawn +together to form a unit, lights may be placed on each side of the group. +Sidelights can be placed in the center of panels, thus forming a +decoration for the panel, and, flanking paintings or mirrors or +tapestries, make beautiful and formal rooms, especially for the +different periods of French, English, or Italian decoration. This +treatment with simpler forms of fixtures may also be used in our +charming, but more or less nondescript, chintz living-rooms and country +house drawing-rooms or dining-rooms. With a sufficient number of lamps +in the room the side-or wall-lights need not be lighted during the +average stay-at-home evenings but are ready if there is some special +occasion for brilliancy. There are some rooms which are much improved by +having no side-lights at all, all the light coming from lamps. There +should be plenty of floor sockets so placed that lamps may be used on +tables near sofas and armchairs and on the writing table or large +living-room table. It is this proper placing of lamps which has so much +to do with the charm and comfort of a room when evening comes. + +In the average home there is no greater mistake in the matter of +lighting than having a room lighted by chandelier or ceiling lights. +Lights at the top of the room, or a foot or two from the ceiling, break +up completely the artistic balance of the room by drawing attention to +them as the brightest spot. They make the room seem smaller both by day +and night, they cast ugly shadows, they do not give sufficient or +correct light for reading or writing, and the glare above one's head is +nerve destroying. When the sun is directly overhead we hasten to put up +sunshades, so why should we deliberately reproduce in our homes the most +trying position of light? The fixtures also are usually extremely ugly. +One sees sometimes in private houses what is called the indirect method +of lighting, which is usually an alabaster bowl suspended by chains from +the ceiling in which the lights are concealed. The reflected light on +the ceiling is supposed to give a suffused and bright light. To my mind +there is something extremely obnoxious about this method used in homes, +for it smacks of department stores and banks and public buildings +generally. And then, too, the light is unpleasant. If I were the +unfortunate possessor of such a light I should have it taken down and +use the bowl on a high wrought iron tripod for growing ivy and ferns, +and thus try to get a little good from the ill wind that blew it there. + +There are a few cases, however, where top lights may be used, such as +large drawing-or music-rooms, rooms in which formal entertaining is to +be done. Crystal ceiling lights are then best to use, or chandeliers +with crystal drops or pendants. If these rooms are Italian Renaissance +in style, the center lights must naturally harmonize in period. Large +halls with marble stairs and wrought-iron balustrade can have this +elaborate kind of light, but the average hall demands a simpler +chandelier. If one is to be used there are some very good copies of old +Colonial lights and lanterns, but personally I prefer wall brackets and +a dignified lamp, or a floor lamp. Torchères or lacquered floor lamps +may be used in pairs if the hall is large enough to have them placed +properly. In a long, narrow hall they would look a bit like lamp posts. +Rather close fitting round shades, nearly the same size at top and +bottom, made of painted parchment give a decorative touch and sufficient +light. As one does not need an especially bright light in a hall, a +beautiful lamp can be made of one of the fine old alabaster vases which +many people have by dropping an electric bulb in it. Placed on a consol +table before a mirror it makes a delightful spot in the hall. These +lamps may also be used in other rooms where a light is needed for effect +and not for use. In placing lamps the charm and utility of a reflection +in a mirror must not be overlooked. + +A vestibule may have a lantern of some attractive design in harmony with +the house, or side lights, if they can be so placed as not to be struck +by the door. + +Dining-rooms are far more beautiful and also better lighted if +sidelights are used, with candles on the table, rather than a drop +light. Dining-room drop-lights or "domes" have all the disadvantages of +other center lights and are extremely trying to the eyes of the diners, +as well as being unbecoming. Even when screened with thin silk drawn +across the bottom there is something deadening to one's brain in having +a light just over one's head. Side lights with the added charm of +candles will give plenty of light. It is a cause for thanksgiving that +drop-lights over dining-tables are rarely seen now-a-days. + +Bedrooms should have a good light over the dressing table, and to my +mind, two movable lights upon it, which may be in the form of wired +candlesticks or small lamps. These are much more convenient than fixed +lights. There should be a light over any long mirror, and one for the +desk and sofa or _chaise longue_, and one for the bedside table. The +dressing-room should be supplied with a light over the chiffonier and +long mirror, and there should also be a table light. Clothes closets +should have simple lights. + +And do not forget the kitchen if one wishes properly cooked meals. A +light so placed that it shines into the oven has saved many a burned +dish, and a light over the sink has saved many a broken one. The +servants' sitting-room should have a good reading lamp. + +The question of the style of the fixtures is important, for if they are +badly chosen they will quite spoil an otherwise perfect room. They must +harmonize in period with the room, and also with its scale of +furnishing. There is a wide choice in the shops, and some of the designs +are very good indeed, having been carefully studied and adapted from +beautiful museum specimens of old Italian, French, English, and Spanish, +carvings and ornament. Some of our iron workers make very fine metal +fixtures which are beautiful copies of old French and Italian work. +There are graceful and sturdy designs, elaborate and simple, special +period designs, and many which are appropriate for rooms of no +particular period. There are charming lacquer sconces to go with lacquer +furniture, and old-fashioned prism candelabra and sconces, and fixtures +copied from choice old whale oil lamps in both brass and bronze. There +are suitable designs for each and every room. The difficulty lies not in +finding too few to choose from, but too many, and, growing weary, +making a selection not quite so good as it should be. One should take +blue prints to the shop if possible, but necessary measurements without +fail. One must know not only the width of the wall spaces, but the width +of the pictures and furniture to be put in the room, or the calamity may +happen of having the fixtures a bit too wide. When fixtures are meant to +be a special part of the decorative scheme, and support and enhance +pictures and tapestries, they should have an appropriate decorative +value also, but in the average home it is better and safer to choose the +simpler, but still beautiful, designs. It is better to err on the side +of simplicity than to have them too elaborate. + +Lamps should be chosen to harmonize with the room, to add their +usefulness and beauty to it as a part of the whole and be convincingly +right both by day and night. There are many possibilities for having +lamps made of different kinds of pottery and porcelain jars; some +crackle-ware jars are very good in color. Chinese porcelain jars, both +single color and figured, make lovely lamps. Old and valuable specimens +should not be used in this way, for they are works of art. Many modern +jars are copies of the old and these should be used. There are lacquer +lamps, bronze, and brass, and carved wood lamps, and lovely Wedgwood and +alabaster vases. There are charming little floor lamps, some of wrought +iron with smart little parchment shades, some in Sheraton design, some +in lacquer or painted wood, which can be easily carried about to stand +by bridge tables or a special chair. There are dozens of different jars +and lamps to use, but the one absolutely necessary question to ask +oneself is: is it right for my purpose? + +Lamp shades are a part of the scheme of the room's decoration and should +be chosen or made to order to achieve the desired effect. Special shades +are made by many clever people to harmonize with any room or period and +are apt to be far better than the ready made variety. There are all +manner of beautiful shades, lace, silk, plain and painted parchment and +paper, mounted Japanese prints, embroidery, and any number of other +attractive combinations. To be perfect, beside the fine workmanship, +they must harmonize in line with the lamps on which they are to be used, +and harmonize in color and style with the room, and have an absolute +lack of frills and furbelows. The shade for a reading lamp should spread +enough to allow the light to shine out. Lamp shades simply for +illuminating purposes may be any desired shape if in harmony with the +shape of the lamp. Lacquered painted tin shades are liked by some for +lamps on writing tables. There should be a certain amount of uniformity +in the style of the shades in a room, although they need not be exactly +alike. Too much variety is ruinous to the effect of simple charm in the +room. The chintz which is used for curtains will supply a motif for the +painted shades if one wishes them, but if there is a great deal of +chintz, plain shades will be more attractive. Side lights may have +little screens or shades, as one prefers, or none may be used. In that +case the bulbs may be toned down by using ground glass and painting them +with a thin coat of raw umber water color paint. Bedroom shades follow +the same rule of appropriateness that applies to the other shades in the +house. There should be several sets of candle shades for the +dining-room. + +There is really no reason why so many houses should be so badly lighted. +Often simply rearranging the lamps and changing the shape of the shades +will do wonders in the way of improvement. Radical changes in the wiring +should be carefully thought out so there will be no mistakes to +rectify. + + + + +_Painted Furniture_ + + +The love of color which is strong in human nature is shown in the +welcome which has been given to painted furniture. If we turn back to +review the past we find this same feeling cropping out in the different +periods and in the different grades of furniture. The furniture of the +Italian Renaissance was often richly gilded and painted; the carved +swags of fruit, arabesques, and the entwined human figures, were painted +in natural colors, or some of the important lines of the furniture were +picked out with color or gold, or both. As the influence of the +Renaissance spread to France and England, changed by the national +temperament of the different countries, we find their furniture often +blossoming into color--not covered by a solid coat of paint but picked +out here and there by lines and accenting points. During the time of +Louis XIV everything was ablaze with gold and glory, but later, during +the reigns of Louis XV and Louis XVI, a gentler, more refined love of +color came uppermost, and the lovely painted furniture was made which +has given so much inspiration to our modern work. The simpler forms of +the Louis XV period, and the beautiful furniture of the Louis XVI +period, were often painted soft tones of ivory, blue, green, or yellow, +and decorated with lovely branches of flowers, birds, and scenery where +groups of people by Fragonard and other great painters disported with +all their eighteenth century charm. These decorations were usually +painted on reserves of old ivory with the ground color outside of some +soft tone. Martin, the inventor of famous "vernis Martin," flourished at +this time, and the glow of his beautiful amber-colored finish decorated +many a piece of furniture from sewing boxes to sedan chairs. In England +the vogue of painted furniture was given impetus by the genius of the +Adam Brothers and the beautiful work of Angelica Kaufmann, Cipriani, and +Pergolesi. In both France and England there was at this time the +comprehension and appreciation of beauty and good taste combined with a +carefree gaiety which made the ineffable charm of the eighteenth century +a living thing. There are some of our modern workmen and painters of +furniture who feel this so thoroughly that their work is very fine, but +the majority have no knowledge or understanding of the period, and, +although they may copy the lovely things of that time, the essence, the +true spirit, is lacking. Cabinet making and painting in those days was a +beloved and honored craft; to-day, alas, it is too often a matter of +union rules. + +Chinese lacquer, while not strictly coming under the head of painted +furniture, was another branch of decorated furniture which was in great +demand at this time. The design in gold was done on a black or red or +green ground and was beautiful in effect. + +[Illustration: The delicacy of the painting and the graceful proportions +of these reproductions are in the true spirit of Adam.] + +[Illustration: A three-chair settee of the Sheraton period, lacquered, +and with cane seat. It would be appropriate for a living-room or hall.] + +[Illustration: A wing-chair with a painted frame is comfortable and +harmonizes with painted furniture.] + +[Illustration: This simple slat-backed chair can be made most attractive +at small expense with paint and a motif from the chintz for decoration.] + +While the upper classes were having this beautiful furniture made for +their use, the peasant class was serenely going on its way decorating +its furniture according to its own ideas and getting charming results. +The designs were usually conventionalized field flowers done with great +spirit and charm. From the peasants of Brittany and Flanders and Holland +have come down to us many beautiful marriage chests and other pieces of +furniture which are simple and straightforward and a bit crude in their +design and color, but which have done much to serve as a help and guide +in our modern work. + +The supply of painted furniture to-day is inspired by these different +kinds of the great periods of decoration. There are many grades and +kinds in the market, some very fine, keeping up the old traditions of +beauty, some charming and effective in style and color, but with a +modern touch, and some very very bad indeed; "and when they are bad they +are horrid." I have said a great deal in other chapters on this subject, +but I cannot too often urge those of my readers who have the good +fortune to live near one of our great art museums to study for +themselves the precious specimens of the great days of genius. It will +give a standard by which to judge modern work, and it is only by keeping +our ideals and demands high that we can save a very beautiful art from +deteriorating into a commercial affair. + +When selecting painted furniture, one can often have some special color +scheme or decoration carried out at a little extra expense; and this is +well worth while, for it takes away the "ready made" feeling and gives +the touch of personality which adds so much to a home. One must see that +the furniture is well made, that the painting and finishing are properly +done, and that the decoration is appropriate. If the furniture is of one +of the French periods, it should be one of the simpler styles and should +be painted one of the soft ground colors used at the time, and the +decoration should have the correct feeling--flowers and birds like those +on old French brocade or _toile de Jouy_ or old prints. The striping +should be done in some contrasting color or in the wonderful brownish +black which they used. The design may be taken from the chintz or +brocade chosen for the room, but the painting must be done in the manner +of the period. This holds true of any English period chosen, such as +Adam furniture or the painted furniture of Sheraton. There are several +firms who make a specialty of this fine grade of furniture, but it is +not made by the car load; in fact it is usually special order work. The +kind one finds most often in the shops is furniture copied from the +simpler Georgian styles or simple modern pieces slightly reminiscent of +Craftsmen furniture, but not heavy or awkward in build. This furniture +is painted in different stock colors and designs, or can be painted +according to the purchaser's wishes as a special order. These "stock" +designs are often stenciled, but some of them have an effective charm +and are suitable to country houses, and also many city ones. When there +is much chintz used, the furniture will often be more attractive if it +is only striped with the chief color used in the room. The designs which +are to be avoided are of the Art Nouveau and Cubist variety, roses that +look like cabbages gone crazy, badly conventionalized flowers, and crude +and revolting color schemes. It sounds as if it should not be necessary +to warn people against these monstrosities, and I have never heard of +any one who buys them, but some one must do so or they would not be in +the shops. + +Attractive and inexpensive painted furniture can be made to be used in +simple surroundings by buying slat-backed chairs with splint seats and a +drop-leaf pine table and having them painted the desired ground color +and then striped and decorated with a motif from the chintz to be used +in the room. A country house dining-room or bedroom could be most +charmingly fitted up in this way, chintz cushions could be used on the +chairs, and candle shades could be made to match. One can sometimes find +a bed or chest of drawers or other piece of furniture which is a bit +shopworn and can be had for a bargain. Old bureaus can be made to serve +as chests of drawers by taking the mirror off and using it as a wall +mirror. In many houses there are old sets of ugly furniture which can be +made useful and often attractive by having the jigsaw carving removed +and painting them. In a set of this kind, which I was doing over for a +client, there happened to be two beds with towering headboards, quite +impossible to use, but I combined the two footboards, thus making one +attractive bed. The furniture was painted a soft pumpkin yellow, striped +with blue and with little, old-fashioned nosegays, and a lovely linen +with yellow and cream stripes and baskets of flowers was used and turned +a dark and dreary room into a cheerful and pretty one. + +One can find some kind of suitable painted furniture for nearly every +room in the average modern house. People everywhere are turning away +more and more from the heavy, depressing effects of a few years ago; but +unless they know the ground they are walking on they must tread with +care. The style chosen must be appropriate and in scale with the style +of house. The fine examples would look quite out of place in a bungalow +or very simple house, and the simple kind founded on peasant designs +would not be suitable in rooms with paneled walls and lovely taffeta +curtains. In Georgian and simple French designs there are fascinating +examples of chairs, settees and tables, corner cupboards and sideboards, +beds and dressing-tables and chests of drawers, mirrors and footstools +and candlesticks, everything both big and little which can be used in +almost any of our charming rooms in the average house, with their fresh +chintz and taffeta and well planned color schemes. + +Lacquered furniture is more formal than the average painted furniture, +and often one or two pieces are sufficient for a room. A beautiful +lacquered cabinet with its fascinating mounts and its soft, wonderful +red or black and gold tones is a thing to conjure with. Lacquered +furniture is lovely for some dining-rooms and morning-rooms. The tables +should always be protected with glass tops, which also applies to other +painted furniture. + +One or two pieces of painted furniture may be used in a room with other +furniture if they happen to be just the thing needed to complete the +scheme. A console table, for instance, with a mirror over it and +sidelights, might be just the touch needed between two windows hung with +plain taffeta curtains. Like all good things there must be restraint in +using it, but there are few things that have greater possibilities than +painted furniture when properly used. + + + + +_Synopsis of Period Styles as an Aid in Buying Furniture._ + + +When trying to select furniture for the home, people often become +bewildered by the amount and variety to be found in the shops, and, not +knowing exactly what to look for in the different styles, make an +inappropriate or bad selection. One does not have to be so very learned +to have things right, but there are certain anachronisms which cry to +heaven and a little knowledge in advance goes a long way. A purchaser +should also know something about the construction and grade of the +furniture he wishes to buy. There are good designs in all the grades, +which, for the sake of convenience, may be divided into the expensive, +the medium in price, and the cheap. The amount one wishes to spend will +decide the grade, and one naturally must not expect to find all the +beauties and virtues of the first in the last. The differences in these +grades lie chiefly in the matters of the fit and balance of doors and +drawers; the joining of corners where, in the better grade, the interior +blocks used to keep the sides from spreading are screwed as well as +glued; the selection of well seasoned wood of fine grain; careful +matching of figures made by the grain of the wood in veneer; panels +properly made and fitted so they will not shrink or split; careful +finish both inside and out, and the correct color of the stain used; +appropriate hardware; hand or machine or "applied" carving. In the cheap +grades it is best to leave carving out of the question entirely, for it +is sure to be bad. Then there are the matters of the correctness of +design and detail, in which all the knowledge one has collected of +period furniture will be called upon; and in painted furniture the color +of the background and the charm and execution of the design must be +taken into account, whether it is done by hand or stenciled. Nearly all +kinds of woods are used, the difference in cost being caused by the +grade and amount of labor needed, the kind of wood chosen and its +abundance and the fineness of grain and the seasoning. Mahogany costs +more than stained birch, and walnut than gum wood, but there are certain +people who for some strange reason feel that they are getting something +a little smarter and better if it is tagged "birch mahogany" than if it +were simply called birch. Some of the furniture is well stained and some +shockingly done, the would-be mahogany being either a dead and dreary +brown or a most hideous shade of red, a very Bolshevik among woods. One +must remember that the mahogany of the 18th century, the best that there +has ever been, was a beautiful glowing golden brown, and when a red +stain was used it was only a little to enhance the richness of the +natural color of the wood, more of a suggestion than a blazing fact. +The wood was carefully rubbed with oil and pumice, and the shellac +finish was rubbed to a soft glow. Modern furniture, especially in the +medium and cheap grades, is apt to look as if it were encased in a hard +and shining armor of varnish. + +[Illustration: This chair with its silk damask covering edged with gimp, +the shape of the underframing and arms, and the dull gold carved +ornaments, shows many characteristics of the Italian Renaissance.] + +[Illustration: An elaborately carved Chippendale chair, with late Queen +Anne influence in the shape of the back. Petit point covering which was +so popular in her day is now wonderfully reproduced.] + +[Illustration: This Chippendale pie crust tip table shows the tripod +base with claw feet and the carved edge which gives it its name, and +which was carved down to the level, never applied. A genuine antique pie +crust table is very valuable.] + +[Illustration: This fine example of a Queen Anne lacquered chair shows +the characteristic splat and top curve, the slip seat narrower at the +back than front with rounded corners, and cabriole legs.] + +Beside this practical knowledge one should have a general idea of the +artistic side or the appearance of the different period styles and the +manner in which they were used. To achieve this, one must study the best +examples it is possible to find in originals, pictures, and properly +made reproductions. Many of the plates in this book are from extremely +valuable originals and should be studied carefully as they give a fine +idea of some of the chief points in the different styles. One should +also go to libraries and Art Museums whenever possible and study their +collections. The more knowledge gained the more ease one will have in +furnishing one's home whether there is everything to buy, or one is +planning to add a few articles to complete a charming interior, or, with +an eye to a future plan, is buying good things piece by piece and slowly +eliminating the bad. It is this knowledge which will help you to study +your own possessions and decide what is needed and what will be correct +to buy. That, is one of the most important points, to have a well +thought out plan, and never to be haphazard in your purchases. Very few +of us have houses completely furnished in one period, but we do try to +have a certain unity of spirit kept throughout the whole, whether it be +French, Italian, English, or our own charming Colonial. There can be a +great variety in any one of these divisions, and suitable furniture can +be found for all rooms, from the simplest kind to the most elaborate. It +is easier to find good reproductions in the English periods of Jacobean, +Charles II, William and Mary, Queen Anne, and the Georgian time, and the +French periods of Louis XV and Louis XVI. + + +[Illustration: The upholstery of this Sheraton chair is fastened on with +brass-headed tacks placed in festoons.] + +[Illustration: Notice the curved seat of this Hepplewhite chair.] + +[Illustration: The wheel back design was often used by Adam. The arms, +the curve of the seat and carving, the tapering reeded legs, and the +angle of the back legs should all be noticed.] + +[Illustration: As Chippendale did not use this style of leg they show +that the chair was probably reconstructed from two old chairs.] + +If one wishes a house furnished in the Gothic period it will be +necessary to have nearly all the different pieces made to order, as +there are few reproductions made. As our modern necessities of furniture +were not known in those days, the designs would have to be carried out +more in the spirit of the style than the letter, and one must be certain +to have advice and designs from some person who thoroughly understands +the period and who will see that the whole is properly carried out. +Gothic days were rough and strenuous, and the furniture was strong and +heavy and was made chiefly of oak with no varnish of any kind. The +characteristic lines of the furniture and the designs for carving were +architectural, and a careful study of the Gothic cathedrals of France, +Belgium, and England will give a very satisfactory idea of this +wonderful time. The idea of the pointed arch, rose window, trefoil, +quatrefoil, animal grotesques, and geometric designs, as well as the +beautiful linen-fold design, were all adapted for use as carving in the +panels of the furniture of the day, which consisted of chests that +served as seats, buffets, armoires, screens, trestle tables, as well as +the choir stalls of churches. + +This style is appropriate to large and dignified country houses. The +architect must see that the background is correct. + +The Renaissance period should not be attempted as a style to furnish +one's house unless it can be carried out properly. The house should be +large and architecturally correct, and there should be at least a near +relation of a Fortunatus purse to draw upon. It is one of the +magnificent and dignified periods, and makeshifts and poor copies have a +pitiful appearance and are really time and money wasted. + +Much of the furniture of the Renaissance was architectural in design, +many chests and cupboards and cabinets having the appearance of temple +façades. The carving was in both low and high relief and was extremely +beautiful, but in the later part of the period became too ornate. Walnut +and chestnut were the chief woods used, and there was much inlay of +tortoise shell, ivory, brass, mother-of-pearl, lapis-lazuli, and fine +woods. There was much gilding, and paint was also used, and the metal +mounts were of the finest workmanship. The bronze andirons, knockers, +candlesticks, of this time have never been equalled. There was a strong +feeling of balance in the decorations, and the chief motifs were the +acanthus beautifully carved, conventionalized flowers and fruit, horns +of plenty, swags and wreaths of fruit and flowers, the scroll, dolphin, +human figure, and half figure ending in fanciful designs of foliage. +Beautiful and fascinating arabesques were carved and painted on the +walls and pilasters. The chief pieces of furniture were magnificently +carved chests and coffers which were also sometimes gilded and painted, +oblong tables with elaborately carved supports at each end, usually with +a connecting shelf on which were smaller carved supports. The chairs +were high backed with much carving and gilding, and there were others of +simpler form with leather or tapestry or damask seats and backs. The +Savanarola chair was in the form of a curved X with seat and back of +velvet or leather or sometimes wood on which a cushion was used. Mirror +frames were magnificently carved and gilded and picked out with color. +The rooms were a fitting background for all this splendor, for the +woodwork and walls were paneled and carved and painted, the work often +being done by the greatest painters of the day. + +The French Renaissance followed the general line of the Italian but was +lighter and less architectural in its furniture designs and ornament. +Chairs were slowly becoming more common, and rooms began to be more +livable. + +[Illustration: This Jacobean buffet is finely reproduced with the +exception of the spiral carving of the legs, which is too sharp and +thin, and gives the appearance of inadequate support. The split spindle +ornament was much used on furniture of the period.] + +The English Renaissance was of slow growth and was always marked by a +certain English sturdiness, which is one of the reasons why it is more +easily used in our modern houses. It began in the time of Henry VIII +and lasted through the Tudor and Jacobean periods. + +[Illustration: A style that harmonizes with Chippendale furniture.] + +[Illustration: This style of mirror was popular in the early nineteenth +century.] + +[Illustration: The painted scene is often an important feature.] + +[Illustration: The Empire style has columns at the sides and gilt +ornaments.] + +The best modern copies of Renaissance furniture are not to be found in +every shop and are usually in the special order class. There are some +makers in America, however, who make extraordinarily fine copies, and +there is the supply from Europe of fine copies and "faked" originals--a +guaranteed original is a very rare and expensive thing. + +The period of Louis XIV in France was another "magnificent" period and +should not be used in small or simple houses. Louis XIV furniture was +large and massive, lavish in gilding and carving and ornament, but had +dignity as well as splendor. The Gobelin and Beauvais Tapestry Works +produced their wonderful series of tapestries, and Boulle inlay of brass +and tortoise shell was lavished on furniture, and the ormolu mounts were +beautiful and elaborate. All workmanship was of the highest. During the +early part of the period the legs of chairs and tables were straight and +square in shape, sometimes tapering, and much carved, and had +underframing. Later they were curved and carved, a kind of elaborate +cabriole leg, and had carved underframing. Toward the end of the period +the curved leg and underframing became much simpler, some of the +furniture having no underframing, and slowly the style merged into that +of the Regency and Louis XV. The illustrations for the long chapter on +Louis XIV show some very fine examples of both the grand and simple +form of chair, and also show that comfort was becoming more of a fact. +The materials used for upholstery were brocades of large pattern, +tapestries, and splendid velvets. Tables, chests, armoires, desks, +console tables, mirrors, screens, all were carved or painted or inlaid, +gilded and mounted with wonderful metal mounts. + +There is great danger, in buying furniture for both this period and the +Renaissance, that the reproductions chosen may be too florid, the +gilding too bright, the carving too ornate, with an indescribable +vulgarity of line in place of the beauty of line which the best +originals have. Some of the best makers are, however, making some very +fine reproductions of the simpler forms of this time which are beautiful +to use in houses of fair size and importance. + +If one wishes to use Louis XV furniture it is better to choose the +simpler and more beautiful designs rather than the over-elaborate +rococo. The period was a long one, sixty-nine years, and began with a +reminiscence of the grandeur and dignity of the time of Louis XIV, which +was soon lost in the orgy of curves and excessive ornament of the rococo +portion; and toward the end came the reaction to simpler and finer taste +which reached its perfection in the next reign of Louis XVI. The legs of +the furniture of Louis XV time were curved and carved, light and +slender, and had no underframes or stretchers. The frames which showed +around the upholstery or cane were carved elaborately and later more +simply (see illustration at end of chapter on Louis XV). Walnut, +chestnut, ebony, and some mahogany were used. Some of the furniture was +veneered, and there was a great deal of gilding used and also much +painted furniture. The ormolu mounts were most elaborate, curved and +ornate like the carving, and were used wherever possible. The brocades +used for furniture coverings were lovely in color and design. Garlands, +flowers, lace and ribbon effects, baskets of flowers, shells, curled +endive, feathers, scrolls, all were used, as well as pastoral scenes by +Boucher and Watteau for tapestry and paintings. Comfort had made a long +step forward. + +The period of Louis XVI was much more beautiful in style than the +preceding one, as it was more restrained and exquisite because of the +use of the straight line or a gracious, simple curve. This comparative +simplicity does not come from lack of true feeling for beauty but rather +because of it. The sense of proper proportion was shown in both the +furniture and the room decoration. The backs of chairs and settees were +round or rectangular, and the legs were square, round, or fluted, and +were tapering in all cases. The fluting was sometimes filled with metal +husks at top and bottom, leaving a plain stretch between. Walnut and +mahogany were much used and were beautifully polished, but had no vulgar +and hard varnished glare. There was wonderful inlay and veneer, and much +of the furniture was enamelled in soft colors and picked out with gold +or some harmonizing color. Gilding was also used for the entire frame. +The metal mounts were very fine. Brocades of lovely color and designs of +flowers, bowknots, wreaths, festoons, lace, feathers, etc.; chintz, the +lovely "_toil de Jouy_," which is so well copied nowadays; soft toned +taffeta, Gobelin and Beauvais and Aubusson tapestries, were all used for +hanging and furniture coverings. Cane also became much more popular. +Walls were paneled with moldings, and fluted pilasters divided too large +spaces into good proportions. Tapestry and paintings were paneled on the +walls, and the colors chosen for the backgrounds were light and soft. + +The charm and beauty of this style as well as its dignity make it one +which may be used in almost any modern house, as it ranges from +simplicity to a beautiful restrained elaborateness suitable to the +formal rooms. + +[Illustration: The modern style of mirror is brought into harmony with +the eighteenth century dressing-table by means of carving.] + +[Illustration: This William and Mary settee would be delightful in a +country house. There are chairs to match it.] + +The change from Louis XVI to the Empire was a violent one both +politically and artistically. The influence of the great days of the +Roman empire and the mystery of ancient Egypt stirred Napoleon's +imagination and formed his taste. Empire furniture was solid and heavy, +with little or no carving, and much ornamentation of metal mounts. +Mahogany was chiefly used, and some furniture was gilded or bronzed. +Round columns finished with metal capitals and bases appeared on large +desks and other pieces of furniture. Chairs were solid, many of them +throne-like in design, and many with elaborately carved arms in the +form of swans and sphinxes, and metal ornaments. The simpler form of +chair, which was copied and used extensively in America, as a +dining-chair, often had a curved back and graceful lines. Furniture +coverings were very bright satins and velvets brocaded with the +Emperor's favorite emblems, the bee, torch, wreath, anthemion. It is a +heavy and gaudy style and must be used with great discretion. American +Empire furniture was far simpler and is better suited to many American +homes. In buying it, however, one must be careful to select copies from +the earlier part of the time, for it fast deteriorated into heavy and +vulgar curves. This American Empire furniture is often shown in the +shops under the name of Colonial, which is a misnomer, as we had ceased +to be colonies years before it came into existence. It was used during +the first half of the nineteenth century. + +[Illustration: These chairs are reproductions of designs by the Adam +Brothers. They are of satinwood, covered with damask. This design was +also used by Hepplewhite.] + +[Illustration: The first day beds, or chaise longue, were made during +the Jacobean period. As will be seen, this "stretcher," as they were +also called, has Charles II influence in its carving and Spanish feet.] + +When we come to English furniture, I think we all take heart of grace a +little, for there is something about its sturdiness that seems to appeal +to our American sense of appropriateness. By inheritance we have more of +the English point of view about the standards of life and living and we +seem to settle down with more comfort in a house furnished in any one of +the English periods than we do with any of the other great styles. + +The English Renaissance is often called the age of oak, and all through +the long years of its slow development this oaken bond, so to speak, +gave it a certain unity which makes it possible to use much of the +furniture of its different divisions together. There are many fine +reproductions made of the Tudor and Elizabethan times, but from the +early Stuart days, the time of James I onward, good reproductions become +more plentiful. This does not mean, however, that one is safe in buying +anything called Jacobean or Queen Anne or Georgian. One must still be +careful and go armed with as much knowledge as possible. For instance, +do not buy any Tudor, Elizabethan, Jacobean, or Charles II furniture +made of mahogany or with a high polish. Do not buy any with finicky or +delicate brass handles. This may seem an unnecessary warning, but I have +seen dainty oval Hepplewhite handles used on a heavy Jacobean chest. +This does not happen often, but a word to the wise--. The handles which +were used were some times of iron and sometimes of brass, often with a +little design etched on them, and the drop handles were either oblong or +round rings, or pear- or tear-shaped drops with either a round or oblong +plate. H-hinges of iron were used. Chairs of the time of James I, which +are much like those of Louis XIII in France, were square and strong with +plain or spiral turned legs, and stretchers, and had seats and half +backs covered with needlework, leather, velvet, or damask. They would +make very comfortable dining chairs and would harmonize with sturdy +gate-legged tables, or the long narrow tables which show the influence +of Elizabeth's time in the carved drum or acorn-like bulbs of the legs. +A court-cupboard would make a beautiful sideboard, and one of the long +tables spoken of above would make an appropriate serving-table. Carved +chests, and screens covered with leather or needlework, may be used in +rooms of this kind, and for modern comfort one may add stuffed chairs +and sofas if the proper materials for coverings are chosen. There are +some very fine copies made of old needlework of different kinds and also +of damasks and other stuffs. One must have the right background for all +this, oak paneled walls and tapestry and plain or figured velvet or +damask hangings. There are also some finely designed heavy linens which +are correct to use. + +The furniture of Cromwell's time was much like that of the time of James +I and Charles I, but was simplified wherever possible. There were no +pomps and vanities in those stern days. + +When Charles II came to the throne, there was a reaction against Puritan +gloom which showed in the furniture being of a more elaborate design. +Chair backs were high and narrow with carved and pierced panels of wood, +or carved backs with cane panels, and the carved front rail carried out +the feeling and balanced the carved top rail. The crown and rose and +shell were used, supported by cherubs and opposed S curves. The +illustration opposite page 65 will give a very good idea of the general +style. Upholstery was also used, and day-beds and high-boys made their +appearance. The chests of earlier days became chests of drawers. Rooms +were paneled in oak, and much beautiful tapestry was used. Walnut began +to take the place of oak in the later days of Charles II and those of +James II, and introduced the age of walnut which lasted through the +reigns of William and Mary and Queen Anne. + +The furniture of the early days of William and Mary was much like that +of the time of Charles II. The chair backs remained high and narrow, but +the carving slowly grew simpler and the caning at last went entirely +across the back. Many of the early chairs had three carved splats or +balusters in the back, and a feature which added greatly to comfort was +the slight curve the backs were given instead of the perfectly straight +backs of Jacobean days. Dutch influence at least conquered the old +style, and the more characteristic furniture of William and Mary was +made. A rather elaborate form of the cabriole leg was used, ending in a +species of hoof with a scroll-like stretcher between the front legs and +curved stretchers connecting all four legs. The cabriole leg became +simpler as time passed until in the days of Queen Mary it became the one +we all know so well in the Dutch chairs and the early work of +Chippendale. + +[Illustration: These copies of rare old pieces of furniture are of the +best. The choice of wood, the carving, the inlay, all show the highest +ideals. The Chinese Chippendale table shows the pagoda effect, and the +Hepplewhite desk has the charm of a secret drawer.] + +There was much beautiful marquetry used; in fact it is a marked +characteristic of much of the furniture of William and Mary. After she +died in 1694, the white jasmine flower and green leaves were not used +so much, and the sea-weed pattern and acanthus became more popular. + +[Illustration: An exceptionally fine reproduction of a Sheraton chest of +drawers.] + +[Illustration: The walnut used in this adaptation of the William and +Mary period is very fine. Shaving-glasses were used throughout the +eighteenth century.] + +The cup-and-ball design of turned legs with curved stretchers was used +for chairs, settees, tables, cabinets. China cupboards with their +double-hooded tops and soft colored brocade linings were used to display +the wonderful china collections so much in vogue. There was much +upholstered furniture covered with beautiful petit-point, which is +perfectly reproduced nowadays, but is naturally expensive. Silks, +velvets, and damasks were also used, and Queen Mary had a "beautiful +chintz bed." + +The handles used were of various kinds, the favorite being the drop from +a round or star-shaped boss. The furniture was beautifully polished but +did not have a bright gloss. + +When Anne came to the throne in 1702, the English cabinet maker had +became an expert craftsman, and we have the beginning of the finest +period of English cabinet-making, which later, in the Georgian period, +blossomed into its full glory. The furniture of this time was of walnut. +The chairs had a narrow, fairly high back, with a central splat +spoon-shaped and later fiddle-shaped. The corners of the back were +always rounded. The cabriole legs were often carved with a shell on the +knees, the acanthus being used in the more elaborate pieces of +furniture, and ended chiefly in a club foot. Stretchers became less +common, but if they were used were pushed back and did not form such an +important part of the chair design. Seats were broader at the front +than at the back, and all furniture showed a real desire for comfort and +convenience. Marquetry and lacquer were both in great favor, and there +are wonderful examples of both reproduced, but especially lacquer. +Petit-point, damask, velvet, and chintz were all used for upholstery and +hangings. Chintz was becoming more plentiful, but it was not until the +Georgian period that it reached its perfection. + +The Georgian period covers the work of Chippendale, the Adam Brothers, +Hepplewhite, and Sheraton, who gave to the eighteenth century its +undying decorative fame. + +[Illustration: A glassed-in sun-porch furnished with comfortable wicker +furniture adds much to the joy of life.] + +When Chippendale began his fine work, the Dutch influence of Queen +Anne's reign was still strong, and this shows in his furniture; but his +genius lightened and improved it. The characteristics of his style which +remained fairly stable through his different phases were the use of +mahogany, a certain squareness and solidity of design which has no +appearance of heaviness because of the fine proportions, chair backs +with a center splat reaching to the seat. The curving top rail always +had curving up corners (see drawings page 84). The center splat was +solid at first, but soon was pierced and carved, and went through the +many developments of his style such as ribbon-back, Chinese, and Gothic. +In some chairs he also used horizontal rails, and what are called +"all-over backs." The legs of his earlier furniture were cabriole, and +later they were straight. He used much and beautiful carving, gave +great attention to the beauty of the wood and the perfection of +workmanship and finish. Chippendale's settees were at first designed +like two chair backs side by side, and if a larger settee was made +either a third chair back of the same design or a different but +harmonizing one was used. His dining-tables were made up of two center +pieces with wide flaps on each side, and two semicircular tables, and +all four pieces could be fastened together into one long table by brass +fasteners. The end pieces were used as side tables or sideboards, for +the sideboard as we know it did not come until later. He also made +oblong sidetables, some with marble tops, which were used as sideboards +with wine-coolers placed underneath, and usually a large tea-caddy or +tea box on top. The beds which Chippendale made were large and elaborate +four-posters, with beautiful carved cornices and posts. The curtains +hung from the inside of the cornice, and silks or chintz were used for +the curtains. His mirror frames were very elaborately carved, and in his +rococo period were fairly fantastic with dripping water, Chinese +pagodas, rocks, birds with long beaks, and figures. They were gilded, +and some were left in the natural mahogany. He made folding card-tables +with saucer-like places at the corners for candles, and later when the +candle-stand came into fashion, the tables were made without them. + + +[Illustration: An admirable example of the Sheraton style mahogany +settee with original silk covering.] + +[Illustration: While this nest of mahogany tables is attractive in the +room its appearance in the picture is of an inappropriate and heavy +mission table.] + +[Illustration: A lamp would be an addition to this corner. The footstool +is Victorian and a bit clumsy.] + +There are many fine reproductions of Chippendale's furniture made which +carry out the spirit of his work. In the medium and inexpensive grades, +however, there is danger of bad carving, a clumsy thickening of +proportions, a jumble of his different periods, and too red a stain and +too high a varnish glitter. Good examples can be found in these grades, +but one must spend time looking for them, and perhaps it may be +necessary to have them rubbed down with powdered pumice and linseed oil. +If one uses Chippendale furniture, or that of any of the other Georgian +makers, the walls should not be covered with a modern design of wall +paper. Plain walls or molding may be used, or one of the fine old +designs of figured paper, and this must be used with great discretion +and is better if there is a wainscot. Chippendale was very fond of using +morocco, but damask and velvet and chintz may also be used. The chintzes +were charming in design, and many good copies are made. + +[Illustration: This is in reality a moderate-sized room, yet the open +arrangement and the clear center give the impression of great space. The +curve of the fireplace and the oak panelling are simple Tudor. The +furniture is a mixture of many kinds.] + +[Illustration: The wallpaper border, the bedspread, the table cover, and +the curtains are all wrong in this room. The Empire bed is good but +should not have castors.] + +The Adam Brothers, of whom Robert was the more important, showed strong +classical influence in their work, and much of it resembles that of +Louis XVI, which was influenced from the same source. Chairs had square +or round or oval backs, and they also used a lyre-shaped splat which was +copied later by Sheraton. Often the top rail was decorated by small and +charming painted panels. These little panels were also used in the +center of cobweb caning in chair backs and settees. Legs of chairs and +tables were tapering and round or square and often reeded or fluted. +Adam used much mahogany and kept its beautiful golden brown tone (not +the dead brown called "Adam" too often in the shops), and also +satin-wood and painted wood. The best artists of the day did the +painting. Wedgwood medallions were introduced into the more important +pieces of furniture. Painted placques, lovely festoons, and charming +groups of figures, vases of flowers, and Wedgwood designs, and designs +radiating from a center, as on semicircular console table tops, are all +characteristic of his work. He also used much inlay. As Adam usually +planned all the furniture and the interior of the house, even to the +door-knobs, he kept the feeling of unity in both background and +furnishings. + +[Illustration: The Hancock desk was a design greatly favored in America +in the eighteenth century. This fine example dates from about 1750.] + +[Illustration: The general proportions, the broken pediment and torch or +flame ornaments and drops, large brasses, and cabriole legs all show +that this splendid example of a highboy belongs to the same time as the +desk, about 1750.] + +Hepplewhite's furniture has much of the delicacy of Adam's work, by +whom, without doubt, he was influenced, as he was also by the French +styles of the time. Luckily his own personality and sense of beauty and +ingenuity were strong enough to develop a marked and beautiful style of +his own. His favorite chair back was shield-shaped (see page 83), and he +also used heart-shaped and wheel backs, either round or oval, and +charmingly painted little panels. The three feathers of the Prince of +Wales was a favorite design. He also made ladder-back chairs, usually +with four rails. On much of his furniture the legs tapered on the inside +edge only and were put in at a slight angle which gave security both in +fact and appearance. He also used reeded legs. His console and other +tables are beautiful in design and workmanship, being painted usually in +different forms of the radiating fan design, or inlaid with beautiful +colored woods. The inlay used was often oval in shape, sometimes only a +line and sometimes panels of different woods or matched veneer. The +handles used were round or oval. He made sofas and settees with either +chair-back backs or all upholstered with the frame showing and the +covering tacked on with brass tacks close together. His cabinets are +fascinating, with their beautiful inlay and delicate strap work over the +glass. He made four-post beds with fluted posts, and chests of drawers +and little work tables and candle-stands and screens; and one thing we +must be deeply grateful to him for is that he developed the sideboard +into a really useful and beautiful piece of furniture. He made nearly +everything in the way of necessities, and all show the marks of his +taste. His dining-tables were on the plan of those of Chippendale but +lighter in effect with tapering legs instead of the long cabriole leg +ending in claw feet. His mirrors were usually oval with charming +festoons. His favorite woods were mahogany and satin-wood, and he used +many fine woods for inlay. Chintz and taffeta and fine velvet are all +appropriate to use. + +In his best designs Sheraton was much influenced by Adam and Hepplewhite +and the style of Louis XVI, but like them he also developed his own +special and beautiful style. He used mahogany and a great deal of +satin-wood of beautiful grain and of a delightful straw color, which was +often veneered on oak frames. He was exceedingly fond of inlay, and his +designs called for inlaid panels, borders, and festoons. He used the +shell, bell-flower, fan, etc., all carried out in fine colored woods. He +also used much painted furniture, and often designed white and gold +furniture for drawing-rooms. His characteristic chair back was +rectangular in shape with a central splat resting on a rail a few inches +above the seat (see page 83). This splat was in many different forms, +both inlaid and painted. The legs of his furniture were tapering and +either square or reeded, the square usually being inlaid. He made +beautiful sideboards which were inlaid and finished with a brass rail +around the sides and back of the top, and round or oval or lion's-head +handles with rings. He also designed most graceful inlaid knife boxes. +Like Hepplewhite, he designed all kinds of furniture both large and +small, and, until his deterioration came when he designed his +astonishing Empire furniture, his style is full of beauty and charm and +delicacy, and is copied very successfully by our modern makers. + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Furnishing the Home of Good Taste +by Lucy Abbot Throop + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 14824 *** |