The Jarves Textile CollectionSource: The Art Amateur, Vol. 16, No. 6 (May, 1887), pp. 136-137Published by:Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/25628567 .

Accessed: 20/05/2014 11:06

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range ofcontent in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new formsof scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 193.104.110.124 on Tue, 20 May 2014 11:06:29 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

045

(A

TALKS WITH DECORA TORS.

III.-MRS. WHEELER ON FITTING UP A SEASIDE

COTTAGE.

EASIDE cottages have inevit

ably a cold aspect. Without

is the wide expanse of blue and white. If the cottage overlooks a' strip of beach, even in the sunshine it may

be bright and dazzling, but never warm -in color. For this reason," said Mrs. T.

W. Wheeler, to a writer' of The Art Amateur, "in fitting.

up a home by the sea we must keep the color genial and warm within to give a sense of comfort-that feeling of litableness which we all, feel the need of in a home. Al nmpst . all houses are. now finished in. natural woods. California red-wood is a pleasant aind cheaper substitute for mahogany, and gives at once that warmth'i of tint of w.hich we were speaking. Whenintrodugced in wainscot

in'g`and ceiling-and almost all country:houses are now ceiled with wood-we have a, bQdy of tint whichX -onlyl needs diversifying. -At least-I. woui-dsugge*st that: the hall-and the hall now, even- in the m'ost tunpretenhous aAd casual houses, is som.et'hihg moreta4a passage, way-that the h'l1 be wainscoted- -and ceiled with wood.

" But suppose that even re-dwood"cost& inCI for one-of the miultitude who want a h e6 a.tew inonthfh' at the ieasIde?" '

p- Then use -c-heaper woods and the creosote stains.

T!xere is scarcely any- tint th,at cannot be -prodpced with

theffi :Th-ey can be made to imitate not only- the tints of all iotods,fbut 'bf wood after it has . been- beautified by t;fmiie.-such as those charmning silvery grays seen on old, unpainted houses, ahd the.mossy-stained greeus that

delight the eye.7"' ; : ~" Then we will ch ooe 'a red-tinted wood acquired in

ont way or another for the hall?" " For the walls of the hall I 'prefer 'paint, and' suggest

either yellow or copper tints.- This allows for.,the wid est range, from cream in the one, to deep Indian red in the otherl.' At once- you feel 'an agreeable sensation i qcominar from the-.dazzling -glare without to the warm,

..Ad'uedtitii.within> t is this keynote;tb our impres

.IAot, by -virtiue df its position, the haill must i'tve, that - itts decoration; a matter of consideration."

its lighj4g- isto be considered ?' 24ikht-tere are ro Windows there will, 'atleasit, be vesti*

bide ligIits; or" a dobrWiay frmed in glass. Here may b' stained. glass or-silk curtain of .lively tint. I prefer c6rtains', WecA6use at the seaside the view, whih is always;

Ptecious, nlust be comlsidered;pand, while: curtains at once

gve shade and, 'color they do not.'shut'- away the view. The draWing-roo-m should-be ga.y and blythe, and is thus -necessarily kept .light in color. This is th'e only room; I would paper; and here use ingrain papers, for ro't only 'do they come in suitible rose, light blue, and pale green' !irrtKbut their texture conveys the -sense of a

stuff. The" vlueof a stuff is that it combats the idea of.

dftiiness left br'-Ihe'sea breezes and-th6e treeping fogs, a datfass Whicdhis) i.n' fact something 'more than an

idea. For 't;his same? reason axooid -silk and wool uphol stery, -wh:ich is apt to get stuffy.

. C' over, then,-tihe wall spaces. with ingrain. paper, arid above this' thereinighit be, to: give a tguqhl of elegance, a'. silk frieze. ';A very pretty scheme is tohlang at .the win dows silk curtains stamped with some design. Repeat the d?pjgn on the frieze, and upholster the furniture in cottonwganvas which is stamped with the same design."

" Will not the sea air make silks crinkle ?" "4Not the washing materials made from the India

vegetable silk.. These will wash like chintz, and can consequently be made to look fresh with the return of each sumamer. But silk is only a suggestion. Friezes are painted on linen, and the scheme can be carried out in the same way with linen. I mention this repetition of

dlesign, for it gives a pleasing sense of intention without being too insistent.

"The dining-room I would wainscot four feet with cotton canvas, which comes in solid colors-deep reds and blues-of agreeable tint. The walH above paint in a lighter tint of the same color-we will say red. Next bring the wood in tone with the creosote tints of which we have spoken. Hang cotton-canvas curtains of the same tint at the window, and drape them back, and do the same with the other curtains, or they will wave like

"banners in the breeze. Upholster the. furniture in the same material, or, for a change, in corduroy, which is now used to advantage."

"Do you prefer upholstered furniture for the seaside ?" " was about to qualify what I said. In ev&y. way'

practicable a country house should differ from a town house. This is one reason why rattan.furniture is to be' preferred, 'since it can be stained to reach any tint de-i sired. But there aret always a few pieces of upholstered furniture desired for more luxurious moments, and let these be treated in the way I have suggested.

. "Now, irn the dining-room vwe have spoken of, red has been the only color mentioned; It is a possible thing to get the cotton canvas woven in two tihs, say red ant. oelt4; a?rwl these 'might be used in draperies, particuil'arly as 'they aVr..so. simply made, ttheir decoration; consisting only;

heedges raveled da knotted into, f,n. nge, Raw, silk

ANCIENT MORESQUE CARVED. PANEL.- .

woven in stripes, as is' dorie1n the East, can also accom pany the cotton ranvases '&henpreservihg the -harmony of tint, and the stripes'n1make: an ag`reeable diversion,."

- "We have said nothing about the..flobrs?" ' Of course these in the beginning shoubjbe good, equal

.to anything, self-sufficient floors. Generally they are. In that case nothing can compare-with-rugs, or carpets made into rugs. Another advantage,,which the economical housewife zwill appreciate, is that rugs can easi:ly be trans-: ported from towvn to counltry, and-in this way do duty for the-year. - But matting..cannot beX ignored, it is sq clean .and freshi-lookinrg, so cool to thie feet."

"And cornes in sulch a variety of 'tints ?" - "'Yes, in these days of artistic house-furnishing that is- a

great advrantage. There is no-color schemc'in which matting cannot be properly introduced.

" Chintzes, you see, I have resenrved for the bedrooms. Chintz is a wide term. A new variety is simply the fin est American cotton stamped with some design. -This makes an inexpensive wall-covering and can be simply pasted on the walls like paper. In the bedrooms it is pleasant to carry out so)me simple plan as was dlone in the drawing-room. For example, the walls are covered with one of these American chintzes, the design in blue stamped on an &rul ground, the tint, that known as yel

low cotton. Then let the draperies be blue on blue re peating the design, and the furniture covered with mixed blue. Here we have a pleasant little scheme which is no more difficuilt to carry out than to select different-papers, curtains, and upholstery. I have spoken of :chintzes. -

Instead there are ingrains of cotton, a sort of Chamb&y.. goods, which can.be used the same way; less heavy and more amenable to drapings thaA the heivy cretonnes and chintzes."

"We have said nothing about adornments outside of mere furnishing-the background, as it. were.

It is hard to speak' of that; because it is so much a matter of individual taste. It is also hard to be sugges tive, because suggestions. depend so much on the person carrying therm out; and are apit, in consequence, to defeat their owii end. But it is also wonder-ful what the indi vidual can sometimes effect.' I' had a friend who, spend ing the, winter in the South ,bropght hpme-a quantity of palmetto- leaves She arrange&dih.em i a -stiff, conven tional frieze, to which the,-;spikY leaves lend themselves admir4bAy and it; gae an:air qf originqityan-d disitiati6n h : to thie--room --ii- her -o.untry house whe4t- she[.placed the-m

.Oil-pictures are simply 'impo]sibl& in a seaside cot - tage owing- to the bother of transportati'on. Moreover they- do not seem 'ohave fitness there-oil and water you knqw!--added Mrs Wheeler itha merry twinkle..

Thatl pl wt water rolors ?'' . No and water colon mzy' very happilyihave;,a pla 'ce.,

on the- as wel a ngs andt engravingi, i - Ju4t u Z prints of all kind arccd4tnd'wbat we Wint. is -lrep&': colorI -buld- sug bits&of drapery p ' broideryr A p.inoAback .for 4a.n upright pJianQ44 town, may-rnak&a wall panel in the counitry, frshtijigs can be easily crred from place to pJlac, ', 7

" lt-he-inost valuable sugges havto" offere,, the use of the cheap'glazed pieces of po oatd;, o ' be sd.re but in glowingtilt5 oj red yellow, biesrdd. -v -greens. Thinzk wht a- Spot of color is a..yellows jar I~f&reS;.l .with nasturtiums, as rose pink jar`croWded' with -pink ? p6eonies, a tall whitel neked se supporting. a- as o

maiden s-blush roses.: f There seems to be 'no' in^ hirttothe

adornment of rooms thtqSife accomp d this way wthlowers, foliagepIntsandpotter" ':^-: '

"But supdose tie deco9to i to intvou6epale-. - pinl flower s intoa:d.e4 p jarQ?t&Q tone?.

"Tbhe geater .pr6babijty O .iV&yvil 9elloy t - flo wers iA? :bRIe saeiicl hes edrosesiprfj :

{gt-isthe`;go,nmtp"n, nta, p cofthaors tha & Wtut6e - C*er. But Wetftuist t4ke.- t risk i 'be m tba;-.al'coblt-seisannc be,cultivated .bd atio4 -

in-:.this soii?f decorationti : ' ;; " *~~ s . . .r.; /O --;, lM

T 7X? t RVES: -TTEX TILE COLLECTION. '

COLLECTORS 4-6 not .oftef.have a%chance to. buy, in NeW York, examples 44 the textil6eart w^ork of .te thir -teenth to the eighteenth 'century. 'A'cordingly it would seem that very.'few of -th'osein'terested mrissed:the oppor

tunity affbrded by the sale of the:Jarves jpollection, which - took place.Marcih 16th afd: xth,. at brtgies's Gallery.

Very good prices-were, in gen era-, obtained. This--was do'doubt due, in part, to the exhibition.-of the collection, fdr some.. two or three years' past, -at the Metropolitani

Museum, which gave'everybody abundant time tojudge of its tnerits; partly, also, to"the fact that simiar opeci: mens havie become, in the last few years, mu ch m6re. difA ficult to obtain? in Europe. As their value to designers and manufacturers is incontestible, it is a pity that the collection was not bought for the Museum, as it might have been at a low figure when first brought here. As it is, the public is much indebted to Mrs. Hewitt, who secured one hundred annd thirty of the most interesting specimens for the Cooper Institute. Another large lot was bought, it is said, for presentation to,another public institution by some one whose name could not be ob tained. This purchase included specimens of Sicilian Arab stuff, worked in gold and silk; breast pieces or "pettitini " of Venetian ladies' dresses of the fifteenth.

This content downloaded from 193.104.110.124 on Tue, 20 May 2014 11:06:29 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

THE ART AMATEUR. '37 and sixteenth centLuries, in brocade, embroidered in silks and gol; Lombard raised velvet of the sixteenth cenitury; Venetian brocade in silver, gold, and salmon color; net-work in gold wire; coat and waistcoat embroideries of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and several examples of figure subjects (the Madonna, the Annunciation, the Madonna and Saints), woven in damask of several colors, some with gold. The

FlorenCe, A.D. I400; Genoese polychromatic raised velvets; linen embroideries and early Arab designs for towel borclers. Mrs. Hewitt also bought several fine chasubles and other church vestments, whicli are likewise to go to the Cooper Institute. A chasuble of crimson velvet, wit- scrolls of oak leaves and acorns in blue and white satin applied, from the palace of the Duke of Urbino, brought $245. One

OLD FIREPLACE IN THE SALLE DES GARDES, AT THE CHATEAU DE FLExURIGJNY

Cooper Institute will obtain Venetian brocarles, damasks, and gold and silver tissues of the fifteenth century; a rare Sicilian green damask with bird pattern, of the fourteenth; Florentine raised velvet on gold ground, of the fifteenth; an Arab stuff in brown and black, of the thirteenth, from Lucca; embroideries of cherubs in crimson and gold, of the jfteenth, from Sienna; red and wvhite diaper in silk and linen, from

in blue satin, brocaded with foliage, landscapes, houses and ships, Venetian, seven teenth-century work, brought $135. Separate small pieces of embroideries, silks, velvets, many imperfect, brought from $6 to $40 each. A Venetian rose point slhawl, i i ft. long by 4 ft. deep, sixteenth-century wvork, wvent for $iooo. Other snmall pieces of laces, mostly of the last three centuries, averaged about $5.

This content downloaded from 193.104.110.124 on Tue, 20 May 2014 11:06:29 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions