Page:An Encyclopædia of Cottage, Farm, and Villa Architecture and Furniture.djvu/1039

 INTERIOR FINISHING OF VILLAS. J 015 i-eg-'--'<- colouring, what a child produces with its first box of paints, to the work of a greti A second and more common fault is, the predominance of some briglit and i" ur, either upon the walls or floor. It is evident that the predominance of a brij^ overpowering colour upon so large a space as the floor or wall of a room must injure the effect of the finest furniture. This great eri'or often arises from the difficulty of choosing a paper hanging or carpet, and our liability to be bewildered amongst the multitude of patterns which are produced ; the most attractive of which, on a small scale, are often, from this very circumstance, the more objectionable in regard to their forming a large mass in an apartment ; particularly as the artists who design them seem to be regulated by no fixed principles ; but, from their repeated deviations from the established rules of harmony, appear to give themselves up to the vague pursuit of novelty alone. A third error is, introducing deep and pale colours, which may have been well enough chosen in regard to their tints, but whose particular degrees of strength have not been attended to. Thus, the intensity of one or more, may so affect those whicl they were intended to balance and relieve, as to give them a faded and imfinished ap- pearance. This may proceed from applying the fundamental laws without any regard to the minutije ; for although it is always necessary to subdue and neutralise such colours as are introduced in large quantities, yet, when they are reduced by dilution alone, the effect is very different. There is a fourth defect, and rather a conmion one, and that is, a want of the media which unite and harmonise an assemblage of briglit colours which may, in other respects, be perfectly well arranged ; for it is a rule in the higher branches of the art, that confusion of parts of equal strength should always be avoided. A room of this description resembles a Chinese landscape, where foreground and distance are jumbled together. An opposite effect to this is monotony, or a total want of variety ; for some are so afi-aid of committing errors in point of harmony, that neutral tints alone are introduced, and sometimes one tmt of this kind alone prevails. Variety is a quality found to exist in the most trifling as well as in the grandest combinations of Nature's colouring; and it is, as already observed, in vmiting and making an arrangement of various colours, harmonious and agreeable to the eye, that the skill of the house-painter chiefly consists. It is this which produces what is termed repose in a picture, a quality equally desirable in the colouring of an apartment." 2015. Requisites for good Colouring. " All colours brought together, to form an agreeable whole, should be considered not only in regard to tint, but tone, depth, quan- tity, and situation. The tone is the first point to be fixed, and its degree of warmth or coldness will be regulated by the use, situation, and light of the apartment. The next point is the style of colouring, whether gaj^ sombre, or otherwise. Unison, or a proper combination of parts, is the next consideration." 2016. The Tone of Colouring " is generally fixed by the choice of the furniture ; for as the furniture of a room may be considered, in regard to colouring, in the same light as the principal figures in a picture, the general tone must depend upon the colours ot which it is composed : for instance, if the prevailing colour of the furniture be blue, grey, cool green, or lilac, the general tone must be cool ; but if, on the other hand, it is red, orange, brown, yellow, or a warm tint of green or purple, the tone must be warm. But, as hinted before, there can be no pleasing combination of colours without variety ; this, by judicious management, may be given without in the least interfering with the tone, for it is merely the general colour of the furniture which ought to fix the tone, and there may be the most decided contrasts in its parts, which, by the introduction of proper tints upon the other parts of the room, can be reconciled and united. Apartments lighted from the south and west, particularly in a summer residence, should be of a cool tone ; but the apartments of a town house ought all to approach towards a warm tone; as also should be such apartments as are lighted from the north and east of a country residence. When the tone of an apartment is therefore fixed by the choice of the furniture, it is the business of the house-painter to introduce such tints from the ceiling, walls, &c., as v/ill unite the whole in perfect harmony ; and this, it may be observed, is a difficult task. The colours of the furniture may be arranged by a general knowledge of the laws of liarmor.y ; but the painter's part can only be done by the closest attention to all the minutiEB of the art." 2017. The Style of Colouring " is the next point to be fixed, and will depend entirely on the use of the apartment. In a drawingroom, vivacity, gaiety, light, and cheerfulness should characterise the colouring. Tliis is produced by the introduction of light shades of brilliant colours, with a considerable degree of contrast, gilding, &c. ; but the brightest colours and strongest contrasts should be upon the furniture, the effect of which will derive additional value and brillifincy from the walls being kept in due subjection, although, to a certain extent, they also should partake of the general lightness." 2018. TTie characteristic Colouring of a Dining-room " should be warm, rich, and substantial ; and, where contrasts are introduced, they should not be vivid. This