Page:An Encyclopædia of Cottage, Farm, and Villa Architecture and Furniture.djvu/1041

 INTERIOR FINISHING OF VILLAS. 1017 able ; at least in as far as regards those smaller details which alone are susceptible of being introduced in our confined spaces. Real Egyptian monuments, built of the hardest materials, cut out in the most prodigious blocks ; even where they please not the eye, tlirough the elegance of their shapes, still amaze the intellect, through the immensity of their size, and the indestructibility of their nature. Modern imitations of those won- ders of antiquity, composed of lath and plaster, of calico, and of paper, offer no one attribute of solidity or grandeur to compensate for their want of elegance and grace, and can only excite ridicule and contempt." 2025. Gilding, as forming a part of decoration, is a subject on which there is some diversity of opinion. All, however, are agreed, that its effect in interior finishing is rich and magnificent beyond that of any other material. The richness seems to arise, in a great measure, from the actual value of the gold, or the associations of value con- nected with it ; because, in Architecture, as in all other arts, where two objects are equally beautiful in regard to forms and lines, that will be most esteemed of which the material is of the greatest intrinsic value. The magnificence appears to result from the brilliancy of the colouring. Merely as a colour, therefore, gilding appears desirable where the furniture of a room consists of rich-coloured woods. Where there are a number of difterent-coloured marbles, and white cornices, with crimson or orange curtains, gilding is a great addition. " Gilding, or a small portion of bright yellow," that excellent prac- tical artist Hay observes, " will be foimd to heighten the effect of a room, wherever scarlet is the prevailing colour." (p. 53.) Hence we find that artists generally prefer a crimson or scarlet ground for the wall on which their gilt-framed pictures are hung. 2026. Plating or Silvering may sometimes be used in decorating rooms ; but the prac- tice is by no means general. A correspondent informs us that a gentleman residing in the neighbourhood of Edinburgh made the experiment on an extensive scale, at con- siderable expense. He furnished a drawingroom with pale green, as the jH-evailing tii:t, the hangings and furniture were silk damask, and the walls were covered with plain flock paper. The mouldings and picture- frames were silvered, and likewise the door handles, and some other matters. The effect was not satisfactory to most observers, who said that the room had a raw look by daylight ; and that, by artificial light, the picture- frames, &e., appeared as though they were formed of tin or pewter, not well scoured. 2027. As an Example of the Finishing of a Room in a new style, we shall quote, from a letter of Mr. Robison, an account of his own drawingroom, " I have lately ven- tured to try an experiment in the finishing of my principal drawingroom, and I send you the particulars, because they coincide in a curious manner with much of what your correspondent Selim recommends, in his description of the interior of Beau Ideal Villa. In the first place, there are only three colours throughout the whole; viz., white (or rather new-milk colour), pure crimson, and green. The ceiling, cornices, v/oodwork, and canopies of the window hangings are white, enriched with gilding ; the hangings (silk damask), the ground of the walls, and that of the carpet, crimson ; and the pattern on the carpet a sort of tracery of creeping plants in shades of green. The chimney- piece is of white marble, reaching nearly to the ceiling, with a panel, equal in width to the opening of the chimney, filled with mirror, as in fig. 1817. The walls are 13 feet 3 inches high, antl are painted in imitation 1817 of morocco leather, enriched with roses in gilding, shaded by hand ; the whole var- ^' nished with copal. The woodwork (there I is no dado or surbase) is flat white, with the convex mouldings gilded (in oil gold, and varnished). The painter's work was done by a most ingenious artist here, a Mr. 1). R. Hay, who has written a very instructive work (before quoted) on the laws of harmo- nious colouring as applicable to house work. The imitation of morocco has been most successful ; so much so as to deceive a book- binder, who enquired where such enormous skins were to be obtained. The window hangings are of the simplest form ; mere large curtains, without draperies or fringes. They hang in vertical lines, and catch no dust. They run on gilt wooden poles, 5 inches in diameter, a in fig. 1818, having two slips of brass beading (such as is used by coachmakers) laid along the top, so that the curtain rings, b, run on the poles without injuring the gilding ; the curtains are hooked on at c, in the usual manner. This arrangement is better than having brass poles, and makes little noise. In the inside of the canopy or cornice (from which the large pole advances far enough to allow room 6 u