Page:An Encyclopædia of Cottage, Farm, and Villa Architecture and Furniture.djvu/302

 278 COTTAGE, FARM, AND VILLA AUCIilTECTURE. of stained ceiling, is of two kinds. The first, most ancient, and most universal mode, which is still generally practised in Italy, both on the outsides and insidcs of buildings, is that of pricking through, with a large-sized needle, the exact outline of a figure, previously drawn on paper or oilcloth ; and then placing it against the wall, and striking the surface with a small gauze bag containing red or white chalk in powder, or powdered charcoal. The powder goes through the holes in the paper, and, lodging in the plaster, forms an outline, which is afterwards filled up by the painter. Sometimes, instead of pricking through the drawing, it is placed against the plaster before the latter has dried, and the outline is impressed on it by passing a blunt point over the outlines on the paper. This is generally done in the Italian practice of a/yv-esco, a term appliedin that country to the process of painting in water-colours on plaster, when newly laid on, and before it has set. The second mode of stencilling is the most common in Britain ; by it, the patterns are all cut out in pasteboard or oilcloth, and as many pieces of board or cloth are employed for each figure, or compartment, as there are colours or shades to be laid on. This mode of ornamenting the walls of rooms is not unsuitable for cottages of the humblest description, on account of its cheapness ; and because, in remote places, or in new countries, it might be done by the cottager himself, or by the local plasterer or house-painter. The beauty of the eflfect produced will depend on the suitableness of the forms and colours of the figures to the style of the Architecture of the cottage ; and on their disposition on the walls. Where the cottage dis])lays externally any kind of architectural style, it is reasonable to conclude that some of the same style should prevail in the ornaments within, as well as in the furniture. A Gothic cottage should display lines, forms, and ornaments belonging to that style of Architecture, in all its interior, as well as exterior detail ; and the same of other styles, or sub-styles. More judgment is required in the disposition than in the choice of ornament. There ought always to be an obvious reason why an ornament is placed in one position rather than in another ; and wherever there is ornament or enrichment, there must be plain or flat surfaces to con- trast with it. The side-walls of a room equally ornamented in every part by elaborate stenciling, or by a rich paper, would be intolerable, were it not for the contrast produced by the plain ceiling, and by the border with which the paper, or stenciling is finished under the cornice at top, and above the base or surbase below. If the same border, however, were carried across the middle of the paper, it would be as intolerable as the paper without a border, because the spectator would see no sufficient reason for its being placed there. In stenciling, and in every other mode of putting ornaments on walls, no figure, however appropriate and beautiful in itself, should be put down at i-andom ; nor should any wall be covered with figures for the sake of their individual beauty, but because they cooperate in forming a whole, or a particular object. That object may be the enrichment of the entire surface of the wall, by covering it, as it were, with a rich cloth or printed paper ; or, instead of a cloth, by covering it, with a picture in perspective. The cloth, as a production of the loom, and the paper, as produced by printing, ought to exhibit a succession of the same figures at regular distances, and to be accompanied by all that uniformity and regularity which is characteristic of works effected by machinery. The perspective view, on the other hand, as an imitation of something existing, or sup- posed to exist, in nature, forms a whole uitli reference to itself, and not to the art by which it is produced, and consequently admits of almost endless variety. 579. In the choice of palterns for stencillitg, not only the architectural style of the cottage, but its situation, whether in a town, the country, or in a village; and the occupation, native country, and taste or wishes, of the occupant, will naturally influence the artist. As contrast is one great source of beauty, both, as respects objects when placed so as to be seen together, and when placed so as to create allusion to other objects of the same order, but of a different class ; so figures of flowers and plants in gay colours are more suitable for the town than the country, and figures of human beings, buildings, and streets, are more suitable for the country than for the town. The taste of a cottager living in a country far distant from that in which he was born may lead him to wish to create allusions to that country, by depicting some of its scenery ; and, in like manner, another may desire to create allusions to scenery which he has heard of, but never seen. We state these things chiefly to show that, even in ornamenting walls, there should be a reason for every thing, and that this reason is, in every case, nothing more than a refinement on, or a correction, by a recurrence to original principles, of, the common practice of mankind. (See Whiltoclc's Decoralioe Pauiter's Guide.) 580. Jl simple and elegant mode of stenciling the walls of plain cottages consists in throwing them into panels, with lines of dark brown or grey ; the general colour of the wall being white, a pale yellow, or fawn colour ; and in forming ornaments at the angles. These panels should be coloured of a shade darker than the spaces between them, wliieh are left in imitation of styles, muntins, and cross rails; for there can be no doubt tliai all paneling lias had its origin in wainscoting. The panel may be ornamented,