Page:An Encyclopædia of Cottage, Farm, and Villa Architecture and Furniture.djvu/322

 298 COTTAGE, FARM, AND VILLA ARCHITECTURE. dresser, in which is seen the middle drawer, ni, with its lift-out tray, n, and the space below, for knives and forks not in use, o. This dresser being intended to have the plates leaning forward, as in fig 557, sections of the plate rail for that purpose are seen nt p. 616. Dressers iti the Gothic Style- Fig. 563, p. 296, to a scale of three eighths of an inch to a foot, is considered in the Gothic style, from the character of its mouldings at q q, and of the upper part of its supporting columns, r r. It has an open potboard and two large drawers over it. The plates, &c., are intended to lean forward, as shown in this figure, and also in the section, fig. 564. Fig. 565 is a dresser more decidedly in the Gothic style, as is obvious from its openings with pointed-arched tops in the ends which support the shelves, and from its pointed-topped panels in the two cupboard doors. There are three shallow drawers under the board or table, two shelves in the middle, and a lock-up cupboard on each side. The plates are intended to lean back, as shown in the section, fig. 566. 617. Fixed Corner Cupboards. Where the dresser is without cupboards, as in figs. 557 and 563, a corner cupboard becomes requisite for cups and saucers, glasses, the tea- caddy, liquors in daily use, &c. ; and these cupboards are cheapest when put up as fix- tures ; because the shelves, instead of being fitted into wooden sides or linings, are then let into the plaster, or fixed on slips nailed to the wall. In small rooms these cupboards are very convenient, as they occupy very little space, and, for a moderate sum, supply a handsome article of furniture. 618. Fixed Corner Cupboards in the Grecian Style. Fig. 567, p. 299, to a scale of three eighths of an inch to a foot, is the external view of a corner cupboard in a plain Grecian style. The side styles are finished with pilasters, and there is a handsome cornice at top. There are an upper cupboard with two glazed sashes, and a lower one with two paneled doors. Fig. 568 represents another cupboard, in the Grecian style, with the doors open to show the interior, and standing on turned legs, to give it the character of a portable piece of furniture. The shelves, which are supposed to be of deal, are let into the plaster ; and the whole, outside and inside, including the plaster between the shelves, is painted of a wainscot colour. Fig. 569 is a Grecian corner cupboard in a inore elevated style of design ; the panels below and the round heads of the sashes give it an elegant and rather uncommon air. 619. Fixed Corner Cupboards in the Gothic Style. Fig. 570 is an open corner cup- board without doors. The shelves are nailed to slips of wood ; and these, with the wall between them, should be painted of the same colour as the side styles or pilasters, and the whole will look well, if grained to imitate wainscot. Fig. 571, p. 300, shows a plain Design, with glazed doors above, and paneled doors below. Fig. 572 is a Design somewhat more elaborate ; the pilasters having sunk panels ; and the sash-heads and cornice having more work in them. The expense of fixed corner cupboards of the kind here shown, with glazed doors above and paneled doors below, varies from £2 to £5. The cost will be con.siderably diminished by having the upper doors in single wooden panels, instead of being glazed. Sect. IV. Designs and Directionsfor Cottage Furniture and Furnishing. fiSO. The Furniture and Furnishing of Cottages have been hitherto neglected in every country where the comfort of the cottager has depended on those above him, and this never can be fully remedied till the inmate of the cottage is sufficiently enlightened to be able to take care of himself. We have shown, in our Chapter on Model Cottages, p. 8, that all that is essential, in point of the general arrangement of a house, may be obtained in a cot- tage with mud walls, as well as in a palace built of marble ; and we intend now to point out in what manner all that is comfortable, convenient, agreeable, and much of even what is elegant, in modern furniture and furnishing, may be formed of the indigenous woods and other common articles of every country, as well as of the most beautiful exotic timbers, and other costly materials obtained from abroad. If it should be asked, whether we ex- pect that such Designs as those which follow can be executed or procured by the cottagers of this country, we answer that we trust they soon will be ; and we believe that the first step towards this desirable end is, to teach them what to wish for. As the spread of knowledge becomes general, it will be accompanied by the spread of taste ; and correct habits of thinking will go hand in hand with comfortable dwellings, and convenient, neat, and elegant forms of furniture. An approximation to equalisation in knowledge will lead to an approximation in every thing else ; for knowledge is power, and the first use which every man makes of it is, to endeavour to better his own condition. Our grand object, therefore, in this as in every other department of our work, is, to cooperate with the causes at present in operation for bettering the condition, and elevating the character, of the great mass of society in all countries. Though most of the Designs submitted are of a superior description to what are common in cottages, they are not on that account more expensive than various cumbrous articles of furniture now possessed or desired by