Page:An Encyclopædia of Cottage, Farm, and Villa Architecture and Furniture.djvu/366

 342 COTTAGE, FARM, AND VILLA ARCHITECTURE. The smaller the diameter of the axis of the pulley is in comparison with that of the roller, the sliorter will be the length of string required. A great improvement in this description of blinds has l)een made by forming the roller of a tin case that encloses a spring, which acts so as to turn the roller, and pull up the blind of itself. The best description of this spring roller blind is one improved by Messrs. Barron and Mills, which we shall describe when treating of blinds for villas. Sometimes, instead of linen blinds being plain, they are painted with transparent colours, so as to represent stained glass windows, landscapes, &c. These blinds, while they exclude the sun, admit abun- dance of light, and are very suitable for staircase windows, or the windows of cottages which have either no view, or one which it is desirable to exclude. A great improve- ment has lately been made in the manufacture of transparent blinds by Mr. Newbury of London, who paints them on a superior description of gauze, of his own invention. Long and short Venetian blinds, and short inside wire blinds, are not unsuitable for the better description of cottages ; but we shall defer what we have to say of them till wv come to speak of Villa Furniture. 674. Commoner descriptions of Short Inside Blinds axQ formed of muslin or leno, either flounced all round, and opening in the middle, or with flounces only at top. These blinds may be affixed to the windows either by a piece of tape drawn through a string case running across the blind near the top, and fastened by brass hooks to the side styles of the window ; or by brass wires or rods passed through broad hems at the top and bottom of the blind, and having a loop at each end, to drop on the pin of a small brass bracket affixed to the side style or bead of the window frame. Other blinds may be netted by the cottager's wife, of white cotton, or green worsted, the size required, and hung on brass hooks fixed to the astragals and side styles of the window. Various other blinds may be formed of equally cheap materials, according to the taste and skill of the mistress of the cottage. 675. Lines and Knobs for Curtains and Blinds, <^c. The description of line used should always be the plaited thread line, which, being of the same material throughout', is much stronger, and lasts four or five times as long as the common twined sash line, which in many cases is made of one material on the outside and another in the interior. This patent thread line, as it is called, is manufactured of all sizes, from that fit for a carriage window blind, to one thick enough for a ship's cable ; and it should be used, not only in curtains and blinds, but in hanging sashes, pictures, and, in short, in all cases requiring lines. Knobs of iron, brass, or wood, for the purpose of fastening lines round, arc far preferable to the hooks of ditt'erent kinds in common use ; because they have a more solid and architectural look; are mo-re removed from a common nail ; and are not so ajit to catch the corners of the laths of Venetian blinds, or to tear cloth blinds or curtains. 676. Looking-glasses for cot- ^ ^ tages may be divided into two _Ss - « classes ; chimney or pier glasses, and dressing-glasses. Fig. 712 is a Design for a chimney glass in the Grecian style, and fig. 7 1 3 is another in the Gothic manner. The frames may be of deal, painted in imitation of oak, or they may be gilt, which is generally considered to look best. For a Gothic cot- tage, very handsome and cheap pier and chimney glasses may be formed by constructing a frame like a Gothic window,and glazing it with panes of plate glass, or of a superior descrip-