PROCEEDINGS OF SECTION I. (le 
than redundant. And is the plain garden-pot, simple in design, 
unobtrusive and certainly not unpleasing in colour, such a hideous 
object after all? In any case, we can substitute a somewhat 
similar article in terra-cotta more elegant inform. There cannot 
be harmony between the tints of the natural flowers, so pure, 
soft, and brilliant, and the comparatively harsh and impure 
colours of the porcelain-painter. Lastly, a pot for use inside a 
pot for show is an arrangement that cannot be justified. 
Among other notable examples of the tawdry effect produced 
by undue striving after prettiness are the clocks which have for 
their dial a willow-pattern plate, or a sham palette stuck on a 
sham easel. Even if the form of the plate or the palette were 
convenient for the purpose, it ought to be made clear that adapta- 
tion was intended, not imitation. Jugs representing wicker-work 
are very bad; and china porcupines with crocuses growing out of 
them instead of quills are still worse. Everything must be made 
to resemble something else—a pepper-pot like an owl with perfo- 
rated cranium, salt-cellars like toy coal-scuttles, with little shovels, 
and cruets like perambulators. All this is puerile, and utterly 
futile. Then there is the favourite device of a little picture on a 
little easel, with a coloured silk handkerchief thrown over the 
corner. Surely that is not the proper place for the handkerchief ; 
and it would be removed at once if the picture were worth 
anything. But you may be quite sure it is not, for the whole 
arrangement is a piece of of ridiculous affectation, impossible for 
anyone having a right feeling for art. 
The rage for drapery is not altogether surprising when we 
consider what beautiful designs and colours are now used in 
dyeing the most inexpensive textures; but it requires much 
moderation. A draped flower-pot, for example, giving the 
impression of a plant growing out of a silk bag, is the height of 
inartistic absurdity—fit only for a conjuror’s table. As to 
window-hangings, it is not creditable to upholsterers that they 
should have returned of late years to those very artificial 
arrangements, cut in stiff and awkward imitation of natural 
folds. Here, again, we perceive the passion for concealment. 
What need for hiding the curtain-pole? It need not be unsightly; 
while the cumbrous apparatus used for concealing it accumulates 
dust and obstructs the light and air. 
Ideas of comfort and convenience, when carried to excess, are 
inimical to good taste; and some hideous designs in furniture are 
attributable to this source. The very worst example, perhaps, is 
the 7éte-a-téfe ottoman or arm-chair. The modern practice of 
nailing carpets all over the floor is probably due to the notion 
that a loose carpet not extending to the walls on each side was 
mean and incomplete. It is not immediately apparent how 
principles of good taste apply here. But, bearing in mind that 
the carpet is not a permanent feature, that it requires to be 
