28 



THE HOUSE AND ITS EQUIPMENT. 



but from the point of view of coal-consuming it is the 

 proper treatment. Simple panelled treatments for mantel 

 pieces are also illustrated of a drawing-room at Standen, 

 and another of a dining-room at Four Beeches. 



Passing to the design of the actual grate, mention 

 has already been made of the problems which confronted 

 Count Rumford and Dr. Tcale, and the solution of these 

 fixed the form of the modern stove, that is, so far as 

 the actual coal-consuming body of the stove was con 

 cerned ; its architectural treatment was hopelessly vulgar and 

 commonplace, and it remained for architects like Norman 

 Shaw, Eden Nesfield (Fig. 43) and Philip &quot;Webb to remedy such 

 a state of affairs. That they were able to find makers who 



40. STANDEN, EAST GRINSTEAD I DRAWING-ROOM FIREPLACE. 



39. FOUR BEECHES. 



were willing to carry out their ideas is a 

 matter for congratulation, so far as we 

 are concerned. Mr. Shaw especially 

 produced many quite admirable designs 

 for fireplaces (Fig. 42), and we are apt 

 to forget the debt of gratitude we owe 

 him. It is comparatively easy nowa 

 days to find a well-designed grate ; in 

 the heyday of his youth he had to 

 design it and have it made, and the 

 same applied to every detail in one 

 of his buildings. Pugin, again, was 

 another giant in this way. 



The &quot; Cupid &quot; design illustrated 

 in Fig. 45 is interesting in that 

 it is no mere reproduction of 

 an eighteenth century grate, but 

 is cast by a firm of makers from 

 the original patterns which are still 

 in their possession. These were 

 carved between 1780 and 1800 by 

 Henry and William Haworth, who 

 were both students at the Royal 

 Academy in the time of Sir Joshua 

 Reynolds. Some of the delicacy of 

 the modelling of the little god with 

 the darts is lost in the process of 

 reproduction, but the high character 

 of the work is a tribute to the artistry 

 of the carvers, and one wishes that 

 t w e n t i e t h century manufacturers 



