HOUSES AND GARDENS 



It constitutes a complete science of decoration, and in its symbolic birds 

 and beasts, and its simple checkers of primary colours, one finds the elements 

 of a kind of decorative language. 



Among the objections which may be raised to the use of heraldry in the 

 decoration of the modern house, one may first consider the suggestion it may 

 be held to convey of family pride. But heraldic work need not be confined 

 nor need it even include the bearings of the family. The arms of a college 

 or school at which the members of the family have been educated, or those 

 of the neighbouring town, the diocese or other local bearings, may all be 

 included in a heraldic scheme of decoration, and the family arms in such a 

 comprehensive company will perhaps lose that note of personal egotism 

 which they might otherwise be thought to convey. 



Again, it may be urged against the use of heraldic decoration that it is a 

 part of those trappings of the mediaeval world with which we moderns have 

 little to do. In these days of mauser bullets and kharki uniforms these 

 blazoned shields appear, perhaps, something of an anachronism, while the 

 somewhat blatant and brutal mottoes are also reminiscent of a less gentle age 

 than our own. 



The historic significance of heraldry may be, perhaps, held sufficiently to 

 outweigh such objections. It connects the house with the past and records 

 something of the history of its surroundings and its owner, and while it 

 affords patterns of colour of great decorative value it also has a definite 

 story to tell to those who can read its message. 



In the modern house what is usually understood as decoration consists 

 chiefly in the painting of woodwork and the covering of walls and ceilings 

 with wall-papers. It is entirely a matter of painting and papering the surfaces 

 of so many plastered boxes or rooms. Decoration properly considered may 

 rather be taken to represent the clothing of architecture with pattern and 

 colour. The building without its aid should possess real beauty of the 

 structural kind, to which decoration provides the finishing touches. The 

 house should not be made for the decoration, but the decoration for the 

 house. 



It may be doubted whether the house which is built under economic 

 conditions should be decorated at all. The natural texture of plaster colour- 

 washed some plain tint will generally be far more satisfactory than a cheap 

 wall-paper. Here, as elsewhere, one may decide that if means will not allow 

 of the introduction of good thoughtful work, it is better to do without 

 pattern altogether. If a house is properly built it does not demand decoration 

 to make it " possible," and so, whatever is done towards its further adornment 

 in the way of wall-coverings may well be postponed for a little and intro- 

 duced at last with due circumspection and deliberation. The possibilities of 

 heraldic decorative schemes have already been alluded to, and the historic 

 significance of this method constitutes an added charm to decorative qualities. 

 But apart from heraldry one may take some flower or tree as the symbol for 

 a room, and evolve a scheme which is based on that. The rose, the lily, or 

 the daffodil may thus be taken as the motif for special schemes ; or some 

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