HOUSES AND GARDENS 



structure of the room above, and such panellings should therefore not be too 

 structural in their character, but of such sizes as will lead to the recognition 

 of their superficial character. They may most reasonably be used in passages 

 where it may be desirable to form the ceiling at a lower level than the 

 upper floor, and the narrower the passage the lower its ceiling should be. 

 Nothing is so fatal as the Procrustean method of making every depart- 

 ment of the house of the same height irrespective of the size of each, and 

 nothing makes a narrow passage look so narrow as a disproportionately 

 high ceiling. 



In the treatment or the plaster ceiling it will be well to consider first 

 whether the plaster cornice is really necessary. It does not in its usual 

 forms represent a reasonable use of the material, because plaster is necessarily 

 a superficial substance, and should as far as possible clothe the structure like 

 a close-fitting garment. The cornice has no structural significance whatever, 

 and is merely an expedient to get round the corner between wall and ceiling. 

 A much better way in most cases is to omit the cornice altogether, and white- 

 wash the whole of frieze and ceiling. In this way, the angle between ceiling 

 and wall will practically disappear in the universal whiteness. The plaster 

 ceiling should not, moreover, be made absolutely and mechanically level, 

 except as a basis for superficial decoration. The plasterer should not be 

 allowed to use a long " float," but it should only be permissible for him to 

 gain such regularity as may be possible in the use of a short " float " with 

 the assistance of the eye. I do not suggest that the ceiling should be 

 obviously irregular. It should appear to the casual observer to be quite 

 level, but it should present a subtle variety and change of plane in its 

 surface. Why, too, it may be asked, should the plaster ceiling be necessarily 

 finished with what is called "fine stuff"? Plaster has a characteristic 

 texture, which is far more interesting than the smoothness of finish invariably 

 insisted on. Such subtle modifications in the plastering of a ceiling will all 

 tend towards vitality in the appearance of the work. 



Perhaps the most reasonable and effective way of decorating a plaster 

 ceiling is by means of the use of modelled plaster work, which Mr. Bankart 

 has so bravely rescued from mechanical ineptitude. Here the modelling 

 should be vague and suggestive rather than sharp and incisive, and flowers 

 and fruit should seem to have floated, as it were, to the surface to have 

 been coaxed from their white bed instead of stuck on to a surface from 

 which they are clearly detached. 



Much of the old plaster work has obtained an excellent quality by 

 repeated coats of whitewash, and if any of the mechanical embossed materials 

 are used, their undesirable sharpness can be removed by the same means. 



It is not necessary, if modelled plaster is used, to have an elaborate 

 scheme of decoration for the ceiling. Much may be done by stamps, such 

 as those used for pats of butter. 



In upper rooms it is often possible to obtain an excellent effect by means 

 of a curved segmented ceiling, which affords an excellent field for decoration 

 in many ways, and in a room where the walls are covered with leafage with 

 64 



