DECORATIVE USE OF WATER 



things retrogression in the guise of progression! Fountains are a 

 sign of civilisation and enlightenment, and once established should 

 never be sacrificed for any cause whatever. 



Fountains are essentially for the display of water. The simplest 

 architectural form is often the best; and the determining factor of 

 fountain design should be the amount of water exhibited. Many in- 

 stances may be cited of fountains erected in America within the last 

 dozen years or so in which the water holds so insignificant a part as not 

 to be noticeable whether playing or not. In memorial designs the 

 working team of sculptor and architect seem to feel that their ability 

 may be doubted unless at least forty-nine per cent, of the composition 

 is sculpture and forty-nine per cent, is architecture. The wealthier 

 the city, the less water is there usually displayed in its fountains. Par- 

 ticularly is this true in richly ornamented parks where " formal " 

 design with its architectural and sculptural accessories frequently 

 crowds out even the planting. 



WATER DISPLAY BEAUTIFUL IN ITSELF 



A very beautiful fountain in America is the one on the south lawn 

 of the White House, consisting wholly of jets of water throwing to 

 the centre, from which confluence rise several higher jets. In this 

 fountain there is no architecture whatever except the coping of the 

 basin, in itself hardly discernible because of the fringe of iris bordering 

 it. Near Dupont Circle in Washington there is a fountain, petite in 

 comparison but amply dignified because in scale with the small park 

 where it is located. This latter fountain, tout compris, cost but two 

 hundred and thirty dollars, not beyond the means of the smallest city, 

 and the price could have been further reduced without materially 

 detracting from the effect of the fountain by the substitution of a plain 

 coping for the lip form used. It is only as water display is curtailed 

 that fountain effect is jeopardised. European parks abound in small 



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