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I'.MH. 



The Weekly Florists'" Review* 



799 



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BEGINNINGS 



IN DESIGN... 



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DECORATIVE SCHEMES. 



Mirror Decorations. 



i iii|i()it;iii) ;ini(iiiy llonil (li'sif^iis, ;ic- 

 coidiiiji 1(1 a (Icliiiit ion <xi\OM in a rt'ceiit 

 artiek', arc llic ^^in^lo features of a room 

 "lecoiatioii. J'lai'li one. nr the whole aiul 

 its j)arts, should be as truly a (lesi<j;M as 

 a jiiilow or a liarj), altJKUiyii tiiei'e should 

 be some dilference as to tiio ]iositi\e 

 nature of the design. 



l-'irst, haviii}^ selected the architectural 

 feature whicli you \vish to enibellisii, 

 make up your mind how you want it tn 

 look when iinisiied; secon<i. ileterinine 

 how to accomplish it. In other words. 

 <iel the design lirst and then consider 

 the mechanical execution. If tiie desijrn 

 satisties you, even if the execution seems 

 dillicnll, invent a way to sustain or lK)ld 

 the desij^n as you see it first in yoiu' 

 mind 's (>ye. 



After all that is said these da\s as 

 to looseness and naturalness of arrange- 

 ment, there must be a certain amount 

 of symmetry and unity in every iforrect 

 decoration. ^V'llile the outlines of no 

 two petals on the same tlower, or on ilif 

 ferent tlowers of th<,> same \ariety, or 

 the leaflets on the same leaf, ov two 

 leaM'S on the same plant will exactly 

 coincide if om> is placed over the other, 

 thei-e is the same general formation ob 

 served in both, and a uniformity in jfi'ii 

 eral but never in detail. It shoidd be 

 just so in rej^ard to the units or orna- 

 ment which we manufacture. .Make each 

 one a syminr'trical unit, but not slavishly 

 so in every detail. J do not kin)w of a 

 better synonym for symmetry in this 

 connection than the term "balance."' 

 Let every product have a certain rejjidar 

 appearance to its outline. It is alnH)st 

 p(>rmissible to carry this a little farther 

 into the mathematical realm, an<l say 

 let the outline of a single deiorative 

 scheme take the form of .a <,'eometrical 

 lijiure. 



In a good window or min-or decora 

 tion the .Miiproximately regular appear 

 ance can be traced easily. In ord<'r to 

 illustrate this jilaiidy. take the or>linary 

 foini of decoration for .1 tali, narrow 

 mirror. It has a large, triangular .-ir- 

 rangemeiit of plants or cut tlowers at 

 the base, and a balancing upjicr triangle 

 formed of li<rjif niaferial, like sinilax ei 

 Asp.-iragus Sjirengeri. These two trian- 

 ules have a position natuial to them- 

 selves. If the lower sclieine were re- 

 \ersed .'ind th.al pa it of tlic (jccoraf iiui 

 placi-(| .11 ilic same side of the inirroi 

 as the i"i|iri' M:irl. Ihr effect wmI! :•<■ 

 gaping and ;i\\ kw ,•. :(i. 



ri'c s..ii,< |iriiici|.le ol design ;:i;iii 

 may be ea-ily traced in tiie illusiratio'', 

 !hi >-ame triaiigi(^ s(diemc. As can be 

 readily seen, this ,ilso i< .1 mirror dec 

 or.'ition. 



'I licre slionld alwavs be some sort of 

 connection between the lines of a deco- 

 iati\e si-lieme, either accomplished or 

 -n£rgestei!. In this illustrati(m the spr:iys 



of smilax I'lom the top appeal' to lie 

 stictching toward the lily stalks. In 

 a few cases they lia\i' ii'ached them, 

 but oftener they liaxc failed, and still 

 a larger numlier l>a\e liei-(une eidangled 

 with ea<-h other ;nid their lips have been 

 turned to one side or the other, and on 

 the left si<le of the mirror frann' they 

 are caugiit in a garland which f.-ills to 

 the base on the left .anil is 1hicken(>(| 

 by the addition of' heavier strings :ind 

 fi'stooned along the wlnile front of tlie 

 mant(d siielf anil the grate. The dra 

 pery scheme almost encircles the lily 

 banking. At the point where the dr;i 

 pery seems to weaken, we ha\i' nriile 

 the strongest point and hea\iest ]iarl of 

 tiie lily grouping, tliiis pr(>ser\ing tlie 

 balance. Avoidin«; any abrupt corners, 

 extending several feet from tlie upper 



en strings were lied lo^i'tlier at tho 

 in'avy end. I'liioiigii of tln' tie wire was 

 loll lo wrap around a (iouiili'-[UHnted 

 l.ick wliicii w;is llins iii:ide to ser\e the 

 purpose of lialf ;i do/eii i.-icks and also 

 to si'rve a good principle in ;irl, namely, 

 to st;irt as many lines fiuin a comiiioii 

 source as jiossible. 



t"or the banking of il,,. nianlel witli 

 lilies, we use(l ;i ;^a I \ a iii/ed |ian six 

 iiudies deej) and hni^ eiiougli to aiHUit. 

 cover tlie a\cr;ige ni,-|iile|. It is water- 

 li<^iit, painted a dark oii\c ;^reeii on the 

 outside, and lilied solidly witii sphagnum. 

 The spii.agiiiim w;is also filii.l in jn places 

 three or four inclies ;ilio\c till' top of tiie 

 |ian. Tiiis filling in i 1 ivy ulnrly was no 

 ^lecident. I I is not desiialde |,, have a 

 liaiik so tiiat flowers will loriii a straiglit 

 line across the mantel, if tiie tlow'ers 

 Impp"'" '"' I'l' ;ill <if .-ilioiit tiie same 

 Iciiglii stem, make iiills and hollows in 

 your si)hagiiiim lillinw and thus break the 

 outline of the flower or, nips. l,;iv wood 

 ferns over the top of tin' -plnignum and 

 •■il<'iig tiie outside edges of tlie ]iaii, al- 

 lowing tiiem to droop oiit\u-ird sufliciently 

 '" lii'l«' tile pan. 1 1 is noi often neces- 

 sary to wrap the spiiagmim in a nnmtel 

 pan. If. however, fh(> nniss is banked up 

 hioii eiiougii to m^ed it, wrap over the 

 moss .-Hid around the pan with bemp 



A Mirror Decoration of Lilies and Smil 



'''" l"'i|i' "'■ liie iniir.o- finnie. tin re wa~ 

 a tapeiin;^ o,.,i|.,nd .,f ^mil.-ix f.dlowin- 

 III'' iiioldiii- ;,n,| Mi:,o-linn ,,^,■y ;, p, . 

 tiire fraini'. 



Tins ilbi^tr;it i.oi wa- a pnit ,.t .-i 1 »e 

 cembei- weddine decor.-ilion. made ;i- f,i|. 

 lows: The upper pari \va- of separati .1 

 smilax f.a^te | in duv,,.,-, ,,1, ,1,,, i,.,,.^. 



I''"' "•' 'li'' '"|| 'Oilx. 1- loin vix to :i ,|.,/. 



ax. 



"""■• 'I'li'li ••!- i- done with wire fi-iines. 

 ' ■■'" '"^"■•■1 l"'i- inaniel ,. 1,, 1,., ,|,>(,,,. 

 ated. and you ,\,-~\u' to use v.iiir .-ucra'-e 

 ''''■ I''"'- l'i'''-<' "lit .-Il e;,, h' end witli'ii 

 •■'" I'''"" '"• •■' ll.-'t basket tilled with 

 'I'll I'^aves stemmed .-nid sei in ~.piia<-r- 



"""• "■ ""■ "'="'t''l i^ I I'V. pull tlTe 



'■•111 to the front and sprend oiif f.dia-f* 

 I'"" 111" p^iri backw.-ird.. I'jftv liliT-c 



