30 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



January, 19 13 



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WITHIN THE HOUSE 



SUGGESTIONS ON INTERIOR DECORATING 

 AND NOTES OF INTEREST TO ALL 

 WHO DESIRE TO MAKE THE HOUSE 

 MORE BEAUTIFUL AND MORE HOMELIKE 



The Editor of this Department will be glad to answer all queries 

 from subscribers pertaining to Home Decoration. Stamps 

 should be enclosed when a direct personal reply is desired 



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THE DECORATIVE VALUE OF MIRRORS 



By Harry Martin Yeomans 



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N Colonial days a distinction was drawn be 

 tween the meaning of the words mirror and 



having white-painted wood-trim. Assuming that the room 



has two long French windows leading onto a terrace or 



veranda, set with small panes of glass separated by mullions 



the two doors leading from this room to the hall (one of 



which could be a "blind" door) could duplicate the French 



looking-glass, the mirror having usually a windows, only having sections of mirror inserted in them of 



convexed or concaved surface and was exactly the same size as the clear glass in the windows. This 



purely ornamental, as any one will vouch placing of the doors and windows opposite to each other 



for who has gazed into one, while the would properly balance the room; but the whole effect would 



looking-glass served the utilitarian purpose of revealing be spoiled if large sections of mirror were employed. This 



one's reflection. Nowadays the two words are used inter- 

 changeably when referring to a looking-glass, as such, and 

 aside from its useful function, those who are interested in 

 the subject of interior decoration should not overlook the 

 decorative value of the mirror or looking-glass. 



It is an easy matter to gage the good effects and beautiful 

 results which can be obtained by a judicious use of mirrors, 



mode of using mirrors can be carried out advantageously in 

 any room where a well-balanced decorative scheme is 

 desirable. 



The apparent size of a small room can be materially 

 increased by the use of mirrors. A long mirror placed over a 

 mantel-piece in a narrow room will have a tendency to 

 increase its apparent width, or sections of mirror framed in 



by consulting books on old furniture and photographs of narrow moldings and placed between windows will give an 



French period rooms. The French designers and architects 

 realized the decorative effect that could be derived from the 

 use of mirrors, and they employed them extensively in their 

 work during the periods of Louis XIV, XV and XVI, until 

 they were carried away with the idea and covered the whole 

 wall-space of some rooms with mirrors, as will be seen at 

 Versailles in the Galerie des Glaces in the Palace, and the 

 Salon des Glaces in the Grand Trianon. In our modern 

 houses they will have to be used much more 

 sparingly, of course, but much useful knowl- 

 edge can be gleaned from the work of the 

 past. 



The rooms of the great French periods 

 of decorative art just referred to were 

 usually bisymmetrical; that is, a long French 

 window on one side of a mantel-piece might 

 be balanced by a door on the other side, and 

 the door would be an exact duplicate of the 

 window, except that it would be filled with 

 sections of mirror instead of clear glass. 

 Sometimes these doors and windows were 

 "blind" and were used to preserve the archi- 

 tectural balance of the room. At that time, 

 owing to the exigencies of manufacture, 

 glass was made in small sheets, which had 

 its advantages, however, as these mirrors 

 were used decoratively and were intended 

 to be looked at and not into. This is a 

 point to be remembered when introducing 

 mirrors into a decorative scheme. 



In modern houses mirrors can be utilized 

 for the good effects that can be obtained 

 thereby. The idea of the French mirrored 

 doors could be adapted to the needs of a ^ W ell-se 

 Colonial room of rather formal character, 



effect of spaciousness. When a mirror is placed over a 

 mantel-piece do not put too many objects in front of it, as 

 the reflections, especially of the back of a clock, are very 

 unsightly. 



One well-known decorator who successfully uses mirrors 

 when decorating small houses and apartments, always 

 breaks up the surface so that a large sheet of glass does not 

 confront the beholder. Sometimes the mirror is covered 

 with a lattice-work of narrow metal bands, 

 or else of wood, which divides the mirror 

 into diamond-shaped or rectangular spaces. 

 At other times a panel or given space will 

 be filled with small sections of mirror, 

 various shapes being employed, but without 

 any mullions between them; one piece of 

 mirror is simply placed against its com- 

 panion until the space is filled, as on a 

 checker-board. Where the four corners of 

 four different sections meet there is a metal 

 rosette. This is an ideal way of breaking 

 up the surface of a mirror and is at the 

 same time very decorative. 



The gilt and mahogany framed mirrors 

 of Colonial times are handsome and effec- 

 tive, and are especially appropriate for use 

 in rooms furnished in the style then in 

 vogue. Some of the long mantel mirrors 

 were divided into three sections, the largest 

 in the center. Others had an oblong picture, 

 painted on glass, set in the frame above the 

 mirror. The old circular concaved and 

 convexed mirrors, with gilt frames, were 

 used purely for decoration and frequently 



1 * j ( ^- „,r ic had sconces attached to them, so that the 



lected mirror or this sort is . ' 



both decorative and utilitarian mirrors reflected the light of all the candles. 



