February, 



1 9 l 3 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



61 



Old brass, pewter, pottery, glass, and rare bits of furniture fill every 

 comer of the house 



deep gray and the walls being covered with a rich dark 

 fabric, form a harmonious background for old paintings 

 and mediaeval portraits which fill the wall spaces, and one 

 entire wall is hung with a very fine example of mille fleur 

 tapestry. Old furniture of different periods is grouped 

 about and old jars of Spanish or African earthenware with 

 metal covers richly chased and perforated, stand in the 

 angles and corners of the long rooms. An immense syna- 

 gogue candelabrum of bronze, said to be the largest ever 

 brought into this country, is perhaps the most striking 

 single object in the rooms, which are literally filled with 

 things of the rarest beauty. The second drawing-room is 

 used as a library. Low bookcases line the walls, and part 

 of the illumination is provided by old Dutch sconces of 

 brass or copper. Many small objects are spread about 

 upon tables or the top of the bookcases, and cabinets are 

 filled with small bits of metal, porcelain, or glass. 



Perhaps the most interesting of these quaint rooms is the 

 dining-room, which is placed at the end of the long suite. 

 The corners of the room have been cut off and made into 

 corner cupboards with doors of glass divided into small 

 panes. A carved mantel from a very early New York 

 house shelters a deep fireplace lined with brick, a high- 

 paneled wainscoting is built around the entire room, and 

 the woodwork everywhere in the room is painted a deep 

 cream which has been rubbed down to a soft satiny surface. 

 Much of the furniture is mahogany, and the chairs are of 

 particular interest as they are examples of the different 

 kinds of Windsor chairs and represent every known varia- 

 tion of the style. No two are exactly alike, and they are 

 the result of years of indefatigable search and study of the 

 work of the early New England furniture builders. From 

 the ceiling is hung an antique Flemish chandelier such as 

 are seen in the interiors of the mediaeval guild halls, and 

 everywhere, arranged upon mantel, sideboards, coffers, 

 chests, and even upon the floor, are most wonderful 

 brasses — hot water urns, samovars, braziers, kettles, and a 



One of the doorways has been turned into a cabinet to hold part of the 



glass collection 



long list of wonderful objects the mere enumeration of 

 which would be impractical in the space of a magazine arti- 

 cle. With the soft ivory white of the paneling as a foil, 

 the effect of this richly worked metal is delightful. The 

 little cupboards in the angles of the room are literally 

 packed with important treasures of glass, ground, etched, 

 engraved, and gilded, representing every country and every 

 age and period — decanters and drinking glasses, bowls and 

 dishes — china and porcelain, too, in many forms — delft 

 from Holland, in plates and tobacco jars, or in the bird 

 cages, which are a favorite decoration in the quaint, brave 

 little country of dykes and canals. The contribution of 

 Spain to this wonderful and dazzling collection of brasses, 

 consists of several quaint braziers such as are used to sup- 

 ply what small amount of heat is had by the dwellers in that 

 most mediaeval of countries. The brazier as known in 

 Spain is merely a highly decorative receptacle of brass or 

 copper wherein is placed a quantity of burning charcoal. 

 Over the pan which holds the fire is placed a lid of brass 

 ornamented with chasing, etching, and piercing, and the 

 working of these metal covers and of the tongs and spoon- 

 like shovels which are always used with a brazier often 

 represent the highest form of the metal worker's skill as a 

 designer and a craftsman. 



Brasses from Belgium, Friesland, and other parts of 

 Northern Europe are here in the form of milk cans or jars, 

 many of them held together by rivets of copper or bound 

 with copper bands or hoops. These same countries have 

 contributed warming pans, generally of copper with covers 

 or lids of brass which are highly decorative in design and 

 etched, chased, or pierced in a most wonderful manner. 



Russia is best represented, perhaps, by the samovar, 

 synagogue lamps, or candelabra and the icons which enter 

 so largely into the domestic and religious life of the Rus- 

 sian people. These objects of metal, which are often the 

 heirlooms or family treasures of their owners, fill a much 

 more important part of life in Russia than in the life which 



