April, 1 9 13 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



IX 



PICTURES AS DECORATIONS 



I HAVE often wondered why so many 

 otherwise beautiful homes are ruined by 

 a careless and injudicious use of pictures, 

 particularly when such beautiful and en- 

 tirely appropriate pictures may be had 

 anywhere for almost nothing. Many 

 apartments and houses are carefully planned 

 as far as the wall and floor coverings are 

 concerned — careful selection is made of 

 curtains, furniture and bric-a-brac, but the 

 question of pictures, which make or mar 

 the entire effect, is often left for chance 

 to decide. 



The maximum of decorative effect at the 

 minimum of cost may be had by the dis- 

 criminating use of pictures properly framed 

 and placed, and very fortunately for the 

 inexperienced decorator the choice, while 

 of infinite variety is so divided that judici- 

 ous selection is not difficult. I myself am 

 very fond of portraits and have found that 

 nothing is more decorative in effect than a 

 well selected portrait of the period desired, 

 and portraits of all periods are available. 



Xot long ago I arranged a little study in 

 a man's apartment where a splendid result 

 was obtained with very simple materials. 

 The walls were covered with a Japanese 

 grass-cloth of a deep, old gold tone, and I 

 selected two or three large photographs of 

 Franz Hals and Holbein portraits in the 

 brown carbon tones on sale in any of the 

 shops. Glass over the portraits would have 

 ruined the effect so I had them heavily 

 coated with water varnish which produces 

 much of the effect of age. The frames are 

 of oak, about two inches wide, rubbed 

 down to a beautifully dull and soft sur- 

 face. These few photographs, hung as 

 they are at the same height over a row of 

 low book cases, produce a splendor of deco- 

 rative value worth many times the cost. 

 Had the room been a reception room or 

 boudoir of one of the French periods, large 

 colored prints of the well known portraits 

 by Xattier might have been selected, 

 treated in much the same manner and 

 framed in the charming narrow gilt frames 

 of Louis XVI patterns which may be pur- 

 chased in stock sizes in many of the shops. 

 One enterprising firm of New York pub- 

 lishers has issued an entire series of little 

 books each dealing with the work of some 

 one great master. I have purchased a 

 number of these little volumes merely for 

 the pictures which possess a high decora- 

 tive value. I have some thirty little por- 

 traits in color, prints of originals by Van 

 Dyck, Rubens, and Valasquez simply 

 framed in narrow black frames without 

 mats, and their effect, arranged in the 

 vertical panels of some old doors, is won- 

 derfully good. 



The progress of chromo-lithography and 

 other color processes has made it possible 

 to obtain at almost ridiculous prices the 

 most beautiful color reproductions of the 

 old and modern masters. It is no longer 

 necessary to study pictures by photograph 

 in black and white; even if these reproduc- 

 tions do not possess quite the beauty of 

 tone and color of the great originals, the 

 effect is sufficiently realistic to obtain a 

 very satisfactory idea of the color value of 

 the master's work. 



For large spaces photogranhs of archi- 

 tectural subjects may be used. If one tires 

 of the Roman forum, the Acropolis and the 

 papal palace at Avignon, there are photo- 

 graph-, of the quaint old cities of conti- 

 nental Europe, little known canals in 

 Venice and quiet corners of Amalfi and 

 Capri. For an entire frieze one might use 

 the photographs of the Canterbury Pil- 

 grims or the pictures by Abbey of the Holy 



Hodgson Portable Houses 



Artistically designed and finished, made of the most durable materials and practical 

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Send for illustrated circulars and state what you are interested in. 

 E. F. HODGSON CO., 116 Washington St., Room 227, Boston, Mass. 



Start a Fernery 



Brighten up the deep, shady nooks on your lawn, or that dark 



porch corner— just the places for our hardy wild ferns and wild flower 



collections. We have been growing them for 25 years and know 



what varieties are suited to your conditions. Tell us the kind 



of soil you have— light, sandy, clay— and we will advise you. 



Gillett's Ferns and Flowers 



will give the charm of nature to your yard. These include not only hardy wild 

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 as well as shade. If you want a bit of an old-time wildwood garden, with flowers 

 just as Nature grows them— send for our new catalogue and let us advise you 

 what to select and how to succeed with them. 



EDWARD GILLETT, Box D, Southwick, Mass. 



For Beautiful Homes 



SEE THESE TWO NEW PLAN BOOKS. 



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GEO. F. BARBER & CO., Architects, 



Knoxville, Tenn. 



Rhododendron catawbiense 

 True American species 



"And to paint these home pictures we need chiefly 

 American material. We must face this deadly pa; illel:" 



What We Really Plant 



70% European trees and shrubs 

 and horticultural varieties. 

 20% Chinese and Japanese. 

 10% American. 



What We Ought to P:ant 



70% American trees and shrubs, 



i.e., native to America. 

 20% Chinese and Japanese. 

 1 % European and horticultural. 



Above quoted from Willi elm Miller's ' What England 

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IfTELSEY'S Hardy American Plants, Rare Rhododen- 

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 The largest collection in existence of the finest native 

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HIGHLANDS NURSERY 

 3,800 feet elevation in the 

 Carolina Mountains. 



BOXFORD NURSERY 

 Boxford. Mass. 



Catalogues ana 

 information of 



HARlAN P. KELSEY, Owner 



SALEM, MASS. 



