April, 1 9 13 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



121 



Antique brackets fitted for electric bulbs 

 of the same pattern, and very frequently one old light will 

 be used as a copy from which as many as necessary may be 

 made. Antique altar lamps of silver or brass, or some- 

 times of wood covered with gold or silver leaf, are very 

 useful for lighting studios or other large rooms which are 

 sufficiently lofty to afford a suitable setting. The electric 

 bulbs which supply the light are covered by large globes of 

 crystal beads, which are arranged or hung in the lamps in 

 various ways. The wires which carry the electric current 

 are twisted among the chains by which the lamps are sus- 

 pended. 



In many old mediaeval baronial halls, particularly in 

 Germany, the lighting is extremely picturesque and decora- 

 tive, and is supplied by candelabra either fastened to the 

 wall or suspended from the ceiling. These candelabra are 

 made of the horns of the deer or a certain kind of moun- 

 tain goat, or of the antlers of the moose. The hanging 

 candelabra generally include a figure of carved and gilded 

 woods — a mermaid or Brunhilde or some legendary hero 

 or heroine. In their original setting they were fitted with 

 small iron sockets for candles or tallow dips, but their 

 use for electricity is very easily arranged and is made pos- 

 sible by using very small imitation candles or small electric 

 bulbs, the wires for which are concealed in the antlers or 

 horns. Such candelabra could hardly be used, of course, in 

 any but a suitable setting, but for rooms which permit of 

 such informal treatment nothing more decorative could be 

 imagined. The quaint hanging candelabra from Holland 

 on Flanders, and the particularly interesting synagogue 

 lamps which are occasionally to be had, and which are 

 sometimes found in American homes, are very successfully 

 applied to modern uses, and their use is in keeping with 

 almost any but the most strictly formal interiors. 



Besides these lighting fittings from Europe there are in 

 many homes other old treasures from the continent which 

 have been adapted to this purpose with results which are 

 very interesting and helpful in that they may suggest similar 

 uses for other things. Objects of metal may sometimes be 

 made into lighting fitments of wonderful beauty, and we 

 know of one very successful dining-room fitted with dark 

 carved woods in the style of the Flemish Renaissance where 

 the lighting is from groups of electric lights placed in the 

 wall and covered by the lids of old brass warming pans, 

 which are richly etched, chiseled and pierced. The softly 

 polished metal has the dark wood as a background and 

 the light appears through the perforations of the brass. 

 Great is the variety of antiques which are available, or which 

 we may already possess, that a little ingenuity in planning 

 such lighting may produce results which will be astonishing, 



for there seems to be no end to the effects which may be 

 obtained by combining the beauty of design and workman- 

 ship of older times with the easily handled source of light 

 which electricity supplies. 



With antiques from the Oriental countries, India, China 

 and Japan, there is an almost bewildering variety of effect 

 which may be secured, although with these treasures the 

 actual lighting must often be concealed. This is in many 

 cases highly desirable, particularly for illuminating con- 

 servatories and verandas, or where out of door lighting is 

 desired, as in gardens or upon lawns. Carved panels of 

 metal or marble or of wood which are often gilded are 

 useful as well as extremely decorative when set in walls 

 with the light diffused through their carved openwork. Old 

 Chinese or Japanese prints upon silk or other fabrics suf- 

 ficiently strong are very useful when mounted upon stretch- 

 ers and placed over clusters of electric bulbs. Ancient 

 bronze lanterns are used in many different ways and are 

 easily adapted for modern use, and the same is true of the 

 old stone lanterns which come from Japan or China. These 

 lanterns of bronze or stone have never been "collected" to 

 any great extent, so that many very beautiful antique ex- 

 amples are still to be had at prices by no means excessive. 

 Old bronze statuary can often be utilized as lighting fixtures 

 which are unexpectedly successful, and this is particularly 

 true of antique bronzes in the form of dragons and serpents. 

 In one American home a huge dragon of Japanese bronze 

 had long been the despair of its owner; its size and clumsi- 

 ness seemed to preclude its ever being of any practical value 

 until ingenuity provided a use for it. Placed among the 

 ferns and foliage of a conservatory, its eyes and huge open 

 mouth pour forth a flood of golden light produced by in- 

 candescent lamps in yellow ground glass bulbs. Mistakes 

 may be made, of course, in decoration, as in anything else, 

 and though success may not always attend the use of these 

 old time furnishings, the results are usually satisfactory to 

 homemakers so fortunate as to have the treasures at hand. 



Hallway lighted by antiques used as electric fixtures 



