384 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



November, 19 13 



Robin Hood in 



Sherwood Forest 



By Arthur E. Blackmore 



The 



Decorative Value 



of the Piano in 



the Home 



HERE is a generally erroneous impression value, which placed it within reach of so many, that the piano 

 that the decorated piano is an innovation, has become to-day a recognized commodity and a necessary 

 whereas from the very earliest times the crud- adjunct of the 'home. 



est of musical instruments, made even by the 

 savages, were always decorated, sometimes 

 ornately. 



The Grecian lyre, in addition to its opulence of line and 

 graceful curves, was further enhanced in beauty by painted 

 decoration, and so on with all peoples, in all countries, their 

 musical instruments were made as pleasing to the eye as to 

 the ear. 



As the character of interior decoration changed, in mod- 

 ern life a similar demand for the treatment of the piano case 

 developed, and with the growing popularity of the various 



At the time of the height of the ebonized piano, in the 

 eighties, the Eastlake character of decoration, an American 

 adaptation of an English idea, consisting of black furniture, 

 black woodwork, wall paper and even draperies, became 

 prevalent, so that the ebonized piano proved a consistent 

 note in the prevailing scheme of decoration and greatly 

 increased in popularity. 



With the approach, however, of the twentieth century came 

 a radical change in the treatment of home decoration and 

 marked the return of the highly decorated case together with 

 the increasing demand for mahogany, with the result that the 



French periods, Louis XIV, XV, and XVI, for music and ebonized piano to-day is relegated to a rather more practi- 



drawing-rooms, came the further demand for pianos in har 

 mony with their surroundings, with the result that the piano 

 has become the most important feature in the room, both 

 from a point of beauty as well as consistency, and is given 

 more care in treatment to-day in its production than even the 

 room or its other furnishings, for the reason that the piano 

 would mar, from its very im- 

 portance and size, rather 

 than enhance the unity of 

 effect. 



During the middle of the 

 XIX century, following the 

 use of the spinet, and up to 

 about 1880 the tone and mus- 

 ical quality of the piano were 

 considered paramount to its 

 case, which was regarded 

 merely as an enclosure for 

 the works, which had reached 

 a point of perfection as the 

 result of the gradual evolu- 

 tion of the instrument. The 

 treatment of the case of the 

 piano was temporarily ig- 

 nored and neglected. Thus 

 rosewood became the popu- 

 lar wood in the making of 

 square pianos and continued 

 to be until through the intro- 

 duction of the ebonized piano 

 and the growing preference 

 for other woods, noticeably 

 mahogany, it has gone into 

 comparative disuse. Then, 

 too, from the economic stand- 

 point, the ebonized piano 

 could be produced at a much 

 lower cost, without sacrifice 

 to its tonal quality or musical 



Louis XVI Piano 



cal than ornamental usage. For example, the Robin Hood 

 piano, the top of which is illustrated, was placed in an oak 

 room of a country house, of English architecture, where it 

 is appreciated as an English tradition and is a significant, 

 decorative accessory. , .-? r 



In strong contrast is the typical example of French treat- 

 ment, as illustrated, of a com- 

 pletely appointed Louis XVI 

 drawing-room, in which the 

 piano forms a consistent fea- 

 ture and forcibly demon- 

 strates the necessity of a 

 piano designed in conformity 

 with such a room. The piano 

 of harpsichord design shown 

 on page 385 is a modern 

 adaptation of an instrument 

 made for Marie Antoinette 

 which lends itself charmingly 

 to a formal Louis XVI room. 

 The Colonial treatment, 

 which traditionally accords 

 with the American home,- 

 calls at once for a mahogany 

 case, designed on the simple 

 lines of the furniture of that 

 period — sometimes embel- 

 lished with marquetry, as il- 

 lustrated on page 385. The 

 possibilities of an elaborate 

 treatment of case is well ex- 

 emplified in a Louis XV piano 

 of Circassian walnut with 

 elaborate ormolu mounts of 

 mercury gilt, the top of which 

 is ornamented on the under 

 side with a decoration, the 

 centre of which is shown 

 on page 386, and depicts 



