36 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



July, 1905 



Anglo-Saxon Home Atmosphere Exemplified 



struction. Yet there will be good pieces, too, mixed in with 

 the bad, that even the salesmen themselves, apparently, can 

 not distinguish. The great increase in the number of dealers 

 in antiques does not indicate so much that there are more 

 collectors of antique furniture as it does that the American 

 people are, by degrees, learning to eschew modern invention, 

 and to buy only that which, with good and simple lines orig- 

 inally, has acquired a wealth of personal associations besides, 

 to commend it for everyday companionship. And there you 

 have principle number one. 



The collector of antique furniture, pur et simple, is not 

 much affected by these personal associations nor by artistic 

 claims. He buys from the collector's standpoint 

 and interest, as other collectors buy ivory images 

 and fossils, but the man whose highest aspirations 

 are centered in his home life and surroundings — 

 his furniture, like the English postage stamp, must 

 be inherently good in design, with some respectable 

 antecedents behind it to minister to his psychical 

 wants. Hence he would be quite as well satisfied 

 with modern replicas, provided they be well made. 



At all times in the history of art there have been 

 false notes struck by artificers not entirely in accord 

 with true Anglo-Saxon home mechanism, and the 

 jarring discord they sometimes produce soon 

 reaches the nerves of the least impressionable peo- 

 ple. Take, for instance, that microbes' delight — 

 the Turkish or Oriental cosey-corner. I believe 

 there are still benighted souls who plan these cosey- 

 corners for their homes, but the percentage, I am 

 sure, is rapidly decreasing. And here is principle 

 number two. The reason why the Oriental cosey- 

 corner has become such a disastrous anachronism in 

 the Anglo-Saxon home is not so much on account of 

 microbes, as it is because our immediate ancestors 

 were not in the habit of building seraglios nor of 

 dealing in odalisques. And the atmosphere of the 

 lives of our revered grandparents we must have, or 

 all our efforts in the art of home building are as 

 vanity. 



The idea of a cosey-corner is all right in itself, 

 only let it reflect something of our history. See 

 ingle nook in the hall of a house in England. 

 Kindly note the furniture and the placing of it. 

 But can you buy anything as appropriate at the 

 average furniture warehouse? Think of all the 

 highly varnished, modern inventions the salesman 

 will tell you is the line of goods being carried this 

 year, as he expresses it. Perhaps you will be able 



to recognize some of this fashionable line of goods in photo 

 shown herewith — the two tables and chairs in the fore- 

 ground — the department store atmosphere vs. that of the 

 home. Tell me honestly, was not that old " one-penny red " 

 the right sort of thing, and the Queen's Post Office Depart- 

 ment very foolish to try to improve upon it? In this object 

 lesson we have principle three. 



But putting the historical element, so necessary, entirely out 

 of the question, and this year's line of goods entirely out of 

 the question, in which illustration do you find the better furni- 

 ture designs, the simpler lines, the more restful atmosphere? 

 You may say that the ingle nook from English " Country 

 Life " belongs to a great English estate, and is hardly 

 to be attained by the American of average means. Why not? 

 All the dwellings in England are not as large as this one hap- 

 pens to be, nor are they all as homelike, by any means. I can 

 assure you there is as much ignoble and tawdry furniture 

 displayed in the shop windows along Tottenham Court Road 

 in London as in any of the great furniture emporiums of 

 New York, only I have selected a good English interior. 

 On page 37 are submitted examples of two American in- 

 teriors which also happen to be good, and may be placed 

 without prejudice, I think, beside the illustration from the 

 English periodical. Note the extremely conservative de- 

 velopment in each, the cornice and ceiling treatment in the 

 drawing-room, and in the dining-room the sideboard stand- 

 ing against the unpretentious wall screen, the simple mantel 

 adorned with an old-fashioned banjo clock. 



Now, rich people sometimes have extremely poor taste. 

 See the dining-room shown on page 35. Is it not the last 

 word in modern and fashionable home decoration as ex- 

 emplified by a professional decorator who has no conscience? 

 And I am quite sure you would have not the least trouble in 



Another View of the Same Hall 



