258 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



July, 1 9 10 



may be done, and how successfully, may be seen illustrated 

 in these pictures, where one has but to try to substitute 

 one fountain for another to note how unsatisfactory such 

 changes would be. 



The fountain is introduced into the grounds scheme for 

 the purpose of creating a garden center or of serving as an 

 important garden decoration. The word important in this 

 plate may need some explanation. A garden ornament is 

 important when it performs some service of value. It need 

 not be large or imposing; it need not be grand or costly; 

 the value of its importance is determined solely by the sig- 

 nificance of what it does. Hence a very small, and in itself 

 inconspicuous, object may be highly important in the garden 

 if it is employed in the right way and if it does a right thing. 



eral way a large fountain requires a great deal of space in 

 order to be advantageously used. That is to say, it needs 

 this space in order to be seen and in order to seem suited to 

 its environment. 



Obviously, with smaller fountains, the question of space 

 becomes comparatively unimportant. A small fountain may 

 not take up much room, may not, indeed, be larger than an 

 ordinary garden vase. But it is actually much more im- 

 portant than a vase. It must be permanently placed, and 

 the spray of water ejected by it is something quite beyond 

 the ordinary in the garden, features. Moreover, it is very 

 apt to be but the single thing of its kind in the whole gar- 

 den. Unimportant as these circumstances may seem, the 

 sum total of their effect is quite considerable. At all events 

 they take an important part in emphasiz- 

 ing the importance of the fountain and in 

 giving it individuality. They certainly 

 show that any garden feature with such 

 qualities calls for distinctive and indi- 

 vidual treatment. 



It is in its individual form that the 

 fountain has its most notable character. 

 The fountain that is especially designed 

 and which has no mate, is the only foun- 

 tain that should be considered unless it be 

 the simple jet, which so far as decorative 

 fixture is concerned, is a simple display of 

 water only without the aid of ornamental 



Pool and fountain on a terrace 



Hence, also, a very costly and even beau- 

 tiful object may be highly objectionable if 

 it has an intrusive result or seems, in any 

 way, out of place. 



And so, just as one will grow a certain 

 flower on a certain shrub because of the 

 result it will produce and for the beauty 

 it gives, so one will place a fountain where 

 it will serve some true decorative purpose, 

 and be itself of real decorative value. 

 Otherwise it has no visible utility and had 

 better be dispensed with. 



From the standpoint of design there is 

 practically no limit to the form of the 

 fountain. It may be a mere jet of water 

 shot upward into the air in a simple straight line. This is 

 always an effective use of water, and some delightful foun- 

 tains are exactly this and no more. This is the simplest of 

 all fountains, and from this rudimentary form the design 

 may run up through an infinity of complexities to a colossal 

 group of statuary which may be the crowning feature, or 

 an elaborate structure that may or may not be emphasized 

 by standing statues on the adjoining lawns. 



The determining question, in most cases, is fixed by mat- 

 ters of taste quite as much as by those of cost. A large 

 place, on which there are ample lawns and which may be 

 kept up in a large way, implies somewhat costly fountains 

 and a considerable display. Certainly a large fountain is 

 completely out of place in small surroundings, and in a gen- 



A miniature fountain in a garden court 



Structure. But the individual fountain on which some sculp- 

 tor has lavished the skill of his chisel, may very well be a 

 rare and precious work of art, the mere possession of which 

 may be a true joy, and the placing of which must be ac- 

 complished with every possible care. 



The accompanying illustrations show a wide variety of 

 fountains, fountains very varied in themselves, and used in 

 very varying ways. They show many other points of inter- 

 est than the fountains, but nothing of more value than the 

 highly decorative value of these garden ornaments. These 

 charming lawns would be just as green and delightful with- 

 out them; these shining surfaces of water would be just as 

 cool and agreeable to look at, but neither lawn nor pool 

 would have the interest they possess without these fountains. 



