November, 1910 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



423 



the bed, the drawers of the bureau and the backs of the 

 chairs. 



If a girl can start the furnishings of her room with a 

 really good piece of antique furniture, well-made and of 

 tasteful lines, it will set a standard that will be difficult to 

 satisfy without adding more of the "real thing." A four- 

 poster bedstead makes a picturesque element which seems 

 incomplete without a low boy arranged as a dressing table, 

 a high chest of drawers in place of a chiffonier, and a wing 

 chair and candle stand. Where reproductions can be af- 

 forded there are old English models of most interesting 

 types in mahogany and satin wood. 



The white iron bed will always be in favor when a mod- 

 erate-priced piece must be chosen. A new style this season 

 shows the columns made in square outlines in place of the 

 older way of round posts, with the elimination of the brass 

 tops. This is especially recommended for the girl's room. 



Bedsteads with the head and footboard fitted with cane 

 give a lighter feeling to a room, especially when its size is 

 contracted, than the solid panels of wood. In a country 

 home this idea is even more appropriate for the summer 

 life during warm weather than for the colder months spent 

 In the city dwelling. 



A divan is nowadays often preferred by many girls in 

 the place of a bedstead to give the atmosphere of a sitting- 

 room, and then its covering becomes a matter of vital im- 

 portance. If the room lacks the charm of detailed orna- 

 ment the cover could be of a figured material in a washable 

 goods. Some of the cretonnes in tapestry designs are a 



good choice in this line. Or, a printed linen in soft tones 

 lends artistic interest. A row of back pillows filled with 

 moss helps to furnish the divan, and also to serve as a brace 

 for some smaller, less-weighty pillows. 



If a plain covering is to be used the heavy homespuns are 

 the best of materials, either with or without a band of trim- 

 ming. With the plain cover some of the peacock chintzes 

 made in France make picturesque pillow coverings. 



A tea table is always longed for by the girl who has a 

 room of her own, and however simple its make its appoint- 

 ments may become a collection always worth possessing, for 

 teaspoons, decorated cups, dainty linen and a quaint teapot 

 will somehow gravitate to those who are desirous of having 

 them. 



No more personal note can be brought into a girl's room 

 than that imparted by a writing desk or table. Its equip- 

 ment may be a matter of time, as with the tea things, but 

 value is lent to the different pieces, if they are really of in- 

 trinsic worth, by their gradual accumulation, in much the 

 same spirit that dwells with the collector. 



A reading lamp or desk light must combine the real utili- 

 tarian principle with aesthetic charm to be a fit belonging in 

 a girl's room. A piece of Japanese pottery may have an oil 

 fount shaped to suit its opening, with a Japanese shade made 

 of rice paper. Or, a candlestick of Florentine ware may be 

 fitted with an electric bulb and carry a silk shade. In the il- 

 lustration of a girl's studio an electric bulb is dropped from 

 the ceiling by a cord and a brass shade made to outline a 

 Dutch scene. 



English Garden Mazes 



By A. Jennings Brown 



EW old English gardens were considered 

 complete without their mazes or laby- 

 rinths, which were usually masterpieces 

 of the topiary art. The English garden 

 maze is descended from the labyrinths of 

 mythical times. It is hardly necessary to 

 go into the history of these antique 

 mazes, or even the mazes of the medieval cathedrals which 

 were sometimes an adjunct to the cathedral proper, or 

 sometimes they were simply incised upon the pavement 

 or walls. The idea which was aimed at was to fill a definite 

 geometrical figure, such as a square or a circle, with path 

 lines arranged as 

 symmetrically a s 

 possible. In the 

 ecclesiastical laby- 

 rinths, in some 

 cases, 2,000 steps 

 or more were re- 

 quired to follow the 

 course on the tiles 

 or slabs. They were 

 frequently regarded 

 as emblematical of 

 the "Way of the 

 Cross" from Jeru- 

 salem to Calvary. 

 "With the revival 

 of classical learn- 

 ing," says Country 

 Life, "in the Fif- 

 teenth Century, the 

 interest aroused in 

 the ancient myths A maze in an 



led the draftsmen and engravers to apply the medieval 

 labyrinths designs to the illustrations of such subjects as 

 the famous legend of the Minataur of Crete. 



At the beginning of the Seventeenth Century mazes had 

 reached the stage when from being nothing much more 

 than curiosities of draftsmanship, they developed into gar- 

 den ornaments of the most elaborate kind. By the end of 

 the reign of Charles I the garden maze has probably ap- 

 proached its ultimate development, and the influence of 

 Versailles was also felt for the wonderful labyrinth which 

 Le Notre laid out could hardly be proved a most illuminat- 

 ing model. Unfortunately the Versailles labyrinth was 



destroyed in 1775. 

 One of the most 

 interesting of the 

 English masters 

 and undoubtedly 

 the one with which 

 the general public 

 are most familiar 

 is the one at Hamp- 

 ton Court which 

 was laid out in 1699 

 on the north of the 

 palace. The gen- 

 eral outlines are 

 still well preserved 

 and we give an 

 illustration of it. 



The Hampton 

 court maze Is com- 

 paratively simple 

 as there are but 

 English garden three or four false 



