THE LADIES’ FLORAL CABINET. 
55 
Marking Letters. 
powder for the deepest shades. It is of importance that 
these colors lie thickest on those parts of the design 
thrown most into shade, and, as in natural oxidation, the 
flat surface forming a background should have fewer and 
more subdued lights than the more prominent parts of 
raised ornament. A careful study of some piece of silver 
oxidized by nature will help the student more than many 
words, and every little grace of burnished light and soft¬ 
ened shadow noted on the true chasing and transferred to 
work in hand will give to it further beauty For a fairly 
permanent bright green bronze, paint over a first coating 
of brown dryer a second of copper bronze in powder, mixed 
with bronzing liquid ; dry thoroughly. Over this draw a 
brush laden with green bronze powder, also mixed with 
bronzing liquid, clear all high lights by rubbing with a soft 
cloth, allowing tiny patches of the copper to show through 
on background also. Dry well, and heighten the effect by 
drawing a brush containing pale gold bronze, damped with 
bronzing liquid ; and held horizontally, rapidly backward 
and forward, catching lightly the prominences. When 
dry, coat once or twice with white glazing varnish. This 
again may be toned, where more subdued effect is desired, 
by a thin wash of terre verte (oil color), thinned with boiled 
linseed oil, and more rubbing with a soft cloth, to bring 
out or keep under the various portions of relief. For 
Florentine bronzes copper and varied shades of gold bronz¬ 
ing powders are used, with Vandyck for shades. For 
‘ antique ’ bronzes, use the same list of material as for 
‘ bright green bronze,’ laying first a ground of green oil 
paint to obtain depth in shade. When lights have been 
‘ picked out ’ in colored bronzes, rub a little beeswax, soft¬ 
ened by turpentine to a thin paste, and mixed with a very 
little of the brown dryer, into the deepest shadows of your 
panel, and a few moments later pass over them a brush 
laden with Paris green in fine dry powder.” 
Marking Letters. 
T HE five letters given in the above illustration are the 
first portion of a set comprising the entire alphabet 
and designed expressly for The Cabinet. They are 
adapted for solid embroidery in colors, or two shades of 
one color, using dark for the letter and light for the little 
sprig, or for white embroidery. When used for the latter 
the little leaves should be made in open-work. 
HOUSEKEEPING GOODS. 
T HE displays of housekeeping goods give evidence that 
the annual sale of these articles has commenced, 
and linens, muslins, embroideries, etc., are offered at such 
reasonable prices that all wants in this direction can be 
supplied with much less outlay than in previous years. 
The general depression in business affairs has doubtless 
affected the sales of even these standard goods, and 
obliged the dealers to put their prices low enough to be an 
inducement to purchasers. Lonsdale muslin is at present 
sold for six and one-half cents by the yard, Wamsutta and 
the anchor brand at nine cents, while bleached Utica Mills 
sheeting two and one-half yards wide is offered for twenty- 
five cents, with correspondingly low prices for the pillow¬ 
case muslins; and linen sheeting the same width can be 
bought from sixty-five cents upward, according to the 
quality. Huckaback towels in good size, with fancy col¬ 
ored borders and netted fringe, retail at twenty-five cents, 
the bath or Turkish towels at fifteen cents each. Double 
damask table linen, formerly sold at one dollar and fifteen 
cents per yard, can now be obtained for seventy-five cents. 
•Very handsome lunch-cloths are shown among table 
linen, and come in sets of table-cloth and one dozen nap¬ 
kins to correspond. They are made with deep netted 
fringe on all sides, and above the fringe a band of red 
about four inches wide in the table-cloth, and one and a 
half inch in the napkins. Handsome dinner cloths are 
either heavy white or the buff damask with deep netted 
fringe and napkins to match. 
A pretty way, though not new, to make very light yet 
warm comforters, is to cover the wadding with cheese¬ 
cloth ; four breadths will be needed for one of ordinary 
size, and when tying fasten in a little tuft of Germantown 
wool of a delicate shade of pink or blue. The wool should 
be cut in one-and-a-half inch lengths and ten of these 
threads tied through the centre at every place where the 
comforter is tied. Finish the edges with a border of full 
shells, crocheting together in this way the upper and under 
edges of the cheese-cloth and just above the shells to 
complete the border; coral stitch should be worked as 
shown in the January Cabinet for 1885. 
