60 
House & Garde 
^/le G/iarm^^eed^u?niture 
TR5 REED SHOP. Inc. 
581 Fifth Avenue 
NEW YORK 
Designs Created by the Reed Shop are 
The Exponents of Refinement and Comfort 
In Furnishings for 
DRAWING AND LIVING ROOMS 
SOLARIUMS, CLUBS. AND YACHTS 
CRETONNES, CHINTZES, UPHOLSTERY FABRICS 
Interior Decorating 
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MODERATELY KRANICH & BACH 
CATALOGUE E. 23rd St.. New York City 
Doors and Shutters of the Colonial Period 
(Continued from page 21) 
more, not quite so long, at the base. 
The two lower panels were separated 
from the four upper by a wide cross¬ 
rail. 
' 18th Century Panels 
I In the early 18th Century (c. 1700- 
l*c. 1735 or 1740) the same two arrange¬ 
ments persisted to some extent and, in 
addition, we find a wealth of multiple 
panel arrangements of no little diversity 
—three long vertical panels above, the 
' same below, and a wide cross-rail be¬ 
tween; two large above, two small 
I square or horizontal oblong below, and 
; two large again at the bottom, broad 
cross-rail occurring usually below the 
two small panels; three small square 
panels at top, three vertical below them, 
a broad cross-rail, three more small 
squares, and then three verticals at the 
bottom; and besides these there were 
various occasional combinations of ver¬ 
tical and horizontal panels, panels with 
shaped heads, and triangular panels di¬ 
vided by diagonal rails, as in the door 
of the Parson Williams house at Deer¬ 
field, Massachusetts, one of the best 
New England examples. 
In the mid-18th Century (c. 1735- 
c. 1775) the most characteristic arrange¬ 
ment had eight panels — two small 
squares above, two vertical panels be¬ 
low, then two small, then two large, all 
stiles and rails being of about equal 
breadth. 
In the late 18th and early 19th Cen¬ 
turies (c. 1775-c. 1815) there was an 
almost universal return to a six panel 
plan, the proportions, however, some¬ 
what different from the earlier six panel 
scheme, two small at top, two long, 
a broad cross-rail, and two large panels 
below. 
The panel divisions are not, of course, 
an invariable index to date as there 
were overlappings, earlier forms persist¬ 
ing into a later period, on the one hand, 
and later forms, on the other, being 
sometimes foreshadowed in earlier 
periods; but in the main the indications 
are reliable. 
Types and Periods 
If anything, it is even more impor¬ 
tant to mark well the kinds of panels — 
whether they be countersunk, bevel- 
flush, or flush — and whether there be a 
molding defining the panel or whether 
it abuts directly against stiles and rails 
without a molding; likewise the dimen¬ 
sions and profiles of moldings, for they 
varied in every period. Not only did 
each period have its own general mold¬ 
ing characteristics, such as the favorite 
quarter-round molding between panel 
edge and the stiles and rails of the early 
18th Century, but there were also minor 
variations and each of them holds some 
lesson for us. Shutters followed pretty 
closely the characteristics of the doors. 
Attention should be called to the fre¬ 
quent practice, especially in the first 
half of the 18th Century, of using two 
narrow doors instead of merely one 
wide door. 
The two cardinal principles to ob¬ 
serve in studying doors and shutters of 
the Colonial period, and in any creative 
work resulting therefrom, are (1) pro¬ 
priety of scale and (2) consistency. 
The former requires the scale of'the 
door’s details — the proportions and 
depth of its panels and the size and con¬ 
tour of its moldings—shall coincide with 
the scale of the corresponding charac¬ 
teristics in the doorway. To illustrate, 
it would be an infraction of the prin¬ 
ciples to put an early 18th Century door 
with deep-set bevel-flush panels and 
vigorous, boldly-defined moldings within 
an Adam doorway where all the con¬ 
tours are shallow and all the details ex¬ 
ceedingly delicate. It would be like 
putting a full-blown peony in a bunch 
of small orchids—a violation of all our 
ideals of fitness and harmony of char¬ 
acter. 
Congruity 
The second principle calls for tor ■ 
gruity between door and doorway. Do 
not put a door of a pronounced type of 
design into a doorway where the type 
of design is utterly at variance; for in¬ 
stance, an early 18th Century door with 
multiple divisions and shaped panel 
heads into an Adam doorway of severe 
rectilinear emphasis. It is a univer¬ 
sally accepted truth that the openings 
have more to do with the appearance 
of a building than almost any other 
feature. This applies to what we put 
within those opening# as well as to the 
openings themselves. The inconsistency 
of a good doorway and a bad door is 
obvious, like a wretched chromo in a 
beautiful frame. 
The writer holds no brief' for a puris¬ 
tic, meticulous adherence to architec¬ 
tural and decorative precedent and slav¬ 
ish reproduction. That would be noth¬ 
ing but archaeology, would mean the 
rapid ossification of all originality and 
initiative and would put a speedy stop 
to all legitimate adaptation and crea¬ 
tion. But there are certain inherent prin¬ 
ciples of fitness that are unalterable. A 
lively perception of these principles re¬ 
sults from the conscientious heed of just 
such details as have been pointed out. 
They are subtle, and potent as they are 
subtle, and they richly repay the study 
bestowed on them. Likewise they are 
prompt to avenge neglect or ignorance 
or misuse. 
At Milford, Conn., is found a seven- 
panel narrow type of Colonial door of 
late nth Century design 
