36 
House & Garden 
SHADES THAT GIVE COLOR AND LIGHT 
Glazed ChintZy Cretonne and Painted Shades Now Make 
Pictures of the Modern Window 
GERTRUDE CAMPBELL 
A Swiss scene on the shade, plain 
yellow curtains and a pierced 
wood valance board make this 
combination. Earle Campbell, 
decorator 
To understand how a glazed 
chintz shade combines with Di- 
rectoire and Victorian furnish¬ 
ings study this grouping, by Lee 
Porter, decorator 
W E have grown so 
accustomed to 
plain white or green 
window shades that it 
is a pleasure to enter a 
room where decorative 
effects have been work¬ 
ed out with painted or 
chintz shades. For un¬ 
questionably, figured 
shades bring life and 
character to what would 
otherwise be a dull, 
monotonous interior. 
This is especially true 
when the decoration 
reproduces some quaint 
foreign landscape that 
is in harmony with the 
period of the room. 
These shades are of 
two kinds—the paint¬ 
ed, depicting a scene or 
a decorative motif; and 
the chintz shade in 
which a strip of glazed 
chintz is used with its 
repeat pattern. One’s 
choice will be guided 
by the room’s cost and 
general character. 
Decorated Shades 
The use of painted 
and decorated shades 
is not new. The Japanese used them as early 
as 710. They were called “Sarasa,”''a word 
translated a thousand years later into “calico”. 
It was material dyed in flower patterns through 
the use of a cane madder. New patterns were 
constantly produced and were illustrated in 
In the old Benjamin Pope house at Concord, Mass., we find Delft blue and white window 
shades in combination with blue curtains of a sheer material. They harmonize well with the 
Colonial furnishings 
color in the Japanese pattern books. Doubtless 
these inspired many other designers, for we 
find the same ideas used later in England, 
Switzerland and France. 
Occasionally we may run across one of these 
old samples, but such instances are rare. The 
specimens are extremely 
perishable, crumbling very 
easily, so that while the pat¬ 
terns are still discernible, 
the originaL is too delicate 
for household purposes. 
Fortunately the old patterns 
have been reproduced in the 
last few years and are now 
available. 
In selecting painted or 
chintz shades the greatest 
care should be taken to have 
them harmonize with the 
draperies, wall tints and 
rugs. It is inadvisable to 
use them for grouped win¬ 
dows, as they are too pic¬ 
turesque. Visualize 
them as pictures and 
hang accordingly—sep¬ 
arate and framed. Thus 
the single window 
best brings out their 
artistic possibilities. 
Choosing Draperies 
The frames for these 
shade pictures are made 
by the draperies. In 
choosing draperies and 
valances to go with 
them, solid colors 
should be selected. Fig¬ 
ured fabrics would de¬ 
tract from the interest 
of the shade itself. The 
curtains should hang 
in straight folds and 
can be topped by an 
ornamental valance 
either of plain fabric or 
of pierced wood, after 
the fashion of the val¬ 
ance boards used with 
Venetian blinds fifty 
years ago. The pur¬ 
pose of the valance, of 
course, is to finish the 
window and hide shade 
roller and curtain rod. 
In one of the rooms 
illustrated here the 
wooden valance and plain draperies are shown. 
The shade is a reproduction of an old design 
brought from the other side. It represents a 
Swiss scene in blue and brown. A pierced 
valance board covers the top of the picture; on 
either side hang drapes of plain damask case- 
