62 
House & Garden 
CLEAR AS A BELL 
0otKic 
wonderful tone which has made 
the Sonora famous is rivalled by the 
beauty of the period cabinets in which 
the mechanism is placed. 
To hear the Sonora and to see the Sonora is to 
be convinced that it is unequalled. The Sonora 
plays ALL MAKES of disc records perfectly with¬ 
out extra attachments and Sonora won highest 
score for tone quality at the Panama Pacific 
Glass 
(naeHrte in the IDb 
The Art of the Intarsiatore 
{Continued from page 60) 
German work Jackson says: “The Ger¬ 
man inlays on the whole rather run to 
arabesques and strapwork, or naturalis¬ 
tic vases of flowers, with butterflies and 
birds; one meets occasional perspectives 
and even figures, but the work is gen¬ 
erally harder and less successful than the 
Italian technique, with a larger and less 
intelligent use of scorched tints.” 
French Work 
The French encouraged the art of the 
intarsiatore at an early period, at least 
as early as the 15th Century, and prac¬ 
ticed it in France as early as 1644 when 
Jean Mace of Blois was made “menuisier 
et faisseur de Cabinets et tableaux en 
marqueterie de bois” to Louis XIV then 
aged six, and the remarkable achieve¬ 
ments of later French workers in mar¬ 
quetry gave the furniture of France 
an imperishable fame. 
Holland produced remarkable work¬ 
ers in wood inlay. We do, in fact, more 
often than not, associate with the 
thought of Dutch furniture that of mar¬ 
quetry decoration. The period from 
ISSO to 1650 marks the best Dutch 
marquetry. The composition is some¬ 
what fulsome, it is true, but this was 
occasioned by the greater variety of 
woods which Dutch commerce brought 
to the hand of the Dutch worker, and 
tempted him very often to sacrifice taste 
to the multitude of materials. In this 
respect the Italians were more fortunate. 
The Dutch work inspired the French 
workers of the early period. It was in 
Holland that Jean Mace became versed 
in the art. 
English Marquetry 
English marquetry owes its success to 
the Dutch taste which introduced it. In 
Evelyn’s Diary an entry for 1664 tells 
us that the English “did formerly much 
glory” in their marquetry beds. Early 
English inlaid work exhibits none of the 
floral extravagance of the pieces inspired 
by the Dutch taste. This Dutch influ¬ 
ence, when it came, assumed sudden 
sway, in consequence of which English 
marquetry furniture is lacking in transi¬ 
tional pieces. William, Mary and Anne 
gave Dutch marquetry an influence that 
might make one forget the furniture at 
Hardwick Hall made for Bess of Hard¬ 
wick or the cradle of James I. (1566.) 
The Later Italian Products 
When satinwood came into vogue to¬ 
wards the end of the 17th Century, 
painted furniture and more restrained 
marquetry never died out. Queen 
Margareta of Italy was always greatly 
interested in reviving the old art of in¬ 
tarsia in Italy and patronized the Scuola 
d’Arte Reale, established in the old Con- 
vento di Sant’ Antonio, in Sorrento, 
where it is taught. I am told that among 
the reconstruction problems of Italy, it 
is hoped that intarsia will furnish an 
industry that may be greatly developed 
by those who have- become crippled in 
I well remember how often when 
strolling along the Massa Lubrense and 
along the bypaths of Sorrento coming 
upon some intarsiatore, perhaps a child 
of ten, often an old man of eighty, sit¬ 
ting by the roadside, sometimes perched 
in the middle of the strada, industrious¬ 
ly at work cutting out the pattern sheets 
of the various wood veneers under his 
hand. At times all Sorrento seemed 
merged in marquetry. Many are the 
beautiful things these workmen are 
capable of turning out. It is true that 
for the most part the objects made and 
sold to the tourist are garish, but even 
then they exhibit the fact that deft and 
faithful craftsmanship is still very much 
alive, and later years have greatly im¬ 
proved the product in the matter of a 
greater color restraint. 
An English House for an American Family 
{Continued from page 29) 
waxed. The vertical battening of the black frame with a narrow gilt molding. 
doors with grooved and beaded boards 
deserves notice; so also does the simple 
and vigorous wrought iron hardware. 
In the drawing room, as befits its 
more urbane character, the woodwork is 
painted white, which, with the white 
walls, yields an excellent foil for the ma¬ 
hogany furniture and the bright colors 
of the book-bindings and the printed 
linen hangings at the western range of 
casements. There are no sash curtains; 
the leading and the metal hand-pieces of 
the casements give sufficient decorative 
relief without them. Nor are there any 
unnecessary shades to spoil the lines. 
Bold moldings surround the fireplace 
and there is no mantel shelf either here 
or in the dining room. 
The Paneled Dining Room 
The woodwork of the dining room, 
which is wholly paneled in the manner 
of the 18th Century, is painted a soft 
tone very like the old Chelsea green. The 
feature that really makes the room is 
the chimney-piece picture, an 18th Cen¬ 
tury canvas of dark, rich tones, set in a 
To accentuate and play up to this pic¬ 
ture the moldings of all the chimney- 
piece paneling have been emphasized 
with gilding. Elsewhere in the room the 
green of the woodwork is unbroken. 
The heavy molding surrounding the fire¬ 
place is of white sandstone. The rest 
of the color emphasis and cheer is sup¬ 
plied by small-figured, multi-colored 
printed chintz curtains at the west and 
south ranges of casements. No short 
glass curtains are used. 
The Architect and Client 
To sum up, the qualities displayed in 
the creation of Grithow Field are com¬ 
plete sincerity and a truly refreshing and 
simple directness. Along with these 
qualities there is due measure of the 
blithesome, playful spirit so necessary 
to give it a distinct individuality. Yet 
it may be seriously questioned if the 
simplicity and completeness embodied 
in Grithow Field could have been 
achieved unless there had been thor¬ 
ough co-operation between client and 
architect. 
