Qfye (Hijrtstttms liousc ^ (harden 
1 * 9 * t 
pearance, and the leaves, coming after the 
flowers, look clean and beautiful in their 
tender willow-green coloring, covered, as 
they are, with a clear, bright varnish. 
Dresden Lamps 
HE delicate beauty of the Dresden 
china figure, it is evident, has been 
fully appreciated by the designers of elec¬ 
tric lamps, and some of the most beautiful 
of these lamps have standards on which 
the little figures are effectively used as 
ornaments. While not suitable, of course, 
with furnishings of any and every sort 
in a music-room, drawing-room, boudoir 
or any apartment more or less elaborate in 
its fittings, such a lamp adds a charming 
bit of decoration, and serves the purpose 
of illumination quite as well as one of 
more practical appearance. 
The exquisite little figures with their 
delicate coloring and perfection of detail 
are used in groups as well as singly, and 
some of the groups are quite ornate in 
their design. White and dull gold are 
usually employed for the base and stand¬ 
ard of such a lamp, the actual colors ap¬ 
pearing only in the ornamental figures and 
their surroundings. 
With lamps of this character there is 
opportunity for the use of elaborate shades 
that serve to carry out the idea of dainti¬ 
ness, not only of color but of fabric as 
well. Silks and laces with fringe and gold 
tinsel are used to make the loveliest of 
shades that are a fitting accompaniment 
to the Dresden figures. The shade on the 
lamp in the illustration is of Valenciennes 
lace over gold color silk, with narrow 
gold lace at the top and silk fringe around 
the lower edge. Lamps of this descrip- 
These attractive Dresden lamps may be had 
in a variety of sizes 
The sconce, when properly designed, is both 
ornamental and useful 
tion may be had in several sizes, from the 
little light for the boudoir, only eight or 
ten inches, to the table lamp anywhere 
from eighteen inches to two feet in height. 
Sconces 
ITH the exception of a few im¬ 
ported sconces of copper and brass 
that are to be found occasionally in the 
antique shops, most of the candle holders 
in this form that are offered for sale in 
this country are of Sheffield plate. Ex¬ 
cellent examples, many of them copies of 
old pieces, are shown, for single candles, 
for pairs and for three, or occasionally 
for four and five. All of these modern 
sconces have the candle holder branching- 
out in bracket form rather than attached 
to a circular piece and fastened to the 
lower edge of the shield, as in the illustra¬ 
tion. This is a cruder method, and is seen 
in many of the sconces that come from 
Holland and other parts of Europe. 
There is no prettier light for a room 
than that of several candles used as side 
lights,-so that the sconce may be thorough¬ 
ly useful as well as ornamental if one 
desires. Various sizes and designs of 
shields are shown in the Sheffield plate, 
some with plain, dignified lines, others 
with the elaborate borders that one always 
associates with this ware, and a few. 
though by no means the best examples, 
have mirrors set in. 
If preferred, these same sconces may be 
had in copper. The silver-plating is sim¬ 
ply left off, and as only the best grade of 
copper is used for Sheffield, such sconces 
are good-looking and quite satisfactory, 
and seem more in keeping with the decora¬ 
tions of certain rooms than the silver ones. 
Preparing Christmas Boughs 
S Christmas approaches and we begin 
to think of decorating the house with 
greens, the following suggestion should be 
of service: Dip the broken or cut ends of 
the fir and pine boughs used in decorating 
in melted paraffine to prevent the pitch 
from oozing out and leaving spots wher¬ 
ever it may touch. A few minutes given 
to this will be well spent. 
Quaint Clocks from Germany 
MONG the recent importations from 
Germany are some fascinating clocks 
for the nursery and kitchen that are dec¬ 
orative in a most appropriate way besides 
being very satisfactory timekeepers. The 
nursery clock is quite an imposing affair 
about fifteen inches high, of white painted 
wood with a dial done in bold black fig¬ 
ures and an enormous pendulum of shin 
ing brass that marks time merrily. The 
decorations are in bright colors and are 
largely educational in their general tend¬ 
ency. They show a funny little school 
scene with a schoolmaster, two unhappy 
urchins and a blackboard at the top, a 
bag for school books in one lower corner 
and a bunch of Teutonic-looking switches 
in the other. At the same time, however. 
Mother Goose is ably represented in the 
upper corners by a lamb, presumably 
Mary’s, and the mouse made famous by 
its peregrinations up the clock. 
Timepieces for the kitchen have dials 
made of china plates decorated with Delft 
scenes in addition to the figures that indi¬ 
cate the hours. In some of the clocks the 
plate in inclosed in a wooden rim two 
inches wide, but many of them consist 
only of the decorated plate which hangs 
on the wall just as any ordinary clock 
would do, and makes a most suitable addi¬ 
tion to a blue and white kitchen or one 
decorated in light colors. 
The quaint figures give this nursery clock a 
peculiar appropriateness 
