HOUSE AND GARDEN 
July, 1913 
33 
The chairs speak for themselves; one can see at a glance that 
they are comfortable and practical, for while the backs are high 
enough to give ease to the person seated, they are not in the least 
too high to interfere with the serving of the meals. They, too, 
are quite plain, devoid of all unnecessary carving or other orna¬ 
mentation, and it is this very appropriate simplicity, this consid¬ 
eration for the “fitness of things” which makes the whole room 
so charming, not only to look 
at but to live in. 
The beauty and chasteness 
of these chairs just spoken of 
suggest the case of a gentle¬ 
man imbued with the spirit of 
the Italian Renaissance 
period who keenly admired a 
certain Italian high-backed 
chair. He admired it so much 
that he decided to have a set 
of dining-room chairs copied 
from it exactly. Now, the 
Italian chair was beautiful in 
itself, but this admirer did not 
consider whether just that 
beauty was practical for his 
up-to-date dining-room; he 
did not think of the inappro¬ 
priateness of the high, pro¬ 
fusely carved back terminat¬ 
ing in a crown on the top of 
which were four sharp points 
projecting out and upwards! 
He soon found to his sorrow 
that these points came to just 
that unfortunate height that the maid, while serving, tore her 
waist every lew days. Yet not even after a guest had torn her 
gown on these projecting points would the owner permit them to 
be removed, nor even rounded; and to-day these chairs have their 
points protected across the top by a heavy bent wire! Could any¬ 
thing be more incongruous? 
That incident is not meant in the least to infer that the work of 
the old periods is not beautiful when appropriately used, but when 
it is placed in our modern homes, adaptation to our present needs 
and mode of living must be taken into consideration. 
The lower right-hand photograph on this page shows a set of 
Vienna porch or garden furniture. It is charming in its solid 
usefulness. The slats of the seats, back and arms are a rather 
bright green, while the legs and other supports are white ter¬ 
minating in a ball of black— 
and it is just this touch of 
black which gives character 
and strength to these pieces. 
The cushion covers are cov¬ 
ered with a modern German 
printed cotton, the most ap¬ 
propriate material and type of 
design for this furniture. One 
has a black ground, while the 
other has a white ground, on 
which are scattered innumer¬ 
able quaint flowers and leaves 
in bright colors. The “snap” 
of the entire scheme has been 
secured by the color of the 
white lacquered fruit dish 
filled with bright oranges on 
the table. 
Anyone who has seen even a 
little of Hoffmann’s work can 
feel his touch in the photo¬ 
graph at the top of page 34. 
It is a corner of a young girl’s 
room where the walls are 
painted a warm, very light 
gray, and the woodwork painted the same gray, only very much 
darker, while the base board is black. The lower part of the 
walls is divided into well-proportioned spaces by narrow black 
lines, and these spaces are ideal for touches of bright colored 
pictures. The upper parts of the walls have a small stencil de¬ 
sign in black; the desk and chair are of oak stained gray. 
The group of rattan furniture shown below it is made along 
The draperies and table cover shown here are used extensively. Their 
designs are embroidered on light-colored linen or cotton 
Blue and green are the foundations of the color scheme here, contrast 
being secured by red flowers in the holder and the red lamp shade 
Attractive jardinieres and fruit holders of white lacquer are fitting com¬ 
plements to the enameled porch furniture and the striking fabrics 
