The editor wishes to extend a personal invitation to all readers of House and Garden to send to the 
Correspondence Department, inquiries on any matter pertaining to house finishing and furnishing. Care¬ 
ful consideration is given each inquiry, the letter and answer being published in due time as matters of 
interest to other readers. Where an early reply is desired if a stamp and self-addressed envelope are 
enclosed, the answer will be sent. No charge whatever is made for any advice given. 
FINISHING STANDING WOODWORK 
By an Artisan 
I T was a saying among architects and cabinet 
makers of old, “We want the woodwork fin¬ 
ished in the color our God Almighty lets it 
grow.” For they admired the beauty of Nature, and 
their successors—those who give Nature a careful 
study in these restless times—do so still. 
It made the heart of the old cabinet maker hop 
with joy when his eyes rested on the rich and har¬ 
monious figures of the woodwork and veneers cut 
from the giants of the forest. With patience and 
respect for his trade and the precious wood and 
veneers he handled, he selected, treated and con¬ 
structed them in the conscientious and tasteful 
manner which at our present time is so much ad¬ 
mired and makes well preserved antique cabinet 
trim and furniture a desirable and valuable article 
of commerce. 
But as well as such newly finished cabinet work 
looked in its natural waxed or polished state, its 
color could not remain as it was, for Nature was not 
yet done beautifying its product. On the contrary, 
it continued to increase its quality of color to such an 
extent in richness and variation, as time passed by, 
that the new effects and changes of character attracted 
the universal attention and admiration of the culti¬ 
vated public. 
Among the advanced lovers of Nature all over the 
globe, at once a desire was created to produce in an 
artificial way on wood the same effects as Nature 
brings about through time, and in such a manner that 
the imitation could not be detected, and to-day the 
architect and artisan in leading circles of the building 
trade realize that when the eye rests upon a quiet and 
beautiful color it makes the heart feel happy. 
The public demand, as well as the desire and art 
of the architect, interior decorator, and cabinet 
maker, has brought out clearly that negligence to 
furnish interior woodwork with the very best and 
truest color decoration, is putting obstacles in the 
way of progress, culture and civilization. This is 
the reason which prompts the heroic efi'orts now^ 
being made to show character decoration in wood¬ 
work wherever there is an opportunity to do so. 
Soft and charming antique, weathered, fumed effects 
resembling natural time effects on hard wood, which 
were not thought possible to imitate a decade ago, are 
artificially produced and can be seen in many recent 
buildings. In looking at them one seems to realize 
that in this line of trade there is a great field for 
study. 
Some architects have made great reputations for 
themselves during the latter years by applying 
such effects to the woodwork in the residences of 
wealthy men, and likewise in furnishing the ceilings 
and walls with characteristic decorations in old 
plaster, old gold, old metal, silver, tapestry, bronze 
and old ivory, but usually the process or method 
used to produce these effects was kept a secret by 
those who were entrusted with carrying out the work. 
That was the regrettable cause why so few people 
were unable to profit from the beauty of the new color 
discoveries. Many an hour of worriment was spent 
by architects endeavoring to find men who could pro¬ 
duce these effects on wood. Their search for such 
was often in vain and in despair they would be ob¬ 
liged to be satisfied with the wood finished after the 
usual methods which meant using asphaltum, colored 
dark filler, oil or aniline dyes, and this method of 
coloring they despised partly for its cheap, unnatural 
and painty appearance, and partly because the colors 
were sure to fade in a short time. The search for 
stains and colors which would produce the true nat¬ 
ural eff ect of time on wood and would not fade, and 
also to find a durable protective finish as a substitute 
for wax solution, became a mania with everybody 
connected with the decorative business. At first 
very little success was obtained by them, although 
great sums of money were continually spent by con¬ 
tractors in experiments. Oil, water and greasy 
articles had to be carefully guarded against where 
wood was waxed, as they would soil and discolor the 
woodwork when coming in contact with it. This was 
{Continued on page 15 , Adveitising Section.) 
