March, i g i 6 
51 
THE TELLING TOUCH OF SHADES AND SHIELDS 
AGNES FOSTER 
Questions on house furnishing and decoration will be answered promptly and 
without charge by this department. Readers desiring color schemes will kindly 
state exposure of the room. Fabrics and articles shown here can be purchased 
through House & Garden. A self-addressed stamped envelope should be enclosed. 
T HE ultimate telling touch is given a room 
by lamps and shades. They act as the 
jewels to a costume, enlivening and enrich¬ 
ing, accenting the general scheme by small brilliant 
color spots. This color note can be strong, accent¬ 
ing whatever color one desires to bring out in a 
room; or again, may soften the general effect. In 
whatever capacity they are the magical, final es¬ 
sential to a perfect interior. 
Red and green lined wicker shades, which once 
predominated, have been supplanted of late by 
subtle combinations of silk, of chiffon, of cre¬ 
tonne, of vellum, and even of tin. 
Uses for Silk Shades 
Silk shades have a dual career: 
they may be one thing during the 
day and another at night. Thus a 
shade of grey gauze is quiet and un¬ 
obtrusive during the day’s hours, but 
lit, an unexpected glow of color is 
shed over the room, due to the rich 
orange lining. An inkling of this 
transformation of colorful light is 
given by a plain scalloped band at the 
bottom edged with orange. This 
takes the place of a fringe, and is an 
unusual and engaging substitution. 
Such a combination is excellent for 
a grey room. The usual choice in a 
grey room is rose—tan being pro¬ 
hibitive—but sometimes rose will not 
work out with the rest of the color 
scheme. So the grey and orange 
combination is a pleasing variation. The linin 
must be heavy and a full value of color. , 
black or orange lacquered standard suits admii 
ably such a shade. 
Striped silks are full of possibilities for shade 
For the bedroom comes a striped dull robin’s eg 
blue or yellow or sage green combined with dee 
cream and narrow lines of 
black. These shades may 
be made six-sided with the 
silk drawn over the top to 
hide the bulb and ugly 
wires. The covered top 
throws a softened shadow 
upward, but reduces the 
amount of light. The bot¬ 
tom of the shade may be 
edged with a narrow uncut 
silk fringe; at the top edge 
the fringe may be cut 
away, leaving only the 
heading. If carefully 
sewed on this will not 
ravel. At the center top a 
little rosette may be made 
of the fringe. As a suit¬ 
able standard, use a 
wooden candlestick o f 
deep cream with stripes of 
blue or green as the case 
may be, and with a tiny 
line of black to give it the 
desired “snap.” The use 
gives a 
terestin 
$2.5 
of a small amount of black on a shade is always 
good, as it keys up any color combination. 
A library shade can be made of striped Shiki 
silk combining mulberry, gold, cream and black, 
with a gold and black fringe. Used with a 
greyish-white crackle bowl, this makes a very 
handsome ensemble. Striped taffetas in pastel 
shades make up well for bedrooms or boudoir 
lamps when finished with a small ruche of the 
same silk. 
Plain taffeta of rose with a chiffon stretched or 
shirred over it also makes a good boudoir shade. 
There is something very feminine about taffetas 
and chiffons. 
Types of Edging 
A straight double fold of the chif¬ 
fon showing the selvage edge is a 
new finish in place of fringe. It 
always saves a great amount of 
bother and expense if a shade can 
be finished by a ruche or ruffle or 
such a band, as we well know the 
difficulty of matching fringes and 
guimpes. One may always resort to 
the metal galoon, but this cheapens a 
Light en- shade and gives it a department store 
riches the look. 
brilliant Stiff taffeta pinked on either edge 
plumage of makes an attractive ruche. A fine 
the bird on quality of sateen may be treated in 
this shield, the same way, and applied to a linen 
$1.50 or cretonne shade, the color desired 
being brought out by the plain col¬ 
ored sateen. Metal laces and insertions may be 
made more interesting and unusual by running 
through them several strands of heavy silk floss. 
On a pale gold silk shade put a gold insertion 
and run through it strands of brilliant green and 
one of black. This gives just the smart finish 
needed in the effect. 
Color Combinations ' 
There are several com¬ 
binations of silk that pro¬ 
duce an indefinable but 
attractive coloring. Cham¬ 
pagne lined with pink, yel¬ 
low, rose or orange; grey 
lined with any of these; 
buff combined with strong 
blue—always excellent in 
a Colonial room; and yel¬ 
low and mulberry make 
an excellent combination. 
Shades should never be 
lined with dead white un¬ 
less the greatest light 
power is essential. Use a 
cream or any of the neu¬ 
tral tints that harmonize 
with the silk selected. It 
is w r ell to put a cheese¬ 
cloth interlining. It adds 
to the richness and pre¬ 
vents the bulb from show- 
(Continued on page 72) 
Intricately and exquis¬ 
itely made, this shade 
suits its painted base. 
Shade, $12; base, $ 10 
A rose shade shelters a 
bit of old Chelsea fitted 
up as a bedroom lamp. 
Shade, $10; base, $ I 5 
The dressing table lamp 
shown above is done in 
ivory an d delft blue. $60 
Mulberry, black and 
gold silk with black and 
gold fringe. Shade, $ I 2 ; 
crackleware jar, $15 
A richly glazed Chinese 
design chintz goes well 
with a deep cream bowl. 
Shade, $10; bowl, $12 
In the center above is 
a lamp of unusual shape 
for the dressing table 
Peacock chintz on vellum. 
Shield, $3; standard, $4.50 
