September, 1917 
45 
world atmosphere any article that is needed for 
the furnishing of the house. 
For the bedroom, for example, beds of vari¬ 
ous types, adapted to modern equipment of box 
springs and mattresses, are found to be quite 
as desirable as the old. In these there is a 
wide range of prices—from the simple and 
moderately priced Colonial four-poster to the 
beautifully carved mahogany Chinese Chip¬ 
pendale that costs five and six times as much. 
French beds with cane or painted decorations 
are likewise available and have the advantage 
of being made in any desired size; often they 
assume the character of day beds. In the other 
articles of bedroom furniture the reproduction 
appears to equal advantage. Dressing tables 
made of old wood, exact facsimiles of the best 
English and French types, with slender grace¬ 
ful lines, have drawers that slide in and out 
readily, a feature not always to be found in a 
genuine old piece. 
Paint Finishes 
A word here about the rehabilitation of bed¬ 
room furniture may be of interest. Where a 
problem arises in the case of a walnut, oak or 
maple bedroom set, harking back to the late 
Victorian type of twenty years ago, it can be 
transformed by paint and 
enamel into really attractive 
furniture, suitable for use in 
any simple bedroom. Such 
pieces are greatly improved 
by removing, as far as pos¬ 
sible, all ginger-bread cut¬ 
out woodwork and by 
changing the hardware to 
wooden knobs. 
This painted finish is not 
an expensive process at best. 
Necessarily, the smooth sur¬ 
An elaborate reprodiiction, a mahogany 
Chinese Chippendale jour poster. Court¬ 
esy of W. & J. Sloane 
face of enamel—the result of several coats rub¬ 
bed down with powdered pumice stone—costs 
more than flat paint, because of the labor re¬ 
quired to produce this eggshell quality of sur¬ 
face, but even the flat painted surface with only 
a suggestion of enamel will successfully dis¬ 
guise furniture that would otherwise be rele¬ 
gated to disuse. 
In the color of painted furniture, the an¬ 
tique appearance, following the popular trend 
of all furniture, is the most desirable and the 
low tones such as gray blue, deep cream or 
orange red, are preferable to the stronger shades. 
Often the surface is stippled to give a greater 
effect of age, and in the copies of old Italian 
furniture with floral detail, the usual deep 
cream background is mottled by a brownish 
paint and so rubbed at the edges as to produce 
the appearance of years of wear. 
Hall Furniture 
Reproductions in furniture for the living 
room and hall can be found in great variety. 
In the upholstered pieces, old velvet, leather, 
brocades, needlework and even tapestry are so 
cleverly imitated as to defy detection. As it is 
possible to obtain the measurements arid copy 
the design of any piece of furniture or textile 
owned by the Metropolitan 
Museum, the furniture deal¬ 
ers have drawn largely upon 
this resource for their de- 
Isigns, and likewise upon 
the pieces in South Kensing¬ 
ton, in England. 
Machine - made needle¬ 
work and tapestry can be 
found to replace the old, and 
even ecclesiastical vest¬ 
ments, now so much used 
( Continued on page 76) 
One of the most desirable type of 
Jacobean oak refectory tables now 
reproduced is the Elizabethan draw- 
top table with extension leaves that 
slide down and under the main part 
of the top. Note the clever imita¬ 
tion of the worn foot rail. Closed, 
this table measures 5 '; it opens to 
9’ 6". Courtesy of The House of 
Philip Oriel 
Made in America after an old Eng¬ 
lish design taken from Chinese 
sources—a cream lacquer Chippen¬ 
dale cabinet with gold decorations 
and fine green striping. Courtesy 
of the House of Philip Oriel 
Faithfid facsimiles give almost as 
much satisfaction as the genuine an- 
tiaue—and sometimes cost more. 
This reproduction {below) of a 
Jacobean credence in old English 
hand carved oak owes its air of 
verisimilitude to the original brass 
fittings as well as its general lines 
and materials. Courtesy of the 
Hampton Shops 
French furniture is being adequately 
reproduced for the modern home. 
The set of painted Louis XVI to 
the left is hand carved, painted 
gray and green and antiqued. 
Courtesy of New York Galleries 
