54 
House & 
Garden 
TINS — ANCIENT AND MODERN 
Which, When Painted and Lacquered, Become Tole, a Colorful 
Accessory to Up-to-Date Interior Decoration 
E. L. SEDGWICK 
T O the average person and even 
to those acquainted with the 
many features of past and 
present day decoration, tole is un¬ 
known. And yet it is the term 
“tole,” rather than the article itself, 
that is really unfamiliar, for the 
enameled and decorated tinware, 
which has attained such popularity 
for decorative uses is practically the 
modem equivalent of tole. At 
least, it is the only one that is gen¬ 
erally available. 
The Old Tole 
Fine examples of old tole are rare 
and are only seen occasionally in 
certain dealer’s and decorator’s 
shops, or possibly here and there 
in private ownership or in a mu¬ 
seum, such as that in the Talbot- 
Taylor collection at the Cooper 
Union Museum, New York City, 
comprising unusually beautiful 
pieces of both early French and 
English make. 
Tole of this character that can 
be bought at all is necessarily held 
at a high price. This, no doubt, 
accounts for the vogue for decorated 
tinware and the effort to revive an 
almost forgotten art that has found 
A modern tole bedroom lamp in gray, 13" high, $20. The paper shade is pink 
with gray striping. 13" wide, $12. The pair of old French tole cache-pots 
have roses on bronze ground. $75 the pair 
its expression in numberless forms, 
for a variety of uses. 
The French word tole, by which 
this work is known, is derived from 
the Latin “taule,” signifying a 
table or thin sheet of iron. In its 
early manufacture, bars of iron or 
“toles,” in which was a certain per¬ 
centage of lead, zinc or tin, were 
submitted to great heat and then 
hammered by hand into thin sheets. 
These were then molded into vari¬ 
ous utensils, or employed for other 
utilitarian purposes. Centuries 
later, in England and France, this 
process was replaced by a more ad¬ 
vanced method of manufacture. 
After repeated firings in great ovens 
and furnaces, the tole was rolled 
out between revolving cylinders un¬ 
til it was reduced to the proper 
thickness with a surface free from 
pores and like defects. 
Caldrons and Caddies 
While in its heavier quality tole is 
used extensively throughout Europe 
for strictly practical purposes, such 
as for huge caldrons, roof coverings 
and so on, it is in its decorative use 
that it is of greatest interest. For 
this purpose it is made into thinner 
One of a pair of exception¬ 
ally fine Empire vases with 
Biblical decorations 
The square tole waste basket, 13" high, $18; the round, 13J4" high, $20. 
Jardinieres range from $6 to $10 and boxes in various sizes and decorations 
from $1.75 to $10 
Tole of this kind is prac¬ 
tically unobtainable now. 
Courtesy of Cooper Institute 
Tole can be made a distinctive part of the color scheme for a room and its uses are almost unlimited. The desk set, with vari-fiowered decora¬ 
tions and blue stripings, is suitable for a dainty bedroom. It contains six pieces and sells for $35. The same flower treatment has been given 
the door plates, ($10 the pair) and the book ends, $7 
