House & Garden 
c 2 
A VARIETY OF MANTEL DECORATIONS 
In the Residence of Mr. Bertram G. Work, at Oyster Bay, Long Island 
DELANO p ALDRICH, Architects 
Harting 
Over the fireplace in the en- 
trance hallway hangs a bril¬ 
liant painting of birds, and 
two pedestals surmounted by 
French statuettes stand at 
each side 
W ITHOUT a fire, the most per¬ 
fectly appointed room is often 
cheerless and depressing, and of all 
the details, in a thoughtfully con¬ 
sidered and well-constructed interior, 
nothing may be more satisfactory 
than a correctly appointed, attrac¬ 
tively arranged fireplace. 
It is important to give an archi¬ 
tectural treatment to all fireplaces, 
whether they be elaborate or simple. 
The mantel, it goes without saying, 
should be in scale with the size of 
the room, and of a design to con¬ 
form with the general decoration. 
This is an important fact too often 
disregarded. 
It is interesting to note the diver¬ 
sity of treatments most effective, 
though frequently very simple, which 
have been evolved in a recently com¬ 
pleted house at Oyster Bay. This 
house was built by the sea, and the 
sea motif—dolphins, fish, shells and 
sea weed—is a constantly recurring 
theme, displaying itself upon fix- 
In the dining room, with its 
\lth Century Dutch paintings, 
a white and gray marble man¬ 
tel bears an alabaster clock 
and urns, with a tall mirror 
above them 
tures, moldings and mantels alike. 
The result was particularly happy 
in the case of the ironwork and the 
fireplaces, and in some instances, the 
fire irons and andirons conformed to 
this idea. In each instance, in fact, 
it will be noted that tire andirons 
and fire irons selected, whether they 
were wrought iron, bronze, or ormo¬ 
lu, were in each case chosen with 
due regard to the type of the mantel, 
and were of a size to accord with its 
dimensions. 
Good taste and appropriateness 
characterize the accessories, which 
being few and well chosen, add to 
the restfulness of the rooms more 
than a multiplicity of bric-a-brac. 
These have been arranged in attrac¬ 
tive groupings on the mantel shelves, 
to harmonize with the mirrors, the 
paintings, or the needlework, which 
hang above. Even the lighting fix¬ 
tures were chosen and so placed as 
to make a complete and perfect com¬ 
position in each instance. 
