12 
HO USE & GARDEN 
Paint was used, as on this console cabinet, to enrich the beauty of 
carved work and curved line 
well put together—furniture that neither 
you nor I would blush for nor be afraid 
of using—then we need not bother so 
much as to the kind of wood or the 
grain. 
This may sound contradictory to the 
heritage mentioned above. The more ex¬ 
pensive kinds of painted furniture, made 
after the patterns of the Brothers Adam, 
Hepplewhite or Sheraton, were generally 
executed in satinwood, a practice that is 
followed to-day in the very best work. 
Such work is of the class that has always 
existed. 
The less expensive kinds — although 
they are by no means the least effective 
—are the American farmhouse types and 
the peasant designs brought from the 
other side from Bavaria, Hungary, the 
Tyrol, Holland and other parts of the 
Continent. In the first group come those 
staunch, comfortable, plain wooden 
chairs and settees mostly of Windsor 
pattern or of Windsor affinities which 
can occasionally be picked up at country 
fairs in New England and, in the Penn¬ 
sylvania Dutch districts, those quaint 
chests and settles. Their lines are generally good 
and the designs are attractive—either a stenciled 
design of fruit, leaves and flowers or narrow 
lines and bands painted on a ground color of 
greens, greys, yellows, reds, dark blues or 
white. 
The foreign peasant furniture includes a greater 
assortment—cupboards, chairs, beds, chests and 
the like, and is made of the plainest and most 
inexpensive materials. Paint, in this instance, is a 
logical decoration. The peasant purse not afford¬ 
ing those finer woods which were used in the 
houses of the rich, the humble owners embellished 
their crude chairs and tables with painted decora¬ 
tions. Light blue, cream, white or some other 
bright tint is laid on for a body color with broad 
decorative bands forming panels in which are 
painted stiff sprays of foliage, baskets of fruit and 
flowers, birds, animals, and an occasional human 
figure. 
A revival of two types—the American farm¬ 
house and the peasant—constitutes the bulk of 
the modern movement of painted furniture, and 
the modern work is generally reproduced after 
their models, although, in the more expensive 
kinds, as noted before, the lines and finer work- 
in the finer sorts the painting was applied 
both inside and out. The designs were 
more decorative than naturalistic 
manship that characterized Adam, Sheraton and Hepple¬ 
white creations still obtain. For the present, however, we 
need to consider only the first two types. 
The trouble with much modern peasant furniture is that it 
tries to improve on its models. Beware of this when you are 
selecting painted furniture for your house. Look first to the 
lines of the pieces, then to the decoration, then to the 
finish. 
The lines should above all be substantial. They should give 
the atmosphere of sturdiness tending to longevity, for this 
original home-made furniture was made to last. 
As to the decorations, remember that more than average 
skill is required in applying them. They must not be so crude 
as to appear altogether grotesque, and, on the other hand, not 
too dainty or too naturalistic. They should have the veri¬ 
similitude of that crudity which characterizes all peasant art 
and in which lies its charm. The men and women who first 
decorated their furniture with designs of fruits and flowers 
aimed to picture what they saw. Whatever crudity of execu¬ 
tion resulted was due to lack of skill. 
Modern painted furniture, if it is to be 
at all successful, should have at least 
the spirit of this naive crudity. 
Finally look to the finish. There are 
two kinds: the gloss enamel and the 
rubbed. By all means insist upon the 
rubbed finish. It will cost more, but it 
will prove relatively of more value in 
beauty and service, as dull finish always 
does. Furniture was never intended for 
a mirror; table tops are not to be looked 
into but to be looked at. Moreover, no 
peasant furniture was ever made sleek 
or glistening. The woman who buys the 
latter kind will soon enough learn her 
mistake. 
From what has been said of the cost 
of this modern painted furniture it must 
not be understood that all these desirable 
features can be had for a song. To 
attain them necessitates good workman¬ 
ship, and good workmanship is worth 
good money. 
I said above that painted furniture 
was easily used and easily lived with. 
This is perfectly true so long as it is 
Courtesy of E. H. and G. G. Aschermann 
An American bedroom done in the newer style of painted furniture by a student 
of Hoffman. The walls are grey, rugs black and white and bed white with 
black decorations 
