2x8 
HOUSE AND GARDEN 
December, 1909 
however, was one of wood with the base 
cut in graceful curves, while a broken arch, 
on * which perched a gilded eagle with 
outspread wings, surmounted the top. 
Gilt rosettes, flowers, and ornaments 
strung on wire at the sides, were the 
usual decorations characteristic of this 
type. 
By the year 17S0 American mirror 
manufacturers had evolved a style pecul¬ 
iarly their own, and glasses belonging to 
this class were known as “Constitution” 
mirrors. The designs of the frames them¬ 
selves were not unusual, but the note of 
originality lay in the decoration of the 
top. This was an American eagle, the 
newly chosen emblem of the republic, and 
it was usually executed in wood or plaster, 
gilded 
A good example of the early type of 
“Constitution” mirrors may be seen in an 
heirloom now cherished in a house at 
Salem, Massachusetts. In marked con¬ 
trast with this simple glass is a beautiful 
gilt mirror which is highly prized by its 
owner, Mrs. A. A. Lord, of Newton, Mas¬ 
sachusetts. That it belongs to the “Con¬ 
stitution” variety is evident from the eagle 
which surmounts it, but the overhanging 
cornice marks it as a mirror of later date, probably made early ing cornice, which is 
in the nineteenth century. An added interest is attached to fluted column, 
this handsome glass because of its historical associations, for its 
Another “ Constitution ” mirror having 
slender fluted columns at the sides 
original owner was Henry Knox, the bril¬ 
liant Revolutionary general and Wash¬ 
ington’s most intimate friend. 
During the last half of the eighteenth 
century, mirrors showed a much greater 
variety in shape and decoration than 
had been formerly displayed. Square 
and oval frames were frequently used 
and medallions and French bowknot 
designs were favorite forms of orna¬ 
mentation. 
Two splendid specimens of the more 
usual type of mantel mirrors, found after 
the year 1760, and retaining their popular¬ 
ity well into the nineteenth century, may 
be seen in the Osgood collection at Salem, 
Massachusetts. These, in common with 
most mantel mirrors of that period, are 
composed of three plates of glass uniform 
in height, but varying in length. In the 
older of these two mirrors the shorter 
glasses at either end are separated from 
the long central plate by flaming torches. 
A similar device is shown in the urn 
which surmounts the broken arch at the 
top, while garlands of laurel define the 
graceful outline of the frame. The frame 
of the other mirror is somewhat less elab¬ 
orate in design and shows the overhang- 
supported at either end by a slender 
(T0 be continued) 
Japanese Stencils 
AN INGENIOUS TYPE OF APPARATUS FOR THE DECORATION OF FABRICS, WALLS 
AND SCREENS—A STENCIL THAT HAS NOT THE USUAL LIMITATIONS OF PATTERN 
by Louise Shrimpton 
UR 1 NG recent months importers of Japanese 
prints are adding stencils to their collections. 
These stencils are creating great interest 
among arts-and-crafts workers in this coun¬ 
try as well as in France and Germany. They 
are from fifty to one hundred years old 
belonging to the period when the best prints 
were produced. Though many of them show 
signs of service, their beauty is unimpaired, 
and they can be used in many practical 
ways, or, if considered as an additional oppor¬ 
tunity to study the fast vanishing art of old 
Japan, they are invaluable to the student. 
It is probable that we owe these stencils, as 
well as many other things Japanese, to the 
increasing eagerness of modern Japan to grasp 
western ideas of civilization and of dress, 
and to their consequent neglect of old customs. These stencils, 
in use for many years in decorating fabrics, walls and screens, are 
now for sale in this country for prices ranging from a few cents 
to four or five dollars. One importer has recently brought in 
four thousand of these curious and beautiful working patterns, 
which seem to bear a peculiarly intimate relation to the life of 
their former owners. 
The stencils have a fragile appearance, but are in reality 
quite strong. They are cut from thin black paper on which 
the required design has been drawn. Two thicknesses of this 
paper are placed together and the stencil is cut through both at 
once, the Japanese craftsman pushing his knife from him instead 
of drawing it towards him in the method ordinarily used. After 
the pattern is cut the two sheets are separated, and a network of 
hair or of fine wire is placed between them. The two sheets are 
then glued together with such precision that they appear to be 
one. The finished product is a marvel of dexterous craftsman¬ 
ship. An extremely delicate pattern can be used, as support is 
given to it by the network, and a much freer treatment is there¬ 
fore possible than in the western methods of stenciling, where 
“ties” or “bridges” in the stencil pattern itself are a necessity. 
The fine network of hair or wire is of course not visible in the 
finished stencil. The Japanese craftsman has apparently as 
great facility with the knife as with the brush, and the more 
intricate designs show marvelous knife technique. 
The patterns of the stencils range from the simplest spot 
effects to the most complicated designs. Birds, flowers and trees 
are used as motives, and many of the simpler designs symbolize 
rain, snow, clouds and other manifestations of Nature. The 
stencil showing wild geese flying through pine trees is especially 
striking and decorative in effect. It could scarcely be executed 
in a western stencil, as its delicate lines have practically no support 
except the hair network. One large stencil, suitable for the panels 
