HOUSE AND GARDEN 
20 
J 
A 
U A R Y , I 9 I I . 
There are modern reproductions of the old rim-locks of 
Colonial days that could lend character to a modern home 
in that style 
An old door knocker and a modern one of the same type 
derful stimulus to design in stock 
hardware, and the advance since 
has been steady and upward, until 
to-day the variety of styles, fin¬ 
ishes and cost presented is almost 
limitless. The more important 
manufacturers have show - rooms 
in the larger cities and splendidly 
illustrated catalogues for the use 
of those who can not come in per¬ 
son. Where the services of a 
competent architect have not been 
obtained the selection can be made 
by mail. A carefully made list of 
articles needed, sent to the sales¬ 
rooms, together with some idea of 
the style of the house and rooms, 
quality desired and expense per¬ 
mitted. will bring back a list and 
estimate. Greater harmony can 
be obtained by sending a sample 
of the finish of the lighting fix¬ 
tures, if these have been procured, 
and having the hardware finished 
to match, for every conceivable 
variety of metal and color can 
easily be made. 
If you are building a Colonial 
house the hardware should con¬ 
form. If you have a good archi¬ 
tect, undoubtedly he will look af¬ 
ter it, but it may be necessary for 
you, the owner, to select the hard¬ 
ware. Note the chief characteris¬ 
tics of the exterior of your house. 
It may be heavy and strong; it 
may be more delicate in feeling. Choose 
accordingly. For your dining-room you 
may have some good mahogany furniture 
fitted with hardware of its period. Har¬ 
mony and interest can be obtained by select¬ 
ing hardware of the same type. You may 
have a mantel designed in the styles of the 
Brothers Adam — or have a liking for the 
delicate character of work done in their 
time. Let it be the keynote for the fin¬ 
ish of a room. Have the hardware and 
lighting fixtures harmonize both in form 
and color. 
For a house of Elizabethan character, 
the variety of stock hardware to choose 
from is large. File flat unmodeled surfaces 
A closet hinge cut by Mr. Maxfield Par¬ 
rish from a common strap hinge of 
brass—a practical suggestion for the 
amateur craftsman 
with symmetrically disposed orna¬ 
ment, interlacing bands, volutes 
and guilloches, small studs and 
bosses, lend themselves well to 
hard w are design. Admirable 
stock patterns are shown. 
For a building, house or room 
in any of the French styles the 
variety of patterns to select from 
is the most extensive of all. The 
French have always been clever 
designers and craftsmen in hard¬ 
ware, and many of their patterns 
have been copied or followed by 
American makers. Yet much of 
the French type is bad, or at best 
insipid and weak. Selection should 
be made very carefully. 
Good stock hardware of the 
Gothic type is more difficult to 
find. Obviously, it would be ab¬ 
surd, generally speaking, to copy 
slavishly the huge rim-locks and 
other articles so magnificently ex¬ 
ecuted m mediaeval Germany and 
France. Our modern lock is of 
a different pattern and generally 
of the mortice variety. The cyl¬ 
inder lock and the paracentric key 
have been the great factors in 
working the change and, for the 
largest and strongest locks, the 
visible part consists of the plate 
or escutcheon which can be made 
of almost any shape to suit the 
fancy of the designer or the style 
desired. So generally the plate is merely 
decorated with ornament of the chosen style 
and the object is then supposed to be Gothic 
or Louis XVI, as the case may be. The re¬ 
sult is not altogether satisfactory, for the 
ornamentation is not functional and exists 
merely for its own sake. 
Beautiful hinges and corner plates, ring 
handles and pulls, door knockers, nail heads 
and other articles are usually obtainable in 
stock patterns; but where good examples 
cannot be found it is better to use hardware 
of the plainest, simplest type, which is al¬ 
ways appropriate and of which you will not 
easily tire. 
Schools of ornament represented in 
Two more examples of Mr. Parrish’s skill in securing distinctive effects with simple 
materials. The small hinges are merely cut out of the common stock hinge 
A curious old combination of ring handles and 
lock escutcheon found in a Colonial home 
