HOUSE AND GARDEN 
January 
191 1 . 
quality which is so essential to good 
results. 
In this day of machine-made pro¬ 
ducts it is difficult to realize that the 
Colonial house was almost wholly 
hand-made. That is to say, the car¬ 
penter had to plane his boards by 
hand. The molded work was exe¬ 
cuted by hand, by the use of a set of 
molding-planes, which were a part of 
the kit of every carpenter, and it was 
by an intelligent use of a rather lim¬ 
ited assortment of forms that the re¬ 
sults were obtained. In the same 
way most of the ornament was ob¬ 
tained by using “stock” dies, into 
which the paper pulp was pressed, 
and in this way the true papier- 
mache was made. This in turn was 
glued into place, and when painted, 
produced the effect of carved wood. 
I remember some years ago seeing a 
fragment of a very elaborate and beauti¬ 
ful cornice which was taken from an old 
house on Beacon Hill, in Boston. All the 
ornament was made of a very hard 
papier-mache which had stood perfectly 
for over a hundred years. 
In this connection I recall the expe¬ 
rience of an architect who had taken a 
house in some small town—perhaps in 
Maine — but wherever it was, in some in¬ 
accessible spot. It was necessary to 
make some alterations which, as I re¬ 
member it, involved building a mantel. 
The village carpenter was called upon, 
and it developed that he not only had the 
Yankee cleverness of his ancestors but 
also had inherited their tools. That is to 
say, he had a complete set of molding- 
planes, and when it came to working out 
the detail of the mantel and other wood¬ 
work he took a keen interest in using the 
materials and instruments at his com¬ 
mand, to the best artistic 
advantage, and showed a 
really surprising ingenu¬ 
ity in helping to work out 
the results. 
I firmly believe that 
the delightful quality of 
much of the Colonial 
work, especially in New 
England, was due to this 
intimate relation between 
the actual workman and 
the work, and that the 
imperceptible variations 
from mathematical accu¬ 
racy which resulted from 
the work being hand¬ 
made, adds materially to 
its real character and 
charm. 
The writer has found 
great difficulty in getting 
wood workers to treat 
; -‘v .nA :v _ jc o 
average 
slight- 
The Ionic order with its 
characteristic volute 
capital 
The Corinthian order, 
characterized by its 
acanthus leaf capital 
a hand-made product. The 
wood carver feels that he is 
ing his work unless he can make it 
as mechanically perfect as if it were 
made by the carving machine, and 
the result is dry, cold and uninter¬ 
esting. Naturally, therefore, it is ex¬ 
tremely gratifying when one is able 
to find workmen with sufficient im¬ 
agination and intelligence to leave 
the tool marks in the carving and to 
preserve the free, crisp character 
that is natural to this kind of work. 
This intimate relation between 
the worker and his work is a much 
more prominent feature of the New 
England work than of the Southern 
of the building in 
A bit of an interior doorway carved by the 
Colonial craftsman builders. There are 
several variations of the lamb’s-tongue 
molding here 
elaborate wood carving as 
An old New England doorway show¬ 
ing curious dentils. The garlands 
are of papier-mache 
Another New England doorway in 
excellent condition. The fluting 
of the pilaster is an innovation 
Colonial. Much 
Virginia, Maryland and the Caro- 
linas was inspired by the work of 
Thomas Jefferson. “Citizen” Jefferson 
was, of course, in close political sympathy 
with the French ; and when he not only 
founded but designed the University of 
Virginia and his own “Monticello,” he was 
undoubtedly strongly influenced by the 
contemporary work in France. This was 
the period of the Madelaine, the Pantheon 
and the Invalides, etc., when they were 
building the “bon architecture Francaisc,” 
and his traditions were much more nearly 
those of stone architecture than those of 
the English Georgian work. Consequently 
the later Southern work had a much more 
robust scale than that of New England, 
and while it has a great deal of charm, it 
is quite different in sentiment. To appre¬ 
ciate the influence of Jefferson one has 
only to contrast the simple dignity of 
Mount Vernon, with its distinctly wooden 
character, with later work—notably the 
University of Virginia, which might very 
well have been built in stone. 
Perhaps the most characteristic feature 
in the Colonial design is 
the cornice; and the or¬ 
nament applied to this 
is as significant as any 
feature of that style. I 
suppose the average “man 
in the street” has at least 
a speaking acquaintance 
with the “orders” as ap¬ 
plied to columns and ca¬ 
pitals—knows, for exam¬ 
ple, that the Doric cap is 
very simple; that the Ion¬ 
ic is a little more ornate, 
with its volutes and curls, 
and that the most salient 
feature of the Corinthian 
order is the very much 
conventionalized acanthus 
leaves which are wrapped 
around the top of the col¬ 
umn. 
And I suppose that the 
information stops at this 
