May, 1911 
HOUSE AND GARDEN 
349 
carving in the frieze and the use of consoles — in fact the whole 
mantel is a remarkably good example of this work at its best. This 
has the characteristic English domestic quality in a very marked 
degree. In fact this element of domesticity or as the English say 
“homeliness” is especially characteristic of the work of this period. 
The mantel in the China Room at Holland House is another 
good specimen of Jacobean; except that the use of the colonnettes 
in the over-mantel suggests a later period, and'certainly seems out 
of character. The stone facing is better than in the preceding ex¬ 
ample and has the simple, direct treatment that is so charming 
in this work. 
The designers of this period were very sparing in the use of de¬ 
tail on the exteriors of buildings. Usually the entrance door was 
made a special feature and had some well placed ornament above 
it. This was often heraldic and the composition included a win¬ 
dow or windows over the door. The door at Blicking Hall, seen 
at the end of the bridge over the ancient moat, is a particularly 
fine example of this treatment. The use of columns on either side 
of the door was 
quite usual. They 
were commonly 
employed in a pure¬ 
ly decorative way 
and did not even 
pretend to support 
any weight. 
There is much 
that is interesting 
in the decorative 
plaster work of this 
period. In Gothic 
work the rooms 
were either vaulted 
or the ceiling 
beams were allow¬ 
ed to show. These 
were covered with 
heavy planking to 
form the floor of 
the room above, and 
this showed in the 
ceiling in the sim¬ 
pler work or was 
paneled in more elaborate rooms—as in 
the Banqueting Room at Hever Castle. 
When, however, plaster came to be 
used, they soon realized its possibilities 
as a medium for decoration. The earlier 
work recalls the detail of the elaborate 
fan vaulting of the late Gothic, even to 
the form of the ribs, although these 
were of a much smaller scale than was 
used in stone vaulting. An excellent 
example of this kind of plaster work is 
the ceiling of the dining-room at St. 
Donats Castle, which is also a fine type 
of an English interior. In later work 
there is more of the character of wood 
carving in the plaster work and more 
elaboration, without, I think, a cor¬ 
responding increase in charm. 
The Long Gallery at Blicking Hall 
shows the flat strap-work influence in 
the ceiling, and the ornament is com¬ 
posed of allegorical subjects with con¬ 
ventional ornament on the ribs and in 
some of the panels. This is a fine in- 
On the exterior of the houses the entrance was 
usually made a focal point by the use of orna¬ 
ment, and made more imposing by tying it in 
with a window group above 
China Room, Holland House. Another typical 
example of the Jacobean fireplace, excepting 
the incongruous colonnettes 
St. Donats, the dining-room. When plaster came to be used for 
ceiling decoration it followed stone vaulting of Gothic work 
terior save for the 
Victorian “Gothic’’ 
bookcases between 
the windows. 
This whole period 
f rom’the late 
Gothic until the 
completed Renais- 
sance is one of 
transition. In the 
Gothic -work, espe¬ 
cially in the detail, 
craftsmanship and 
individual initiative 
were supreme. 
That is to say, the 
training and tra- 
d i t i o n s of the 
craftsman deter- 
rnined the general 
character, but the 
exact form and ex¬ 
pression of the or¬ 
nament were the 
result of the skill and invention of the 
workman. This was gradually modified 
as the Renaissance influence became 
stronger, until at last the designer domi¬ 
nated the detail. The greater coordina¬ 
tion of classic design and the fact that 
the ornament was an integral part in the 
expression of an idea, made it necessary 
for one mind to determine the exact re¬ 
lation between the parts and the whole. 
In the perfect classic form every bit of 
ornament and detail has an exact rela¬ 
tion to the whole design, while in the 
earlier transition work the relations 
were more or less fortuitous. 
There is a great charm in the results 
of the earlier work. It has freshness 
and variety and initiative. Above all it 
tends to produce the ideal domestic in¬ 
terior, as contrasted with the more 
formal work of the Renaissance, and it 
is this quality which makes it so pe¬ 
culiarly appropriate as a treatment for 
modern rooms of domestic character. 
Blicking Hall. Here the plaster 
ceiling shows the strap-work in¬ 
fluence in the panels; the latter 
are filled with allegorical subjects 
