January, 1920 
19 
A colorjid group ar¬ 
rangement for the buffet 
consists of an alabaster 
dish filled with fruits, 
a pair of Italian pottery 
birds and a pair of tall 
amber colored Venetian 
glass compotes. Deco¬ 
rations shown on this 
page from Darnley, Inc. 
TREMENDOUS TRIFLES 
The Art of Adapting the Accessory to the Room and Creating a Home-like Atmosphere 
with Objects that Are Beautifid in Themselves 
NANCY ASHTON 
T O create a lived-in, intimate and sympa¬ 
thetic atmosphere, to make homes rather 
than houses, it is essential that all the accesso¬ 
ries for the rooms be selected and arranged with 
a view to comfort as well as beauty. For it is 
not until a room is complete in all its minor 
touches that it may be said really to “live.” 
Through them, it gains personality and distinc¬ 
tion, and by the taste displayed in their selec¬ 
tion, one may very easily judge of the charac¬ 
ter of the owner. 
That idea, of course, is a little hard on many 
of us, who have inherited quantities of useless 
trifles, which have nothing but a sentimental 
interest to recommend them and with which we 
often litter our homes. A suggestion for those 
unfortunates so handicapped would be to put 
the sentimental trifles away with lavender and 
old lace, where they belong. 
Mellowed and Modern Objects 
If we are so fortunate, however, as to pos¬ 
sess really beautiful objects, of a mellower civ¬ 
ilization, it is a different matter. Objects, such 
as those of the 18th Century in France, for ex¬ 
ample, when really great artists occupied them¬ 
selves with the designing and creating of not 
only art objects per se, but all sorts of the nec¬ 
essary small appurtenances, such as lamps and 
screens, clocks and andirons. Then it was that 
men like de Gouthiere or Clodion were among 
the many masters who gave their skill to the 
casting in bronze of a candelabra or lantern 
and who inspired and animated all of the fasci¬ 
nating details, which through their clever use 
make a perfect setting. 
It was in those days that the collecting of 
beautiful objects was considered an obligation 
of the leisure class, and the man who wished to 
live in the appropriate sort of an atmosphere 
had not only to have the money to acquire these 
objects, but the discretion to choose them, and, 
above all, the patience to wait for the artists’ 
handiwork to be completed. 
One of the curses of modern civilization is 
that we no longer have time, patience or suffi¬ 
cient interest to allow our homes to grow mel¬ 
low gradually. This feverish restlessness has 
naturally affected our artisans and discouraged 
our artists, and for that reason we find our 
shops crowded with poor, cheap objects with a 
purely “catch-penny attraction,” which, when 
placed in an otherwise attractive interior be¬ 
come through their very tawdriness the most 
Ilarting 
On a marquetry table stand a green vase 
with bead flowers and a pair of parakeets 
conspicuous thing in the room. Consequently, 
the entire standard of the decoration is lowered. 
How often have decorators thus suffered from 
the idiosyncrasies of their clients! 
As a matter of actual fact, there is absolutely 
no necessity for ornaments at all, unless as an 
inspiration, because of their beauty in color or 
form, and bad ones are totally worthless. The 
acquisition of purely expensive things, inartis¬ 
tic bronzes, oil paintings in heavy gold frames, 
onyx pedestals, imitation teakwood stands, or¬ 
nate, impractical vases should be discouraged. 
These atrocities are still frequently seen, having 
been sold to the gullible purchaser under the 
guise of “objets d’art.” 
When Is an Art Object? 
There are a few general rules which may 
help to guide the unwary. I'o begin with, the 
term “art object” should be conceded to be ap¬ 
propriate only after an authority (an authority 
with a cultivated taste) has pronounced them 
worthy of that title. Having decided upon the 
soundness of one’s judgment in the matter, the 
next consideration is the appropriateness of the 
selection for the room for which they are in¬ 
tended. They should not only be appropriate 
in style, to conform with the general decoration, 
but in proportion as to size. It is quite obvious 
that a huge crj'stal lustre, although magnificent 
in a formal drawing room, would l)e quite in¬ 
appropriate in a simple chintz-hung sitting 
room. A vase which looks top-heavy for a 
small table, a lamp so small, because of its un¬ 
fortunate position, that one could not possibly 
read by its light, a littered, crowded mantel 
with objects too large in proportion for its size 
are all pitfalls to be avoided. 
As to the appropriateness in style, it is need¬ 
less to mention the inadvisability of using 
cjuaint Victorian touches in a rather fonnal 
Louis XVI room, or delicate Directoire onia- 
ments in an early Jacobean English room. 
It is, of course, not necessary to stick religiously 
to one period in the choice of accessories, but 
the type of small object used should be in the 
period which will happily combine with its 
surroundings. This is a subtle art, which can 
only be learned gradually. 
Essential Accessories 
As to the essential accessories, such as mir¬ 
rors, screens, lamps, small tables, candlesticks, 
they should have to pass the same tests as the 
