44 
House & 
Garden 
REVIVING THE BELL PULL 
After a Long Banishment the Bell Pull Is Being Brought Out Again 
As a Decorative Feature—The Materials to Use 
MARY H. NORTHEND 
This dining room group of Jacobean chest, Italian candlesticks, old Italian chairs 
and the soft painting is enhanced by a cord bell pull of brown and blue silk. 
Lee Porter, decorator 
hand-made, with pendants to match 
the trimming. Needlework, in fact, is 
one of the most interesting types of 
decoration that can be used for this 
purpose, for ever since Queen Eliza- 
beth's day wonderful bits have been 
produced. 
In one house I know, a clever imi¬ 
tation of ancient needlework hangs by 
the side of an old colored print of 
Washington. The grouping includes 
Strips of old embroidery make good bell 
pulls. This, for instance, is worked in reds 
and yellows to harmonize with the colors 
of the room. Earle Campbell, decorator 
baster urn made into a lamp. The fumi- 
a mahogany table on which stands an ala- 
ture, while differing in type, seems to har¬ 
monize with this ensemble and both the 
Charles II chair and the gay-toned chintz 
covering add a pleasing note to the color 
scheme. The bell pull of red and white with 
a soft blue border is finished with a tassel. 
Bead Work and Guimpe 
Some of the most charming 
bell pulls today are done in 
old-fashioned bead work and 
are very lovely indeed, but very 
rare. These are about 4” wide 
and are worked in gay colored 
flower patterns and finished 
with a big brass ring at the 
end. Wonderful old brocades 
are also appropriate, as they 
come in so many different de¬ 
signs and have such rich back¬ 
grounds that there is no diffi¬ 
culty in finding something that 
will harmonize with the other 
furnishings of the room. 
Guimpe, the aristocrat of flat 
trimmings, has decorative char¬ 
acter and with attractive lin¬ 
ings can be used advantageous¬ 
ly for pulls. The design may 
be either compact or loose and 
open, for it is the trimming and 
twisting of the guimpe that 
makes it so effective and so 
suitable for bell-pull purposes. 
There are also fantastic themes 
and decorative motifs in vel- 
[Continued on page 58) 
In this ensemble of Chippendale commode 
and early Victorian candelabra the bell piUl 
is velvet with a decorative brass end and 
ring pendant. Lee Porter, decorator 
The old-time needlework is 
particularly charming when 
placed on the wall. Lined with 
bright silk and edged with col¬ 
ored cord, ornamented perhaps 
at the bottom by a round ring 
or tassel, it makes a delightful 
accessory. A large twisted 
cord, combining the color 
scheme of the furnishings, is 
also fascinating and should be 
furnished with a very large tas¬ 
sel made of masses of different 
colored cords, bound together. 
Tulls are also often finished in 
Louis Seize style, flat in shape. 
Here is a beadwork bell pidl as decorative strip 
that enriches the simple grouping 
W HILE modern furniture necessarily 
influences many of our ideas in deco¬ 
ration, we are forever seeking new 
ornaments that will conform also to the style 
of our rooms. This may be the reason why 
the old-time bell pull has become so popu¬ 
lar. For it is experiencing a healthy revival 
and taking its place with the pictures and 
fabrics on our walls, adding its 
distinctive and pleasing note. 
Years ago, before the intro¬ 
duction of electricity, the bell 
pull was a necessity. It may 
be made equally practical at 
the present time by connecting 
it with electric bells. There is, 
too, such an infinite variety of 
materials from which to choose 
that bell pulls can be made to 
conform to almost any style or 
period desired. 
Needlework Pulls 
