68 
House & Garden 
% 
urnituve 
This furniture, Karpen- 
esque upholstered, com¬ 
pletely satisfies that instinct 
for the right thing which is 
the heritage of every lover 
of fine furniture. Every 
piece is a sincere expression 
of the ideals of the Karpen 
Shops. Every piece has the 
high intrinsic excellence 
that only craftsmen who 
feel and understand the 
beauty of the Masters 
can adequately and mod- 
crnly impart. 
CHICAGO S* KARPEN <Sl BROS. newyork 
Furnishing With Old Cottage Pieces 
{Continued jrom page 66) 
America were slat-back and appeared 
between 1725 and 1750. 
Slat-backs present an interesting 
study in development for those who 
wish to delve so deeply into the sub¬ 
ject, the form of the slats in a measure 
indicating the period of manufacture. 
The first banister-backs appeared in 
both England and America about 1700. 
They had rush or mat seats and, like 
the slat-backs, straight turned legs and 
underbraces. The backs consisted of a 
horizontal top piece, usually curved in 
some form, and from three to five— 
usually four—upright balusters or spin¬ 
dles between heavier turned stiles. In 
the true banister-backs the balusters 
were turned and almost always split, 
the flat side being usually toward the 
front. 
In this country the banister-backs, 
like the slat-backs, were made of two 
or three kinds of hard or soft wood in 
the same chair and were usually paint¬ 
ed, black being the commonest color. 
They were made with and without 
arms. 
After 1735 or thereabouts the turned 
and split balusters became less common 
and gave place to plain or grooved up¬ 
right, flat on both sides. This form 
was common up to 1750 and persisted 
to some extent till about 1775, being 
gradually superseded by the more com¬ 
fortable Windsors. 
The “Fancy” Chair 
Finally, there may be mentioned in 
this connection a chair of later period 
which, though not precisely a cottage 
chair, may find a similar use in modern 
homes. They were made in the early 
years of the 19th Century and were 
then known as “fancy” chairs. They 
were derived from the Sheraton style, 
were usually rush-bottomed or cane- 
seated, were painted, often black, and 
were decorated with painting or sten¬ 
ciling, usually in yellow or gilt. They 
must not be confused with the various 
“drawing-room” chairs of the period. 
Fancy chairs became very popular in 
some parts of the country, particularly 
around New York, from about 1800 to 
1820. The backs were light and open, 
usually containing horizontal spindles 
and frequently gilded ball ornaments. 
The top rail of the back was generally 
stenciled in a pattern of fruit, foliage, 
etc. The seats were square or, more 
commonly, gracefully shaped, with the 
front corners rounded. The legs were 
turned in ornamental patterns, with a 
slight outward concave curve. The 
arms of the armchairs were of turned 
rods or spindles. Settees were made in 
the same style, the backs resembling 
chair backs in triplicate, with end arms. 
Now the point of all this is that for 
people who simply cannot afford Hep- 
plewhite and Chippendale chairs, there 
is still something to be had that is old, 
quaint, and picturesque, and often more 
appropriate than the more costly ma¬ 
hogany. Half a dozen black-painted 
Windsors of similar type are charming 
in a dining-room, and there is some¬ 
thing to be said in favor of a mixed 
group of cottage chairs. They do not 
cost one-tenth as much as genuine ma¬ 
hogany antiques, and yet they satisfy. 
As to Prices 
Of course, in these days of wide¬ 
spread antique chasing, one cannot ex¬ 
pect to get even cottage chairs for noth¬ 
ing. Time was when the best Wind¬ 
sors could be bought for $5 or so, and 
a good slat-back in its original state 
might be picked up for a dollar or two. 
Those da 3 's are no more, but you can 
still get a chair a century or two old 
for the price of a modern one of good 
design. Windsors in the shops now 
bring all the way from $5 for the less 
attractive side chairs to $25 for the 
finer fan-backs, or even $50 for the 
rarest comb-backs. For $10 apiece any¬ 
one should be able to purchase accept¬ 
able Windsors for home furnishing. 
Many of the slat-backs, being very old, 
bring high collectors’ prices, but I have 
seen plenty of the later, simpler ones of 
good design offered for $5 or so. Ban¬ 
ister-backs are less common, and good 
banister-back armchairs are worth $10 
or $15 or more. The fancy chairs are 
rarer and bring $10 or $15, though of a 
later period. 
Personally, I do not care for the re¬ 
productions of chairs of this type, but 
for those who prefer the newer things, 
there are graceful adaptations of these 
styles to be had in mahogany or paint¬ 
ed woods. These adaptations as a rule 
depart radically from the original styles, 
using mahogany for Windsors and even 
rush seats where only wood was orig¬ 
inally used. But even in these some¬ 
thing of the charm of the old style re¬ 
mains. It is possible, too, to get 
reproductions of the rarer English 
Windsor if you are not satisfied wdth 
the more graceful American product. 
How Paneling Is Designed 
{Continued from page 50) 
placed around each door or window, 
in good proportion to the size of the 
opening. 
The wall space between the cornice 
and the chair rail we shall now treat 
with panels, the arrangement of which 
cannot be limited to any one scheme. 
Very often we find it hard to decide 
which is the best design, as we can work 
out several equally interesting arrange¬ 
ments. This arrangement depends on 
the height of the ceiling and the desired 
effect to be obtained. For instance, if 
the room has a high ceiling a certain 
arrangement of wall panels will tend to 
lower the ceiling, whereas another 
equally interesting arrangement of wall 
panels will tend to elevate the ceiling. 
This takes us to the next step in de¬ 
sign—the principle of repetition in re¬ 
lation to line. This principle suggests a 
word used very often amongst the deco¬ 
rative trade, the word balance, and is 
applied directly in arranging wall panels. 
On our model we now show one small 
panel on each side of the doors (Wall 
A), where we are limited by the wall 
space and no alternative scheme is left 
for us. (Fig. 3.) Here we have ap¬ 
plied the principle of repetition uncon¬ 
sciously. 
On Wall B we place four panels of 
equal size to balance those on Wall A. 
The two door spaces on Wall A must 
be balanced on Wall B by two panels 
of equal size. By applying panels—one 
to each space—to Walls C and D, our 
panel arrangement is about complete. I 
have purposely taken a room as a model 
in which we have but one scheme of 
paneling possible, but at the same time 
to illustrate properly the execution and 
reasons. 
We have not yet touched the decora¬ 
tion of the mantel breast, for that takes 
us to our next step—the principle of sub¬ 
ordination in relation to line. The 
mantel breast is always more or less a 
feature of a room, principally as it is 
generally treated as an ornamental 
mantel, with a decorative painting or 
mirror above. In this case we will sim¬ 
ply suggest a plain mantel, in proportion 
{Continued on page 70) 
