46 
House & 
Carden 
flowers that never grew 
The Beauty of Modern Artificial Flowers Adds Much to 
Present Day Decoration 
MARGARET McELROY 
could be more charming or ap¬ 
propriate than a spray of grace¬ 
ful glass flowers, their exquisite 
coloring and fragility admirably 
suiting the delicacy of that 
period. So in a room that shows 
Chinese influence, a spray of jade 
flowers or a branching tree, beau¬ 
tifully carved, not only accen¬ 
tuates the character of the room 
but is a lovely and appropriate 
accessory quite apart from its 
value. The Chinese were es¬ 
pecially happy in their use of 
jade. They truly loved it, not 
only for the beauty and value, 
but because it was a symbol of 
virtue and a household was es¬ 
pecially blessed that could boast 
a piece of it. There is an un¬ 
speakable loveliness about a clus¬ 
ter of jade blossoms arranged as 
only a Chinese expert knows how. 
In a charming living room that 
I know of, tin flowers have been 
used to immense advantage. In 
this room the walls are a delicate 
blue-green, the carpet black and 
in the heavy chintz hangings have 
been gathered all the colors of 
springtime. At the windows are 
pale gold gauze curtains and some 
of the furniture is covered in the 
chintz, the rest in a blue, mauve 
and gold striped satin. But it is 
toward the fireplace that we nat¬ 
urally look and linger. Here is a 
mantelpiece of simple, classic de¬ 
sign surmounted at either end by 
a little alabaster urn filled with 
the same flowers that are in the 
chintz. The yellow of primroses 
vies with the deeper tone of the 
black-eyed Susans; blue, mauve, 
In a baybtrry colored lustre 
jar have been placed flowers 
of glass beads in tones of 
mulberry and gray. Courtesy 
of Mrs. Gillette Nichols, deco¬ 
rator 
I MITATION may be the sh¬ 
eerest flattery but it’s doubtful 
in the case of reproducing in 
parchment, glass, metal, bead, 
shell, feather and jade, the form 
and color of a living flower. All 
the attributes are there, to be sure; 
the various parts copied to a 
nicety and in some cases the very 
perfume is included. But it all 
has rather the effect of a moving 
picture—quite perfect—only the 
heart of the mystery lacking. 
However, these flowers have a 
decided value in the decorative 
scheme of things, quite apart from 
being mere objects of curiosity, 
as they at first seem. They are 
vastly superior to the ordinary 
artificial flowers made of cloth, 
that are meant to be very real and 
never fool anybody. I heir popu¬ 
larity lies in die fact that they do 
not claim to be more than they 
are,—beautifully wrought objects 
of various materials that by their 
color and form provide a spot of 
interest as well as beauty, wher¬ 
ever they are placed. In other 
words it’s a question of sincerity 
winning out over a perfect imita¬ 
tion. 
These flowers cannot be used at 
random. The surroundings must 
be as carefully chosen as the flow¬ 
ers themselves. In a cottage room 
hung with gay chintz and flooded 
with sunlight we should not dream 
of introducing bead or feather 
flowers when the whole atmos¬ 
phere of the room demands fresh 
blossoms culled from nearby 
fields. But in an interior remi¬ 
niscent of Louis Seize, nothing 
Mattie Edwards Hewitt 
The flowers and prim box in this group are made of metal and are 
quite charming with the old French desk and alabaster urns. Mrs. 
Emott Buel was the decorator 
An old-fashioned nosegay of 
pink and white blossoms made 
of lacquered parchment fills 
this cream colored Wedge- 
wood bowl. Courtesy of 
Ovington Bros. 
Bradley & Merrill 
Orange toned lilies, a bronze lustre bowl and brass candlesticks make 
a brilliant spot of color against a gray tapestry wall. The flowers 
are made of soft feathers. Chamberlin Dodds, decorator 
