49 
June, 1921 
mintftuo 
popular. It can be either plain 
or elaborate according to the 
style of the room. In this type 
especially is refinement of detail 
j requisite. 
An example of such refine¬ 
ment of detail is found in the 
niche designed by Leoni in 1720 
I for an English drawing room. 
It is a remarkable specimen of 
18th Century work set in a per¬ 
fectly designed classical envi¬ 
ronment. The plaster moldings 
and ornaments all serve to set 
off the curved recess and its 
J beautiful shell-patterned dome. 
The uses to which niches can 
be put are various. They should 
not as a rule be left empty; a 
niche is meant to accommodate 
something. Statues have their 
place, especially in exterior 
niches. 
Interior niches may be treated 
in several different ways. One 
sees examples of niches contain¬ 
ing clocks or a single tall china 
jar, which correspond to the tra¬ 
ditional statue. Many people 
prefer to fit their niches with 
shelves, sometimes even with a 
glazed door, and to fill them 
with a collection of rare china 
or glass. One such niche has 
been very effective used in a liv¬ 
ing room where the interior of 
the niche was painted Chinese 
Vermillion to give background to 
«**. V ti f . ts J ' A*. 4 
liYa* 
an unusual small collection of 
green Chinese ceramics. 
In many dining rooms it 
serves naturally as a china 
closet, a pair of niche cupboards 
in opposite corners giving a 
pleasant balance to the room. 
Some niches are extremely 
difficult to fill adequately with 
anything but a statue. The 
difficulty is, of course, to find 
your statue. Modern marbles 
are not always satisfactory, and 
in their stead one might pick up 
occasionally at sales of antiques 
pleasant examples of 17th or 
18th Century stone work. Un¬ 
fortunately most of such work 
is better fitted for out of doors, 
in the garden, or in exterior 
niches. Bronze statuary, where 
price is not a problem, can find 
a fitting background in a niche. 
For ordinary occasions, however, 
one must fall back on the big 
china vase or jar. If it has no 
especial merit as a ceramic, the 
jar may be kept filled with flow¬ 
ers and with dried grasses in 
winter. No especial rule can be 
laid down for the treatment of 
the niche save that it be 
given sufficient architectural 
prominence in a room, neither 
overshadowed by other details 
nor so predominating in the 
room as to detract from other 
decorative details. 
The shell-patterned dome is an ancient enrichment 
oj the niche and it and its variations are often 
found in modern work. This example is in an 
English drawing room and was designed in 1720 
by Leoni 
(j ,7 
; f 
II A 
l ! J - I 
■ 1 
The success or failure of any niche de¬ 
pends upon the refinement of its detail. 
Too much ornament or too little will 
spoil it. Flower swags ornament this 
niche sketched by Katherine G. Hart- 
shorne of the New York School of 
Fine & Applied Arts 
Applying the niche design to a 
corner cupboard was a favorite 
device in early American houses 
and is properly reproduced today. 
It is usually built of wood and 
fitted with shelves for china 
E . ts® 
To relieve the wall in a paneled room 
one might introduce a niche. In a 
drawing room the shelves could hold a 
collection of rare china or jade and 
Chinese crystal. From a design by D. 
Satels of the New York School of Fine 
& Applied Arts 
