44 
House & G a r d 
e i 
pargetry inside the hou 
A Revival of an Old Form of Decoration Which Can Fittingly Embellish 
Many Rooms of Today 
S E 
TJARGETRY, or parge work, in interior 
X. decoration, notwithstanding a certain satis- 
actory revival, is a resource of embellishment 
for ceilings and walls that many are disposed 
to look upon rather as an archaeological curi¬ 
osity, out of common reach, a thing to be 
admired from afar and not to be really taken 
hold of and appropriated to our own use. As 
a matter of fact, however, pargetry is a deco¬ 
rative factor w r ell within the range of average 
possibilities, and it is a useful means of adorn¬ 
ment not to be despised for the interest it 
imparts. 
The revival alluded to, up to the present 
time, has been chiefly in the form of repro¬ 
duction. Architects and decorators, who have 
introduced 16th and 17th Century English 
COSTEN FITZ-GIBBON 
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Vases, urns, fleur-de- 
lys, shells and heraldic 
devices all lend them¬ 
selves to parge work 
Another appropriate place for pargetry is on the 
upper wall surface or along the frieze 
oak-panelled rooms into their schemes, have 
frequently had old parge ceilings faithfully 
reproduced from squeezes or moulds and have 
mcoiporated them as fitting, and often neces¬ 
sary, elements in the composition. But there 
is no reason at all why the revival of parge 
v ork should be confined to reproductions. 
Admirable as the reproductions are, and ap¬ 
propriate to the environment in which they 
appear, there is abundant opportunity for fresh 
and original design in this accommodatin 
it? 
medium. 
That there may be no uncertainty about the 
matter and about the possibilities afforded let 
us define briefly just what parge is and how it 
has teen customary to employ it in the past. 
(Continued on page 62) 
Modern reproductions are usually fashioned on a 
canvas background and are easily fixed in place 
