House 
& Garden 
_ eir Importance to tveru 
' O 1 07 
[Decorative ucheme 
T he success of every well ' considered interior is 
largely dependent upon the treatment of the walls 
- the vertical surfaces which form the background 
for the entire ensemble. 
Recognizing this fact, prominent Decorators through' 
out America have found in the diversified Strahan 
line of Wall Decorations many beautiful foliage 
effects, such as No. 6101 illustrated, which meet 
their most exacting requirements - from the stand' 
point of both quality and decorative excellence. 
Strahan papers' and fabric effects are on sale in all the 
principal cities Write to us jor the name of the Decorator 
or Dealer in your vicinity from whom they may be obtained. 
Thomas Strahan Company 
Manufacturers oi ' Dis tine tide ‘Wffll ^decorations 
'l&Shm CHELSEA, MASS. 
NEW YORK- 417 Fifth Avenue CHICAGO59 East Adams Street 
■ ■ 
Oriental Papers for Occidental Walls 
(Continued from page 60) 
harmoniously juxtaposed, colors that we 
should under ordinary circumstances 
hesitate to combine, even when the pre¬ 
cautions of proportional balance are 
conscientiously observed. It also ac¬ 
counts for the possibility of employing 
for backgrounds colors not commonly 
thought neutral enough for this purpose. 
Gold and Silver Paper 
Gojd used in broad expanses, as it 
must be for a background, is neutral. 
The medieval painters and furniture 
decorators knew this and employed gold 
thus to marvellously good effect. The 
old Japanese artists knew it, too. Wit¬ 
ness their wonderful screens with gold 
backgrounds and boldly conceived de¬ 
signs wrought in colors sometimes vivid, 
sometimes soft and quiet, but always en¬ 
hanced in value by the foil of the gold 
ground. Much gold is safe and quiet; a 
very little gold is elegant and enriching; 
it is only when gold “is partially used 
with a little bit” of it here, there and 
everywhere that it becomes vulgar, taw¬ 
dry looking, noisy and disturbing. One 
need not hesitate, therefore, to use the 
Chinese gold paper as a background, 
knowing that it will be well-balanced 
and especially effective if the furnishings 
are sharply defined in contour and of 
pronounced color values. It is to be 
noted, also, that these Chinese gold pa¬ 
pers are mellow in tone and rapidly be¬ 
come more so after they are on the walls. 
The plain silver paper proves satis¬ 
factory not only on the walls but also as 
a ceiling covering when the walls are of 
a plain light color and of dull texture, 
such, for instance, as filled canvas 
painted oyster shell white or a light 
gray with a dull finish. The effect is 
not heavy and oppressive, as some might 
possibly imagine, because the innumer¬ 
able reflections and the constant play of 
light and shadow create an interest and 
vivacity that nothing else will produce. 
Should one wish to tone down walls 
freshly covered with silver paper, it is 
easy to apply a coat of orange shellac, 
being careful to use enough alcohol in 
the mixture. -Otherwise it will gum and 
become blobby while going on. Of simi¬ 
lar and highly agreeable appearance, 
also, is the wall covered with the lead 
foil from tea chests. One of the fore¬ 
most British architects has a room in 
his house with walls thus treated—the 
little wrinkles and creases were not 
smoothed out—and then thinly coated 
with orange shellac. 
The texture of these Oriental papers 
is every whit as important as their 
color, for to texture quite as much as to 
color is attributable their visual charm 
and their value as either decorations or 
effective backgrounds. The distinctive 
character of the texture is the result of 
hand work and evidences all the little 
irregularities and enlivening variations 
that uniform machine work can never 
achieve and that only the personal con¬ 
tact of manual execution can impart. 
The fabric is made by hand, the color, 
when it differs from the body of the 
stock, is applied by hand and, when 
there is a pattern, it is either put on by 
hand or else printed on by hand blocks. 
(Continued on page 64) 
I 
(Below) Japanese 
Kikone paper, light 
brown with mottled 
sorncl in a r kin g s. 
(Below) Japanese 
Hodatsu Awaji pa¬ 
per, cream with ir¬ 
regular sorrel mark¬ 
ings. 15J4” x 20f4" 
Chinese sil¬ 
ver paper 
with white 
fret and 
b l o s s o vi 
pattern. 19" 
V Left) Japanese 
Modu Awaji paper. 
Slate gray with lus¬ 
trous sheen and 
white, cloud-like 
mottlings. 12" x 
17M" 
(Below) Japanese 
Kasato Kuro paper, 
cream white with 
small fragments of 
vegetable matter im¬ 
pressed on surface. 
17" x 22" 
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