58 
House & Garden 
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mt&iir- 
®f)e Cnuntrj> blouse 
anti its Jfurniture 
rfX choing the traditions of long ago, our 
modern Country House imparts to the 
artistic ideals of today a more subtle expression 
than is elsewhere suggested. 
tfjl Within its hospitable doors the very 
^ spirit of olden times may be re-awakened 
by the deft disposition of well-chosen 
Furniture, each piece finding congenial 
surroundings in the charming atmosphere 
of its engaging rooms. One need but pause 
before the exhibits in these Galleries to realize 
how readily this interesting result may be 
achieved. 
MTT The collection on view is rich in replicas 
and reproductions of every historic epoch, 
from the sturdy styles of the Renaissance to 
the simple Furniture of Old England’s farm 
cottages; rich, as well, in unique Decorative 
Objects and the fine Rugs of the East. And 
it is gratifying to contemplate that such 
appointments may be acquired at well 
within moderate cost. 
Suggestions may be gained from de luxe prints of 
well-appointed rooms, sent gratis upon request. 
Ncui^fovk(!?aI[L>rics 
Grand Rapids Rirmture Company 
INCORPORATED 
34 ~ 36 West 32-Street 
New'York City 
Hook Rugs—Rugs of the Future 
( Continued, from page 54) 
futurist portraits of the family dog, 
horses such as never were on land or in 
the sea: and variations of the same 
themes. There are, however, many love¬ 
ly floral designs among the old rugs, 
and these have become objects of search 
with collectors, together with some of 
the hideous ones—for when a mere 
mortal starts collecting anything which 
he cannot possibly utilize, he is very 
apt to lose all sense of proportion as to 
value, and the class of object itself be¬ 
comes more precious than the individual 
object in that class. 
Now these old hook rugs of which 
perhaps three or four thousand are in 
existence in the entire country, have 
been eagerly seized upon by the interior 
decorator who is using painted furni¬ 
ture. They are his salvation, where the 
floor problem is concerned, always pro¬ 
viding that he can manage to light on 
specimens of such shapes, sizes and 
colorings as will fit his need. That 
even a poor selection of old hook rugs 
is more satisfactory for such a room than 
a good selection of orientals, is un¬ 
doubted. But as examples of this al¬ 
most lost art, which have carried out its 
possibilities to anything like its highest 
development are few and far between, 
it is exceedingly difficult to locate them. 
To meet this need, one or two of our 
own modem painters have taken up the 
idea of making designs to be developed 
in the old methods, but on a practical 
commercial basis: Among these are 
notably Norman Jacobsen, and Amy 
Mali Hicks. 
Modern Craftsmen 
Mr. Jacobsen had designed and deco¬ 
rated a double drawing-room for the 
country house of a well known patron 
of modern art. The walls were easy 
enough. The furniture itself, when com¬ 
pleted, was so individual that this fami¬ 
liar floor-problem arose to gigantic 
proportions. The first step in overcom¬ 
ing it was made by staining the floor a 
very dark green-black upon which the 
yellow furniture showed charmingly. 
But rugs were impossible. Everything 
was tried, and nothing looked quite 
right. The obvious thing to do was to 
have rugs woven expressly, the design 
to be one made in character with the 
furnishings. The expense of doing this 
through the ordinary channels of carpet¬ 
weaving would have been enormous, and 
the result doubtful. Then Mr. Jacob¬ 
sen saw an old hook rug—one of a 
small and precious collection belonging 
to the person for whom the room was 
being done—and immediately decided to 
make drawings in colored chalk upon 
canvas, the exact size, color and shape, 
which the room required. These rugs 
were actually drawn upon the floor in 
the places in which the finished product 
was to rest. 
The result was astounding, even I 
think, to the artist himself. The rugs 
are so heavy that they stay in place 
beautifully. They are so inexpensive to 
make that their price is negligible when 
considered in connection with the result 
they produce—being less than half what 
an oriental (that is, a good oriental), 
of the same size would cost: and their 
wearing qualities being well-proven by 
the condition of the old rugs which have 
been so painstakingly garnered from 
farm-house and village mansion, where 
their years of service have but added to 
their beauty. 
Miss Hicks actually manufactures her 
own rugs, but her designs have been for 
the most part reflections of the old-time 
ones. 
A further merit of the hook rug lies in 
the fact that its usage is by no means 
necessarily confined to the modern 
painted room, nor to Colonial furnish¬ 
ings. Those troublesome periods of the 
French and Italian schools—the Ren¬ 
aissance and the Empire, can both be 
adequately and most charmingly matched 
with floor coverings especially designed 
for them. And anyone who has tried to 
do a 15th or 16th Century Italian room, 
particularly upon a small scale, will 
realize the possibilities of rugs made in 
this fashion. 
The house 
i s hidden 
away in a 
grove of 
trees 
A House of Wistaria and Ivy 
(Continued from page 50) 
yawn the arms of the high-backed set¬ 
tles that make more hospitable the white 
doorway with its interesting treatment 
of wrought iron hinges. 
What is a house without a garden! 
Here the garden is as charming as the 
home, for from a wide red bricked floor 
with wide white pillars supporting the 
sleeping porch above runs another brick 
walk which is interrupted by a circular 
sunken pool. Growing things, which 
change with the season, partly conceal 
the curved concrete edges. Here pond 
lilies with wide-spreading blossoms and 
flat, pad-like leaves are resting on the 
water that glistens with the glint of gold 
fish. The formal effect of the garden, 
which makes of the back of the house 
a picture, changes as one glances over 
the long stretches of green lawn, for in 
the distance, behind and beside the 
garage, is the inevitable war garden that 
adds its quota of color to the scene and 
of vegetables to the table. 
