September, 1918 
31 
A rare pair of crystal lights has mellow Sienna 
marble bases with ivory Wedgwood medallions. 
Draped crystal strings add interest 
In this pair the standards are made of five 
delicately turned glass columns. Ruby disks 
between the crystals add a rich tone 
The last photograph is that of an Adam mirror 
with crystal side columns and head bar. The 
escutcheons at the top, over the columns are of 
glass, while the column caps, bases and center 
bands are of antique brass. 
A happy combina¬ 
tion of carved wood 
base and crystal 
Crystal in Decoration 
This use of crystal in wall 
brackets, candelabra and 
mirrors is a forcible indica¬ 
tion of a healthful modern 
tendency in decoration,-—the 
substitution of features hav¬ 
ing what we may call an 
architectural rather than a 
purely ornamental import¬ 
ance. By the latter, we 
mean principally pictures; 
pictures that are purely pic¬ 
tures, pretty pictures; land¬ 
scapes of a highly realistic 
nature, placed in over-deco¬ 
rated gold frames; vases, 
plant stands, jardinieres, 
curio cabinets,—the whole 
bric-a-brac family whose 
mission in a room seems to 
be to fill up spaces that 
should have been left as 
spaces, and needlessly to 
clutter small rooms that cry 
out for the few essential 
pieces of furniture and the 
elimination of all else. A 
lighting fixture, whether it 
be a candelabrum, a wall 
bracket or a lamp is obvi¬ 
ously a necessity, and as 
such should give one the 
proper sense of importance 
and permanency. It should 
be as vital a consideration 
as the paneling or grouping 
of windows or the centering 
of doors. Indeed, in rooms 
that are used more fre¬ 
quently at night, it is of 
greater meaning because it 
is the feature that first at¬ 
tracts one’s attention on en¬ 
tering the apartment. 
It is not enough that it 
should be placed with a nice 
sense of its convenience for 
the divans and easy chairs; 
that is too obvious to need argument. But that 
it should fulfill in addition to this requirement, 
the functions of proper balance and such spac- 
A \lth Century 
Italian fixture used 
for a hall light 
.IV 
It is a favorite jest of the decorator that an 
architect has no intimate knowledge of the lo¬ 
cation of lighting fixtures and that the deco¬ 
rator’s first mission on receiving a commission 
is to order the tearing out of most of the electric 
light outlets that have already been installed. 
Yet, I have seen many interiors in which I 
felt sure that the architect 
had studied his problem with 
a broader vision than the 
decorator. His placing of 
fixtures with a keen appre¬ 
ciation of the symmetrical 
balanced light (the decora¬ 
tor too often thinks in terms 
of an individual console or 
tapestry) is frequently more 
harmonious than the altera¬ 
tion. 
We are likely to forget that 
torcheres and candelabra 
of the size of those here il¬ 
lustrated often assume an 
equality with wall brackets. 
A symmetrical room with 
wall fixtures on one side 
may easily be balanced by a 
pair of candelabra or lamps 
on a table or console at the 
opposite end. Who has not 
seen the fireplace wall of a 
room spoiled by two wail 
brackets about the mantel 
that have lost their identity 
on account of a large pair 
of torcheres standing at each 
side of the hearth ? The 
brackets should have been 
omitted and the torcheres 
left to their glory. 
Great Adaptability 
There is not a period of 
decoration with which crys¬ 
tal lighting fixtures will not 
harmonize. The reason is 
that the value of crystal is 
the same value as light. And 
because we are becoming 
more and more conscious of 
the imperative meaning of 
intelligent and beautiful 
light, the present vogue of 
this heretofore unappreci¬ 
ated craft is gaining an im- 
ing as will permit the intelligent placing of portance which is likely to continue. We may 
wall furniture and pictures is of considerably confidently look forward to a period of endur- 
1 
M*?' - 
§ 
greater concern. 
ing crystal popularity. 
