September, 1918 
THE VOGUE OF THE BRAZIER 
From Italy and Spain Comes an Old Household Utensil Now Glorified in Modern Decoration 
47 
W. G. WOODS 
T HERE is a marked tendency among the best 
modern decorators toward the grouping of 
several periods of furniture in an individual 
decorative scheme. The precedent of holding 
to one particular epoch so that wall coverings, 
curtains, rugs and furniture shall conform strict¬ 
ly to some text book style, is giving way to a freer 
handling. With much apparent good sense, the 
argument is broached that in so far as our popu¬ 
lation is composed of elements more diversified 
than that of any other nation, there is no logical 
reason why we should not express our cosmopoli¬ 
tan character in our architecture and decoration. 
Even in the furniture of the garden room 
which perhaps more than any other apartment in 
the house suggests a consistent scheme of decora¬ 
tion, this informal spirit seems to prevail. It is 
not thought amiss to provide for its comfort 
wicker, painted or overstuffed chairs, iron or 
wooden tables, terra cotta jardinieres, Venetian 
glass, tapestries or Japanese prints. 
Plant Stands 
A permanent feature in such rooms is the plant 
stand. This usually consists of a large bowl 
placed on a base about five feet high and filled 
with fruit or flowers. An obvious receptacle for 
this purpose would be an earthenware pot or 
metal basin. A more interesting substitute for 
these somewhat commonplace articles is the his¬ 
toric brazier—time-honored for use as charcoal 
burner in Spain, Italy and 
other of the South European 
and Oriental countries. A Florentine wrought 
Many a brazier that has ] ron stand « used as • a 
1-1 J ■% / n base lor this brazier 
helped (very meagerly, we containing fruit or 
fear) to make bearable the flowers 
chill of some nobleman’s palace in Venice or Al¬ 
giers, may be surprised to find itself performing 
the humble modern task of supporting a pyramid 
of fruit or a cluster of garden blooms. 
For these purposes the brazier has many obvi¬ 
ous advantages. There is first of all the dura¬ 
bility and cleanliness of the metal; there is no 
chance of breakage such as frequently occurs 
when glass bowls are used. And always there is 
the charm of the luster of fine old polished brass 
or copper. 
Using Braziers 
One of the photographs shows an Algerian 
brazier of the 17th Century across which is 
placed a beautifully wrought iron fork that was 
formerly used for handling vegetables that were 
cooked in the brazier when it was filled with 
water and served as a stew pan. It is made of 
the finest hand-wrought brass. 
In the second illustration, the brazier has been 
placed on the top of a Florentine wrought iron 
stand. There is no more interesting feature of 
the garden room, hall, living room or terrace than 
one of these pieces filled with brilliant fruit or 
flowers. 
The third photograph shows a low stand 30" 
high on which a covered brazier is placed. The 
use of the perforated top, of course, precludes the 
placing of flowers in the brazier. But in view of 
the interest attached to the beautifully modelled 
and wrought cover, the sub¬ 
stitution is a fortunate one. 
An Algerian brass This is a piece that the col- 
brazier of 17th Cen- lector of old metals would 
tury make with its -n- , , • r ... 
fork. Formerly used wdlipgly bargain for With 
for cooking his SOul. 
A modern plant or flower stand executed 
in the style of the old brazier by Miss 
Marie Zimmerman 
The brazier itself is old, the base mod¬ 
ern; showing the method of mounting 
the old utensil 
A modern wrought iron stand 30" high 
supports this fine example of covered 
brass brazier 
