CHINA ❖ GLASSWARE ❖ CANDLESTICKS * PERCOLATORS ❖ CUTLERY ❖ FIRELESS COOKERS ❖ REFRIGERATORS 
52 
House 
Garden 
& 
SAMOVARS ❖ FIRE LIGHTERS •> WOODENWARE 
Mahogany finish telephone desk and 
chair $12.00. Others in solid mahogany 
from $17.50 to $24.00. 
A TELEPHONE desk is one 
of those odd, convenient 
pieces which few people know 
where to get. You will find 
them here, just as you will find 
hundreds of other household 
necessities not usually seen 
elsewhere in such variety or of 
such substantial quality. If 
you need anything useful for 
your house, and want it to look 
well and last a long time, you 
will save time by looking here 
first. 
45th Street & 6th Ave. New York 
This pair of andirons is an exclusive Lewis & Conger 
design taken from an old English door-porter. Antique 
brass finish 12" high. Price $24 the pair. 
SCALES * 
HOUSEHOLD UTILITIES 
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Detail of original 
wrought iron bal¬ 
cony over door of 
Congress Hall, 
Philadelphia 
Smithcraft as an Ally to Architecture 
(Continued from page 50) 
balustrades, gaily painted in blue and 
green and gilded, and rivalling the* glories 
then being made on the Continent. 
There are certain architectural types, 
now in high favor among us, with which 
it is eminently appropriate, both from 
artistic considerations and upon grounds 
of traditional fitness. All the Georgian 
houses that have been built, or are now 
a-building throughout the length and 
breadth of the land, invite its use in a 
hundred ways. Buildings of Italian 
Renaissance type—mark how this type 
is exerting a constantly increasing in¬ 
fluence on our domestic design!—or 
houses of modern French and Italian 
affinities, afford numerous opportunities 
for its effective employment. Even 
stately structures of Classic design now 
and then make a place for it. 
Domestic Styles 
Then, again, other domestic styles 
positively demand it and suffer in ap¬ 
pearance if it is withheld. Many of the 
modern concrete houses, especially those 
approximating the Spanish Mission type, 
require the relief of a bit of exterior 
wrought ironwork here or there to miti¬ 
gate their severity. Indeed, without 
some such touch of grace, they are un¬ 
deniably bald and naked looking. And 
yet, it takes very little ironwork to 
change the whole aspect and impart an 
air of finish and refinement to an ex¬ 
terior that before was austere and harsh. 
Roughcast and stuccoed houses of 
other types, whether of Colonial or of 
Georgian provenance, are often better 
for a saving touch of ironwork. The 
ordinary concrete or stuccoed house is 
apt to present awkward problems be¬ 
cause of its monotony of texture and 
the difficulty of providing sufficient play 
of light and shadow by means of mold¬ 
ings and string courses. The gray or 
white walls of such houses, however, 
make an excellent foil for ironwork and 
none of its decorative value is lost. A 
balcony or a railing, under such condi¬ 
tions, assumes great ornamental impor¬ 
tance and that importance is not di¬ 
minished by simplicity of design. In 
and about gardens, too, there is ample 
and diverse field for the effective use of 
wrought iron. 
Modern Application 
The mere mention of what has been 
done in the past, in various countries, 
with smithcraft as an ally to architec¬ 
ture is enough to set the mind working 
in the direction of present application. 
It is scarcely necessary to rehearse the 
various objects that can appropriately 
be made, of iron further than to suggest 
the suitability of handrails for door¬ 
steps, cellar and other window gratings, 
window and door grilles, area railings, 
garden gates and screens, fences, bal¬ 
conies, balustrades, marquise frames, 
wall anchors, well covers, foot-scrapers 
and weather vanes. 
When not painted, wrought iron may 
be either dull black or burnished and 
may be kept so without difficulty. Tne 
black finish, compounded of oils and 
several other ingredients, is applied in a 
thin coat and baked on the metal upon 
the forge. It is permanent and will 
withstand the weather. One of the best 
features about this finish is that it is so 
thin that it does not obscure the com¬ 
plexion of the metal. 
When used for door and window 
grilles or for other door accompani¬ 
ments, wrought iron may be burnished 
on a buffer and kept in its bright condi¬ 
tion, resembling the surface of old silver, 
by the occasional application of a thin 
coat of fluid prepared for the purpose. 
It is not to be expected that any pol¬ 
ished metal surface constantly exposed 
to outdoor influences should retain its 
brilliancy without some attention now 
and then. Brass signs and shingles are 
polished with great care and surely the 
beauty of wrought ironwork claims at 
least a share of attention every month 
or two. If ordinary metal polish is used, 
the application will need be more 
frequent. 
Polychrome and Gilding 
While common usage has accustomed 
us to painting iron black, there is ample 
precedent both in England and on the 
Continent for using colors, either singly 
or in combination, and often with the 
further embellishment of gilding. It fre¬ 
quently happens that the use of some 
one suitable color or of polychrome 
treatment will greatly enhance the ef¬ 
fectiveness of the design. The employ¬ 
ment of gilding suggests also the em¬ 
ployment of other metals, especially 
brass, in conjunction with iron. The 
(Continued on page 54) 
Part of the wrought iron balcony, showing iron ship in full 
sail; from a warehouse in Philadelphia owned by Stephen 
Girard and built in 1796 
