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Hatbauratf 
Mahogany 
WINDSOR CHAIRS 
Both of these chairs 
have solid mahogany 
seats. Price, $16.75 
each. Rocker to 
match either style, 
$1.50 additional. 
F OR the lasting charm and comfort of 
the Windsor Chair we are indebted 
to those Colonial forefathers of ours, who 
wrought better than they knew. Lasting 
beauty of line, pleasing quaintness and 
long life—these are the qualities which 
you will find in the complete collection of 
varied types now obtainable in Hathaway 
quality. 
Genuine rush seats. 
Arm-chair, $25.00. 
Side-chair, $18.00. 
Genuine rush seats. 
Side - chair, $16.00. 
Rocker, $17.00. 
Iff Solid 
mahogany 
seats. 
Rock e r, 
UmL $14-50. 
Side-chair, ^9 
MISl* $ 13 - 50 .- 
Special attention will be given to orders received by mail. 
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W.A. H aibawoM Compamr 
62 West 45*. b Street, NeurTfork 
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House & Garden 
Mirrors and Mirror Frames in Three Centuries 
(Continued from page 50) 
pendale, Sir William Chambers and 
Johnson were the chief exponents, a 
phase in which pagoda roofs, rustic 
boughs, stalactites, mandarins and um¬ 
brellas and birds were the distinguishing 
properties. This phase was a part of 
the Rococo episode because it was 
strongly influenced by Rococo prin¬ 
ciples and because the fresh burst of 
passion for Chinoiserie was a part of 
the revolt against Baroque formality. 
Other than the Chinese creations, Ro¬ 
coco mirror frames in England and 
France, in Spain and Italy, displayed 
the same waving vegetable forms, the 
same irregular shell motif, the same 
counterposed curves, and the same stud¬ 
ied avoidance of straight lines. Many 
of these frames are graceful and deli¬ 
cate and need only consistent environ¬ 
ment to call forth their charm. In 
France it was a common practice to em¬ 
panel a number of mirrors in the walls 
of a room and to surmount them with 
small decorative paintings enclosed in 
the head of the framing. 
Neo-Classic Designs 
Again, in the Neo-Classic period, we 
find a similar remarkable unanimity of 
spirit, the spirit of reawakened classi¬ 
cism, but a diversity of interruption 
quite unknown in the Rococo period. 
In England the Brothers Adam made a 
deliberately formal use of mirrors in 
decoration and they designed emphati¬ 
cally architectural frames and divisions, 
accompanied by all the well-known 
Adam “trade-marks”—fluting, urns, me¬ 
dallions, paterae, ovals, fan rays, 
sphinxes, arabesques, rosettes—and oft¬ 
entimes hung swags and drops of bell¬ 
flowers over the upper reaches of the 
glass. They also made frequent use of 
vertical and horizontal oval shapes and 
of octagons. 
Although the gilt mirror frame was 
in high favor, it was by no means uni¬ 
versal. Frames were gesso coated and 
then painted in the soft greens and 
cream tones, prevalent at the period, 
and decorated with devices in gilt or 
color. A special feature was made, too, 
of painting decorative mirror heads 
which might either be in full color, in 
the manner of Pergolesi or Angelica 
Kauffmann, or in soft monochrome with 
classic figures in a medallion or other 
formal composition, drawn in the man¬ 
ner of Flaxman or Lady Templeton. 
Or, again, the mirror head might merely 
contain a graceful little polychrome 
arabesque. Later in the century, mir¬ 
ror heads were frequently painted in 
reverse in gold, white and black, some¬ 
times with a diapered ground, while the 
principal design was enclosed in a cir¬ 
cle, octagon or medallion. In some in¬ 
stances, especially in the case of large 
mirrors, classic designs similar to those 
by David were executed in mono¬ 
chrome. 
Besides painted frames, other alterna¬ 
tives to gilt were satinwood and mahog¬ 
any. The latter, especially, continued 
popular throughout the century and 
occurred plain with silhouetted shaping 
at the top, carved, or carved and parcel 
gilt, not only in designs that were sug¬ 
gestive of Sheraton inspiration, but also 
in forms that were clearly reminiscent 
of the earlier part of the century. This 
was particularly the case in America. 
While the Neo-Classic spirit was 
powerful enough to keep mirror frame 
styles in England and on the Continent 
in virtually the same channel of expres¬ 
sion, several local forms of peculiar in¬ 
dividuality deserve a special note of 
recognition. One of these was the 
Spanish Bilboa mirror. It was strongly 
architectural in its ^arbleized composi¬ 
tion, with pilasters at the sides and an 
entablature at the top. There was also 
generally a surmounting medallion in 
gilt with a colored ground and a de¬ 
vice of classic figures, and to this cap¬ 
ping feature was added some attend¬ 
ant ornament at each side in gilded 
compo. Italy, too, produced some fas¬ 
cinating simplified interpretations that 
retained classic dignity and restraint, 
but managed to eliminate all formal¬ 
ity and acquire a peculiarly intimate 
and domestic character. 
Directoire and Empire 
The Directoire and early Empire epi¬ 
sodes were punctiliously copied alike 
in England, in Italy, in Spain, and in 
America, so there is a striking similar¬ 
ity between the frames executed in 
those styles in all the countries. During 
the ascendancy of the Directoire influ¬ 
ence, previous forms were attenuated 
and simplified and the spirit of auster¬ 
ity aimed at was well represented by 
the rigid classicism of the monochrome 
mirror heads wrought in David designs. 
Under the Empire style a spirit of 
robust ostentation controlled all de¬ 
sign, placing about equal emphasis on 
heroic and heavy classic motifs and 
upon military attributes in impressive 
groups. Vigorous, imposing lines and 
plenteous gilded gorgeousness held the 
foreground and the chief aim of art 
seemed to be to express ideals of opu¬ 
lence and physical might, albeit the ex¬ 
pression was carried out with as much 
decorous grace as possible. One admir¬ 
able example of this impressive ten¬ 
dency is seen in the large round convex 
girandoles with spread eagles and mili¬ 
tary trophies atop. 
The alternative to gilding was ma¬ 
hogany with plentiful gilt or brass 
mounts to enrich it. A certain amount 
of black molding was also often used in 
conjunction with the gold. 
Many of the mirrors were large— 
larger than single sheets of glass had 
ever been before—and when there were 
decorated mirror heads, the motifs were 
large, too, and of either classic or mili¬ 
tary provenance. The small vertical 
mirrors in mahogany frames, that were 
so plentiful in America at this period, 
and are still to be found in consider¬ 
able numbers, had heads with archi¬ 
tectural or landscape subjects, painted 
in reverse in polychrome, and echoed 
in a humble way the more stately con¬ 
ceptions of the French designers who 
devised the style in compliance with 
Napoleon’s behest. 
Mirrors in Decoration 
There is no single item in furniture 
that contains more decorative poten¬ 
tiality than the mirror with its frame. 
By virtue of the constantly changing 
reflections and the play of lights on its 
surface it inevitably becomes a centre 
of interest, and is thus a ready agent 
for creating emphasis where it may 
be needed. While the mirror itself 
gives life and depth to a composition, 
the frame gives the note of style. Be¬ 
sides giving the means for applying 
decorative emphasis, it affords an espe¬ 
cially inviting opportunity for the ef¬ 
fective introduction of color. 
The ’ whole subject of mirror frames 
and the use of mirrors is fraught with 
manifold possibilities that become more 
stimulating the more one examines 
them. Many of the designs and proc¬ 
esses that proved so telling in the past 
it is perfectly possible to reproduce or 
to adopt without serious difficulty or 
expense. 
