C,2 
House & Garden 
Haviland China 
W E take pleasure in presenting “Old Gold”—■ 
another of the many charming patterns to 
be found wherever Haviland China is sold. “Old 
Gold” was given its name by friends in apt descrip¬ 
tion of its richly beautiful golden yellow decoration. 
Since 1837 
our china has enjoyed an enviable 
reputation. In purchasing be sure to 
notice carefully the Trade Marks. 
oecorated a** 
France umoges 0 
Unless these Trade Marks appear on 
each piece, you will not be getting the 
Genuine 
Haviland China 
Manufactured at Limoges, France 
Haviland China may be found in a profusion of beautiful pat¬ 
terns at all first class China or Department Stores. Write for 
name of nearest dealer if you have any difficulty locating one. 
Havrland & O’ 
11 East 36th Street, New York 
THE COLONIAL GARDENS of MEXICO 
(Continued from page 90) 
of Mexico: hitherto they had been little 
save an indiscriminate jumble of trees 
and flowers, showing little attempt at 
unity or regularity. But now the in¬ 
fluences at work in France and Italy 
began to creep slowly into the colony, 
and most of the gardens dating from 
this period have a short space laid 
out in the formal manner then preva¬ 
lent in those countries, subject of 
course, to local interpretation. It gen¬ 
erally assumed the shape of a square 
with a fountain in the centre, and shut 
off from the rest of the grounds by a 
low parapet 2' or 3' high. The flower 
beds were similarly enclosed, and the 
whole ground resembles a tile from 
Puebla reproduced on a gigantic scale. 
A strict symmetry was rigorously ad¬ 
hered to, and the central fountain sur¬ 
rounded by statues, seats, and jardin¬ 
ieres. Pots containing a few choice 
plants were placed upon pedestals espe¬ 
cially set astride the parapet for this 
particular purpose. 
It was here that guests were gener¬ 
ally received: festivities chiefly entailed 
the slow sipping of chocolate from 
enameled cups especially fashioned in 
China,—strange receptacles called “man- 
cerinas”—the proceedings being enliv¬ 
ened by low music from a string band. 
Reproducing, as they invariably do, 
many of the shapes and forms em¬ 
ployed in the contemporary “churri- 
gueresque” style of architecture, so rich 
in daring motifs, these gardens possess 
a peculiar charm all of their own, and I 
have no hesitation in commending then 
unreservedly for reproduction to all 
lovers of the old-fashioned. 
An old colonial garden still existed 
in Tulancingo about the year 1840. 
Madame Calderon de la Barca, whose 
“Life in Mexico” has of recent years 
been accorded universal recognition as a 
classic, visited it at the time, and I 
cannot refrain from quoting her admir¬ 
able description. “It was singularly 
pretty”, she writes, “and kept in beau¬ 
tiful order, with gravel walks and fine 
trees, clear tanks and sparkling foun¬ 
tains, and an extraordinary profusion 
of the most beautiful flowers, roses es¬ 
pecially. There is something extremely 
oriental in its appearance, and the 
fountains are ornamented with China 
vases and Chinese figures of great value. 
Walking along under arches formed by 
rose bushes, a small column of water 
spouted forth from each bush, sprink¬ 
ling us all over with its shower. But 
the prettiest thing in the garden is a 
great tank of clear water, inclosed on 
three sides by a Chinese building, round 
which runs a piazza with stone pillars, 
shaded by a drapery of white curtains. 
Comfortable well-cushioned sofas are 
arranged along this piazza, which opens 
into a large room, where one may dress 
after bathing. It is the prettiest and 
coolest retreat possible, and entirely 
surrounded by trees and roses. Here 
one may lie at noon-day, with the sun 
and the world completely shut out.” 
Unfortunately, few such gardens re¬ 
main at the present time, and those are 
mostly in a sad state of neglect. The 
“Pensil”, established in the neighbour¬ 
ing town of Tacuba by Don Manuel 
Marco de Ibarra in 1767, is little better 
than a ruin, though what still remains 
amply justifies a visit, notably the 
fountains, garden seats, and arcades, 
fantastically carved in stone or pro¬ 
vided with quaint designs in plaster. 
Last, but not least, amongst colonial 
gardens comes the famous “jardfn de 
Borda” in Cuernavaca. Some of its 
admirers—their number is legion—en¬ 
thusiastically hold that it can bear com¬ 
parison with the far-famed Genenlarlife 
of Granada, to which it bears a marked 
resemblance in many respects. “En¬ 
closed by walls,” writes Mr. Baxter, “it 
spreads over a large sloping area with a 
westerly exposure, and commands a 
wide prospect over the glorious land¬ 
scape; from the extinct volcano or 
Ajusco, that towers just above the city 
to the northward, around the far-reach¬ 
ing vistas of the ample Morelos valleys 
that descends gently southwards into 
the hot-lands. It is still very beautiful 
with its terraces, arcades, pergolas, ar¬ 
bors, basins and fountains. One of the 
latter is a very gem of its simple kind. 
It has an exquisite charm of classic 
elegance, and effect of poetic antiquity 
in its dark and moss-grown stone, the 
sun-light shifting down upon it through 
the rich and glossy leafage of the great 
mango trees that shade it.” 
Originally layed out by Don Manuel 
de la Borda, in the last quarter of the 
18th Century, it is said to have cost its 
owner more than a million pesos. The 
sum is no doubt exaggerated, but the 
impression the visitor receives is one 
not likely to be forgotten. 
CURIOS in PROVINCIAL ENGLAND 
(Continued from page 64) 
in the handle; price, five dollars for the 
two. In a remote small town, such as 
Spalding, there is almost sure to be a 
man who buys at local auctions, stores 
his purchases, avoids the running ex¬ 
penses of a shop, and sells “to the 
trade”, as he calls it—that is, to buyers 
for London curio-dealers who regularly 
visit him on their rounds. That you are 
not “ in the trade” need not be a barrier 
insurmountable, and he will sell to you 
at something like trade prices, which 
are low. 
For fine antique furniture, if I wished 
to furnish or re-furnish, at reasonable 
cost, I should go to the principal 
dealer at Dorchester, returning to 
London via Yeovil and Salisbury where, 
especially at the latter, collectors may 
agreeably hunt. Spare half hours of a 
business visit to Nottingham, Birming¬ 
ham, Newcastle-on-Tyne, Bristol, Car¬ 
diff, Leeds, Sheffield, Northampton, 
Leicester, Manchester, may be similarly 
occupied with advantage. The spas— 
Harrogate, Malvern, and Bath in par¬ 
ticular—and the seaside places,— 
Brighton, Folkestone, Eastbourne,—and 
old port-towns such as Rye, Falmouth, 
Poole, Kings Lynn, offer a collector 
many chances. So do the county towns, 
such as Guildford, Hereford, Mon¬ 
mouth, Maidstone, Lancaster, Col¬ 
chester. In short, the list is long. 
A MARKETPLACE on marketday 
should always be visited scrutiniz- 
ingly, the bookstalls especially; at Truro 
I found in a “ten cent box” a copy of 
the first edition of Charles Wesley’s 
Hymns. Better book bargains may be 
discovered in a broker’s shop or small 
auction room than at a second hand 
bookseller’s, and old pictures at a mis¬ 
cellaneous furniture store are cheaper 
than at a picture-dealer’s. Richmond, 
half an hour by train from Charing 
Cross, offers you a dozen small dealer’s 
and a dozen broker’s shops to search 
(Continued on page 94) 
