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Show LINTS FOR THE FALL SEARCHER AFTER ANTIQUE FURNITURE jf ,JfcHE taste for old china, silver JjBt and furniture has almost dc-VljJ- veloped Into a passion of late i years. IL has auddenly become 3S' fashion to have ourlos of all kinds jjEi) fie home furnishings. Therefore, as 2 u'nand always creates a supply, there "to be found on the market hun-g hun-g is of masterly lmltatlonsf of the H of the great artists In furniture. $1 it of these Imitations arc open and SB feboard reproductions of the an-lll an-lll le, but others arc such successful fl itlons of ancient furniture that it ll cessary to be very wide awake If L medltates purchasing specimens of old craftsman's art. B le coarse and rough Imitations that IcfR ccn In second rate shops every day 'l' deceive the searcher after the uc, but really first class work may r Impose upon -even the elect, and nably so, when It becomes known there are skilled workmen who a business of Imitating worm In modern furniture before It Hy blossoms forth to become the if the Innocent amateur collector antique. s usually at this time of the year the housewife Is seized with the . of refurnishing her home or add-y add-y way of adornment a few new 3. If the antique Is her special e the following suggestions may I Interest. The modest buyer Is being considered, she who would I at the very most a hundred or so rs on a cabinet, table or desk. re Is a kind of sham too popular days, and of all shams It Is the 'dangerous to buy old wood, pos-the pos-the fronts of drawers or panels of. jards, and mingle the old and new i-ic confusion of the uninitiated. 'mctlmes dealers have the honesty 3 lay that goods of this description faade up articles, and often these ij es arc quite worth adding to one's 3J wtlon because the wood in their $j itnsctlon is well seasoned and the ij hj'llne and exquisitely colored. $J lien a cabinet Is the object under as!: deration it is well to open the Fcrs and Inspect the lining. If the 3eJa s Eenume tlicy wI11 DC 1ned Ji ijoak or elm. but If a modern im-g im-g ure the lining will be merely plain, Ted deal. Other evidences of the jthln? are the weight and the dow-$ dow-$ which In old furniture Is pecul-sfci pecul-sfci pdone. I3ut all these signs fall T.6 Jthe genius of perfect deception Is f d. Onn almple thing to noilce Is uj, etal cif t'ie polish. It should be Tib .an perfcetl', smooth, an.l the var- bear in mind that a piece of furniture must never be selected Irrespective of the differences in Its style that Is, when a single apartment is lo be furnished fur-nished for If Jumbled In a heterogeneous heteroge-neous mass the result will be no more satisfactory than a collection of pieces In a furniture shop. There Is no character, char-acter, no originality; only a motley collection col-lection of things. The skillful artist knows well that In j decorating and furnishing a house harmony har-mony of color and form are the first essentials, and the collector of the antique an-tique should have her walls decorated with regard to the furniture for which they are to form a background. nlsh should not seem to be carelessly run Into the corners. Another evidence Is that the edges are comparatively soft and rounded by wear and not sharp or clearly cut. In spite of the widespread interest and knowledge In furniture and decorative deco-rative art generally there Is a great confusion of Ideas as regards styles. Just In the same way that some collectors col-lectors of antiques persuade themselves that because a thing Is old It must necessarily be beautiful, so there are those who think that lo conform to a certain style Is slavish and lacking In originality. To such people a French style Immediately conjures up bow-knots, bow-knots, garlands and gilding, while we know that this expression of art can exist without any of these and stIJI be true In character. What style In house furnishings should really be taken to mean is character, appropriateness and an acceptance of those rules which the experience of centuries has proved the best, yet allowing scope for individual requirements. The colic- tor of antiques should also Could anything bo more absurdly grotesque than the placing of a piece of French art in a room decorated in the Dutch style? Still decorative errors, er-rors, perhaps of a less glaring nature, arc met with on every hand and In homes of culture, more's the pity! The French style of furnishing will be very popular this winter, my lady needing this setting for her Louis XVI. and Henri II. gowns. An especial prize in French examples Is the Boulc furniture, furni-ture, which Is particularly happy In Its cabinet specimens. Andre Charles Boule was the cabinet maker or ebo-niste ebo-niste to Louis XIV., and the first and most characteristic work connected with the style of the "le grand mon-arquc" mon-arquc" Is known as Boulc. The Boule is an elaborate kind of marquetry inlaid in-laid with tortoise shell, brass, ivory and ebony, the origin of which can be traced to Indian, Persian and Damascus Damas-cus lncrusted Inlays. Examples of Boule work arc now very valuable and command high prices when they are offered of-fered for sale. The Inlaid Dutch furniture resembles somewhat the Boule, but Is quite within with-in the bounds of the modest antique purchaser's sphere. The rich and bright colors of different woods are used in the marquetry, and the design i -. ra Chippendale Settee jg is usually that of some picturesque foliage fo-liage mingled with tulips, roses and birds. In addition to wood, other materials, ma-terials, such as Ivory and mother-of-pearl are cmployod. This Dutch furniture furni-ture vas Introduced into England during dur-ing the reign of William and Mary and has descended to us In the simpler and later phase known as Queen Aline. This seeming confusion of names was brought about by the practice of UBlng the names of royalty to denote styles both In furniture and architecture as supplying more convenient dates than the beginning and end of a century. This quaint and simple Queen Anne furniture is a curious blending of' Dutch and French influences. The Inlay In-lay Is of Dutch adoption, and the cabrl-ole cabrl-ole lez is an entirely French feature. A. . blending of the two styles resulted later lat-er in furniture of the Queen Anne type. Queen Anne chairs arc exquisite. They have a strong undcrgralnlng and a high, flat, decorated back and sldepleces of rather severe form and the cabriole leg. Some of the chairs are three cornered, rather like a stool with arms. Chippendale, Hcpplcwalte, Sheraton and Adams are all specimens of furniture furni-ture very much sought after now, either ei-ther as originals or in reproductions. Sheraton sideboards and bookcases are beautiful with the swan impediments and quaint diamond pancd effects in the doors. The fad of the moment is for old door knockers, and If a woman Is seen rushing from one antique shop to the other you may be sure she has this fad and is on the chase. Really old door knockers' are scarce. They are being copied, it Is true, but the manufacturers are not able to duplicate the battered dented appearance of the knocker that for many years In sun and rain ha3 stood as sentinel at the door. An objection ob-jection to the modern knocker Is that they are very much of a pattern, and there is no impress of the workman's skill and, in a measure, of his humor at the time the work was done. The particular par-ticular pattern the searcher for old knockers wants Is the lion's head, which Is likely to be found In the Venetian Vene-tian knocker. There arc other patterns of flat, plain brass that arc well liked as a second choice. When one is not successful In a search of this hind an expedient worth knowing is to" buy a new knocker and bury it in the ground until it becomes green and moldy. After Aft-er this burial one clever girl has hit upon the idea of giving the knocker to her small brother to play with. She did not tell him what she hoped to -accomplish, but In these war times It Is quite possible that the knocker will go through many mock battles as some piece of ammunition, and when It returns re-turns to the owner it is sure to have enough dents to satisfy the fastidious sister. When the whole family is enthusiastic enthusi-astic on the subject of antique knockers knock-ers this precious specimen goes on the front door. There Is a craze Just now for the Individual door knocker which hangs on thc oak of the antique lover's own domain. Luckless the individual who gains entrance without using this coveted piece of antique open sesame! EDITH LAWRENCE. Texnperatnre of the Until. Opinions differ as to the relative merits mer-its of a cold or a hot bath. The individual indi-vidual constitution must be consulted. ALedlcal authority maintains that children chil-dren and elderly persons ought never to bathe In water below 70 degrees F. Where cleanliness is the main object the water should be from 72 degrees to 9S degrees. Where the bath Is to serve as a powerful stimulant, as In cases of Illness, It should be from 98 degrees to lib decrees. |
