Show 1171 ORNAMENT IS VISSER dissertation TATION ON THE FUNCTION 4 i OF HOME decoration extent imitation may 11 iio lurta i what ap ira g o it vulgar and ilik sued alg wha good tt taste rt eJects aham hm of or all kind in the home honie ta in using taste in ili the ornamentation of a dwelling a room or a will I 1 one should bear in mind mtv what at ornament ir is dresser gives rila probably a as good a definition as can be us made when be he mid 0 ornament Is that which super superadded added to utility renders the object inore more acceptable through bestowing it amount of beauty which it would it an n on otherwise I 1 not riot posse all it elves gives to that which it invests a it new charm as color be 1 upon the lower flower a new loveliness and stows color cannot be said to be essential the g as to the existence of the flower so the application a of ornament to objects cannot bo be gaid wild to be absolutely necessary the progress of ornament from rom the days of the greeks Is it growth to that higher form whose who object is to express as in bis ilia art and architecture says the feeling of delight deli glit which the artist haa taken in the subject of his choice me distal architecture addressed itself not only to the sense and intellect of men but bought first to touch the more spiritual chords of his being to excite the sympathy of f bis his soul ornament grew out of mere imitation but it has disowned its parent though even as high authority aa as ruskin everything then la is ornamental gays Ys which Is imitative but if imitation li Is ornament then in truth be who imitates best is the best na ria menter and the photographer must outrank the painter and the maker of casts supersede the sculptor what he evidently means Is what Is suggestive of nature is ornament ornament does not imitate it represents suggests flea from typifying nature ornament went on to embody ideas and emotions that Is why even the irreverent are awed on entering the cathedrals of the old world common sense requires that regard should bo be given to the purpose for which the ornament is designed the material of which it Is constructed and tho the object which it represents A class of decoration peculiar to one material Is misplaced when applied to another that always is host best which is simplest and least affected MIMI ORNAMENT 18 SHAM fretwork in stone loses lose the solidity and suitable to tone yet the cob tracery of the stone ceiling of the chapel of henry VII in westminster abbey baa has been highly praised it has been written enthusiastically that stone seems by the be cunning labor of the chisel to hava have been becu robbed of its ira weight and density suspended aloft as if by magic and the fretted roof achieved with the wonderful minuteness and airy security of a cobweb all must indeed admire the skill of the workman but one cannot help feeling that it has been misplaced stone has indeed been robbed of its weight and density but those attributes should have been allowed to remain yes it is cunning labo labor and when that Is said all is said that ornament which is not what it pro tends to be Is not truly ornamental it la is a sham stucco work is probably the most frequently encountered sham but we sea am less of it than we used to eastlake East lako says that it was an evil hour when stucco was invented this la Is how he bewailed its prevalence in england thirty years ago I 1 not only is plaster or cement used as a covering tor for inferior brickwork but it Is led wedly employed for columns parapets and lz veranda ba lusters in place of stone it is ad not at all an uncommon thing to see a ila would be doric or corinthian shaft truncated 41 4 of its base and actually banging to is the side of a house until the pedestal ta which of course will also be of cement is dg completed that monstrosity a bouse house covered with plaster marked out with imitation of 0 atone stone when ei every cry one can tell tellata at a glance Is that it Is not a stone house is not seen so if often now outside the small cities we aro are growing more honest in our work away with such pretense let work ba be honest the graining of wood la is another sham for a few dollars one may have his poor pine wood work transformed tran formed into quartered oak or chestnut but it remains pine and no one ia Is deceived far better to have good honest pine or any aby wood so prepared that whatever natural beauty the wood a I 1 has as can c an be wen and admired than to I 1 b it and the first time the poor sham topples over its naked back tella what a counterfeit it is ad GOOD TASTE whatever the sham be it Is soon soo n found out taste at once rejects ft it for I 1 it t sees bees no beauty in it there is no beauty in it it if it r does not delight the eye the great trouble is that people have misconceived conceived mis the purpose of ornament it Is not to dazzle to be been seen of itself as many think with this false notion they bs have 0 tried to make their ornamentation as extravagant as possible when they lacked the means to have really handsome ornament am they imitated ornament is something easl super superadded added to it must render another object attractive not draw drate attention out to itself A ceiling may become so handsome that it ceases to become an ornament all to the room it becomes a work dorkof of aali art this distinction it la Is well to bear in the mind for an uncertainty as to the functions of ornament haa has caused more displays oft of lack of taste than almost any other ther 0 condition I 1 dy doubtless the word taste la is often misused of h harmony of colors or proportions is 1 X frequently meant that is something absolute b of something that can be lear learned learnedly by rs caudy but the color of the walls the figures figy y 0 in the carpet the ornaments on the mantel the pictures on the walls the chairs in the rom the curtains at the window 10 these aril for tile exercise of judgment tho the use of taste the housekeeper must regard the purpose of the ornament its material and the object it Is designed to 0 ornament ment for in instance I 1 tance taste would we hardly approve of a clock in a reception room its ticking is a too bint hint RAW 7 to callers 0 of the tile flight of time I 1 W he bo taste would also require that pictures es cc be hung on a level wit with Is the eye of t the he II 11 average sized man not elevated to a height at which only a giraffe co could u id inspect them laste taste would ask that they be hung as nearly 04 y as possible e at a right angle with a it line rf ma drawn draw from the eye and not tilted forward from the tile wall as is so often seen washington star |