New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1875-11-08
HOUSEHOLD GOODS.

HOUSEHOLD GOODS.
| Probably to the general reader the advertis-
| ing columns which refer to china, furniture,
| and all kinds of household decoration ale
among the most interesting in his newspaper.
The draping and plenishiDg of home has
come at last to be regarded az a fine art, ana
an art which every man and woman can prac-
tice. Until very few years ago it was con-
sidered the business of the uph0lsterer. People
"of condition" in colonial times inflated as
far AS was possible their remembrance of great
houses in the older countries, the imitation, OF
course being meager and poor. There is II
house yet unal:ered which was furnished and
decorated by the agent Of the R0thschilds
for the reception of Lafayette on his
last visit, and it is fair specimen
of these old methods-tho woodwork being
deliberately and wretchedly carved and covered
thick with white paint the walls and ceilings
gay with frescoed goddesses and nymphs toss
ing wreaths of impossible flowers, which are
| reproduced on the carpets below. The chaii-
dclicrs tinkle with innumerable dusty glass
pendants, and the straight Bonded legs OF sofas
and chairs support cushions embroidered In
hideous poodlcs and roses. II was just such
walls and cushions that Lady Washington
guarded with care against the "greasy hair OF
"dirty Democrats" With the exception of i'm
ported furniture there are few of the old colonial
relics which deserve regard except on the
score of age. Since that earlier time, house
holders of wealth have been apt to "relur-
"nish" by buying carpets, mirrors, and broca-
telle enormities which were all right provided
4 IN, Ia. lafa tNln
chung TO the old chairs and tables because of
their own associations with them, while
householders of limited means acted in just
the same way except that they were necessa-
rily driven to buy cheap limitations of fashion
able hideOusncss. "Neath lowest deep a
CLOVER deep descends."
These men and women might have admirable
taste in literature, music, or dress, or might
keenly appreciate natural scenery; but
it never occurred to them that sofas
and wallpaper could also become an
expression of an idea, or an outlet for
whatever artistic skill or perception they pos
sessed. The armchair on which the old
grandfather sat, or the cradle wherein baby
was rocked, were dear for their sake, but
that the chair and cradle could themselves be
Informed with a meaning or beauty never
had occurred to them. When it did occur,
everybody knows how contagious was the idea
among people Of all classes and conditions. A
man or woman could not handle brush or
BURN or sculptOr's chisel without long
study, but they each had walls and
floors to cover, and chairs and dishes
for daily USE and they could show
their own aesthetic skill in the shape and col
orlng of these things. AS for people who had
no aesthetic skill, and to whom a chair was
simply four sticks and square of cloth, they,
too, as always must follow tho style Hence
Society has broken out in the last five years
into connoisseurs in china and new wall-tints and
brlc-a- brac of all kinds. You cannot dine with
merchant prince or his under-Clerk but you
shall be deafened with discussions Of dadOs
of chests from Holland. or Egyptian pottery !;
women who used to devote themselves to
putfs and overskirts have risen to Persian rugs
and miraculous tea-pots. The idea having
gained ground that the ancients understood
form and color better than we do, we are
ready to yield homage even 20 our grand
fathers on these matters; old kitchen scttees
and tables are held up as models of cbaste and
severe outlInc obscure Ney-England villages
and Pennsylvania farmhouses are ransacked
for old clocks and cabinets which almost
bring their weight in gold in town. And
as the Americans never spare money in
their hobbies, dealers carry Oh the search
through the bric-a-brac and curio-shops all
over the world to supply the New-iork market.
How large is the supply may be guessed from
our advertising columns.
Now all this hubbub concerning house dec
Grafton by no means proves that the majority
of people who make it have a single clear idea
OF what ID fitting or beautiful. They crowd
their parlors with furniture of half a dozen
STYLES, or buy hideous china simply because
, these things are costly and the fashion, just
as they wore enormous hoops ten years ago
and drape themselves with classic scantiness
to-day. The sight of beautiful shapes and
colors will not educate the masses of the people
unless they learn to value them as beautiful
and not a. fashionable. Common sense under
lies art as well as every other good thing.
When Smith lays out his half-year's salary on
a cabinet black with age which he tells you
came from the Pitt palace, and which crowds
his cheap chairs out of his gaudy little
parlor, he simply proves his ignorance
of the FIRST rules of art. What has this wooden
ghost from the past, even if real, to do in an
eight 10y ten New-York parlor? Or he buys a
vase OF eloisonn6 because his neighbor wanted