The Portland daily press., 1878-07-17
Paris Correspondent of the New York Tribuuel
A ReOm In the Paris Exhibition.

little room furnished by Miss Rhoda and
Agnes Garrett offers a complete contrast to the
massive magnifcence Of Messrs. Gillow's work
the Princes pavilion. 1t is to bs seen In the
furniture department of the British section, not
far from the Indian gallery, and is very
charming piece of upholstery. find these
two ladies set down in the catalogue as house
decorators and cabinet makers, No. Cover
street, Bedford square, London, and their con-
tribution is tersely but not very satisfactorily
described as ''ths furniture and fittings of q
room." They are the authors of one of the
little books in Messrs. MacMilan's Art at
Home series. The room Is small and low,
perhaps fourteen feet by twelve, and hardly
more than eight feet high; the furniture, also
OF tiny proportions, and the room altogether
having the air of being done in miniature-or
being a very large dolls drawing room. It's
in what passes for Queen Annes style. The
whole ceiling Is supported BY walls covered
with stamped velvet 10 delicate blus gray; .
Persian rug in yellow OF small pattern with
dali red border, covers two-thirds of the floor;
the furniture aud mantelpiece are of uupolished
rosewood; the furniture coverings of buff, with
greenish yellow pattern; a carefully adjusted
scheme of color, which gives an air OF refine
ment to the room quite Independently of the
forms of the furniture. The curtains to the
one low, long window, filled with small panes
of grayish glass with heavy mulions, hang
from thick brass rod Ia creamy yellow and
primrose tints, with fringe Of blue and buff;
not color to which you can confidently assign
positive name; dreams of shades" says the
lady to whom appeal, and whose perception
OF color would make an artists fortune, and Is
almost equal to that of a buttercup before it Is
quite open and ripe.
The broad, low, rosewood chimney piece and
mantel is distributed In dwarf Ionic pilasters
and panels, wide shelf upholding the frame
OF bevelled mirror, engraved In flowing pat
tern at the top and lower corners. The rich
cone OF the rosewood is thrown up by the yel-
low marble border of the Fireplace which it.
self is brought out more clearly by a lining of
olive green tiles inclosing CRATE In brass OPEN
work, which is matched by the fender. The
lines of the furniture are mostly straight; with
the exception Of the sofa, 1t is all 80 simple as
scroll work or weod flowers once so dear to
the fashionable upholsterer; the wood is chan
neled and grooved in the direction of its
length, and that il about all. II you are used
to FRENCH upholstery, with its springs and
stufing and studied concealment OF the frame
Of chair or sofa-as il the sight of so hard
substance might br1ise your daiuty bones-you
may say these two or three chairs aud the
single lounge don't look comfortable. But you
will find, If you try them. that the angles have
been SO carefully calculated that the human
frame fits into them to q nicely, while the
springs and stuffing may be made as elastic as
the French, The sofa is the one failure Of the
room; pattern for which there Is no doubt
authority, aud which seems to have been cho-
sen in moment Of mental fatigue for that sole
reason. The lines of the table, stool aud screen
are all right lines; the stand for the candela-
brum is stand sHd nothing else; the sconces
are in plain brass, deriving all their beauty
from their outline. There is bracket not less
simple, with a blue jug on it; a corner cup
board on legs; . hanging cupboard OF which
the cornice ought to come OFF; writing table
with shelf of books in various bindings-all
of the same elegant simplicity The screen,
which you can lift with two fingers, has two
silk panels in old gold and pink, with peach
colored blossoms thrown over the stuff And
the impression which the whole makes on you
is, above all others, an impression of purity
aud refinement. The widow ought to have
jasmine growing outside of it, says the lady
whom have already noted. and there should
be a blonde beauty by the fireplace reading an
Idyl of the King