St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1884-11-07
THE CRAZE FOR roRr1ERs.
Tf - Extending 20 ~ CTGssrs Of Soefets-
An Early SH5sffftefe-Sosie Far0r-
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said lady on entering one OF our leading
retail dry goods stores recently. A Chronicle,
reporter who bad just entered the same store,
overheard the remark and Immediately
thought the suiect Of portieres might be
worth investigating. lie therefore waited
until, after looking through number pat
terms, the lady finally selected what she de-
sired and ordered it TO be sent home to her
address in fashionable neighborhood which
she mentioned.
''Whst did hat lady buy, and what was 1t
fori'i asked the reporter Of the knight OF the
yard-stick, as he replaced a number Of heavy
rolls Oh the shelves behind the counter.
''Why, that was Turcoman cloth for
portiere- Don't you know that portieres are
the latest fashionable crazef'
'.Yes, but should like to know something
about the matter"
''Well, it's just this. Portieres are the
modern substitutes for doors in the interior
Of fashionable houses. don't mean to say
that doors are entirely dispensed with, but in
the houses OF those who make any pretention
TO fashion, doors, on the parlor floors at least,
have almost entirely given place to portieres.
Some Of them are made Of very expensive
material. and run into big money; but, as
you must be aware, the fashions OF the
wealthy classes are always adopted by those
in proper circumstances, less expensive
material being used. The pcrtiere craze.
therefore, has gradually crept iuto almost
every grade Of society, and you can 20 into
houses ani even flats that rent Tor $40
month aud find the connecting rooms and
halls separated by portieres OF Algerienne
cloth or imitation tapestry. We sch
pOrtieres complete for this class OF custom as
low $3.50 pair. Most of our portieres
arc sold in pairs made in patterns measuring
three 4 half in width. They are generally hung
one on each side OF the door, one hanging
I straight down in folds, and the other lOoped
/ up 10 one side Of the door piece either with
a cord and tassel OF an ornamental brass
chain. The materials vary greatly in quality
and price. We sell by the yard Algerlne,
= heavy mapped cloth, with bright colored
stripes running transyersely, AS low as 80
cents yard. Koubary is a mixture OF wool
and silk, broeaded In flowers and scrolls Of
gold, silver, bronze, or colors on a dark
ground. This is sold at 81 10 a yard. Then
there is Brise bise, sort of OrOeatelle, about
the same price, the ground being gold and
/ the pattern brocaded in subdued cOlors.
These We keep for those who desire 10 make
their own portieres. Then We sell great
many already made in pairs Of TurcOman
cloth. This Is a very rich and heavy mate
rial, the ground being generally some rich
but subdued color, dark blue, Grim
son, and terra Gotta, or brick
red being the prevailing colors, with pat
terms of Turkish or arabesque design. These
are imported, and run as high as $50 pair,
though we keep a great many in imitation
/ de in lrhf frnr ahf
$40 pair upward"
Leaving this store and calling on the head
of u well known firm that makes a specially
OF contracting for the entire interior deeora-
| ton Of some Of the finest residences in this
city that gentleman said:
''In early times primitive man was con-
tent to shelter himself in rude hut, with an
aperture for ingress and egress. AS he adj
vanced in civilization one improvement fol-
lowed closely upon another; new wants were
born of his advanced condition, until to-day
the houses of even the poorest classes consist
OF several rooms, shut from each other by
intervening doors. For several years past
the cultivated tastes of the Weather classes
have been directed toward a high
order Of interior art decoration. Travel
and the inspection Of the beautiful tapestries
Of the medieval age, which still adorn the
walls Of the old monasteries and baronial
/ halls in Europe, have called the attention
| OF those classes 70 the rich and artistic
effects capable Of being produced by
1 that mode of decoration. As a result the
walls on the parlor floors of our finest resi-
dences are to-day covered with tapestry,
pressed leather, lincrusta, or some similar
form Of ornamentatiOn. But the great de-
sideratum In interior decoration is TO secure
harmony Of design and harmonious effects
of color. l say harmony advisedly, not uni
formly, which is a very differentthing. Now,
you can readily see that in a large and richly
decorated house q series of severe blank and
bare wooden doors staring out Of the midst
Of tapestried or otherwise ornamented walls
would destroy the harmonious effects of the
rest of the decorations; hence people of ar
tistic taste have for some time adopted
fashion Of hanging over their doors draperies
in accord with the general style Of the wall
decorations. There you have the origin Of
the portiere. But the door being draped, the
question Immediately suggests itself: Why
have door at ala And that question an
swers itself. The outer door is, of course, in
dispensable. The door leading TO the din
ing-room is necessary to prevent the odors
from the dinner table permeating the other
rooms on the same floor; but the doors com
municating from the hall 10 the parlOrs,
where the temperature is always kept fairly
even, are practically useless. They are,
therefore, dispensed with. In old houses
they are removed from their hinges and rele-
gated 10 the garnet, and in the finer class OF
modern built houses the doors communicat-
ing with those rooms are simply apertures
providing for ingress and egress, and the
portiere alone remains"
SHOW are these portieres hungl''
son poles and rings, either above and out
side the doorway, or, as think better, inside
the door posts and Immediately underneath
the trim"
''What are the materials in general use and
about what is the usual cost of these substi-
tutes for doorsl''
''We use Turcoman cloth, Persian plush,
Persian velours aud tapestry. Here is a
portiere for the house of a well known GEN
tlemen of wealth and taste. That is tapestry
made TO order in Paris from designs fur
nished by myself. 1t cost SIS yard laid
down here. You viii notice that the
colors are subdued and somewhat severe, to
correspond with the furniture and decora-
tons Of the library, for which room it is TO
be used. The house being large and the
ceilings high, the pattern is large and bold
in design. The pattern suggests the idea Of
a shield, surrounded by q cOronet OF gold,
without, in fact, actually possessing those
forms, the idea being to suggest heraldic de-
sign without laying claim to armorial bear
ings. AS 10 the usual cost, it is very diff
fcult to even estimate an average. One
hundred dollars is fair price for an ordi-
nary pOrtiere for the average sized door, but
that brass portiere pole you see on the wall,
with the rings and ornaments, costs 800
alone. A short while ago 1 made portiere
T.. IL - A. T. IL