The Dickinson press., 1884-09-06
PARLoR
Some Notably Ha .dsome Designs In
Washington City.

PARLOR DEC0RATIO-TS.
Some Notably Ha .dsome Des.zns In
Washington City.
From The Washington Star.
"There are not two parlors alike in
Washington" said on artistic paper
hanger and decorator on T. strs.t to a
Star man the ether day, as he stood
admiring the handsome designs for wall
decoration. II mean that there are not
two fashionable parlors decorated alike.
In this particular Washington differs
from every other city. There is some
chance for fertility Of invention and
wide range of taste here, while in other
cities there is rigid uniformity observ-
ed. In Baltimore or Philadelphia, for
instance, when you see one pa.lor Won
see them all. But here the aim is Or
iginaiity. Everything must be UNIQUE.
Each fashionable lady aims to have her
parlor decorated to suit her own taste,
and different from anybody's else. In
the circle of the upper ten, which forms
Washington's active society, if any lady
in making her round of calls finds a
room like her own. she has hers chang
ed at once in some particular. They
will go to great expense to crafty this
whim."
care the decorations expensive usual
ly?" asked the Star.
1.-The paper and frieze for the walls
and ceiling of most ofthe handsome par-
lors costs from $4,000 to $3, 900, but
there are many very nice parlors deco
rated for as little as $780,"
"Eh0f n0nar ic vorv ox,,,- - =
said, pointing to rolls Of heavily en-
bossed wall paper of various tints and
designs, which looked like stamped
leather rather than paper. "rhis is very
fashionable, though not so e~xpensive,n
and he threw out a roll of Chinese pa-
per fecked with gold tinged from that
OF the FURNISHED grade to the bronze
shades. with an almost imperceptihle
red back ground. "Thls is used with
various frieze work designs, and bound
by heavy gold monldings. Some use
narrow frieze, some broad, and some a
double row of different, pattern, sepa-
rated by q gold bar. 1t is thus the diff
ference of design is effected.
us frescoe OF painting fashionable
now?" the scribe asked.
"No; it's out of fashion. For tbe
ceiling they use handsome panel paper.
and if they desire a solid color for the
walls they use this" And he unrolled
a thick paper Of subdued tint, probably
a sixteenth Of an inch thick, and soft
and plisnt like cloth. "That," he said.
"makes n Of the handsomest walls.
Many of the finest parlors in the city
are covered with that, all, however,
having different frieze with it."
"Do you not find it difficult to meet
the demand for the new designs?"
Eyes. It takes study but we like it.
It gives us a chance to display our tai
ent as to artistic decorations; and il
pays. We have an artist drawing de-
signs for frieze all the time. 1 take
more satisfaction in my work in Wash
ington than in any other city in the
world; and there is more taste displayed
here than elsewhere. The ladies here
have IDEAS of their own. Someo # them
design their own frieze work. The
frieze in II Of the handsomest parlors
in the city is hand-painting, done
by the lady of the house. It is
more than two feet deep, and is of q
most rich and artistic design. It is an
INTERVIEWING of vines and leaves, ex-
tending all the way around the room,
near the ceiling, and the luxuriant
growth is alive with birds. The vines
and birds are all in graceful positions.
Some other branches of the parlor dec
Grafton ladies with artistic talent do for
themselves. Many ladies paint tiles
for their tireplaces, and one of the
handsomest mantels l have seen was
made by hand by ayoung lady. 1t
reaches nearly to the ceiling, and has
the appearance OF massive carved ebony.
"You speak of frieze and not of dado?"
SAID the the Star, returning to the
original subject.
eyes," was the reply. "The dados
have gone out Of fashion. Five years
ago it was all the rage. Now, instead
of having it heal the floor like vain
soothing, it is near the ceiling, and be-
comes frieze. It is of much more elabo-
rate design, however,"
among the handsomest parlors in
the city," he added, care those of Rep
resentative Perry Belmont, Admiral
Rogers, Mrs. Mckee, Mrs. Quacken-
bush and Mrs. Noble"