The Opelousas courier., 1886-01-02
WONDERFUL FURNITURE.
A. Suite Designed Abroad by
a Great Artist.
Magnificent Tables and Chairs for q
New York Millionaire.

NOW IUFh mlIlluudiICs
There Is some wonderful furniture
that l have seen, says the editor of
the London Truth. The suite consists
of two very large couches, a piano,
music cabinet, tables. chair, footstools
and cuatains. They are designed and
made for a New York millionaire, who
has given no limit so far as price is
concerned, SO that the very finest ma
terials and the most skilled work have
been secured. The designs are by
Alma Tadema, whose picture, "a
Reading from Homer" now in the
Academy, is to be hung in the draw
ing-room for which the furniture is
intended. / hear rumors of fr.ezes
and panels by Sir Frederick Leighton,
of Roman sculptors at work upon the
marble for the same fortunate room,
and of the other details, which lead
me to the conclusion that il money is
the root of all evil, it is also the root
of all art.
The touches, chairs. and stools are
upholstered in silk of a beautiful shade
of pure gray. ~traversed by bands of OK
quisite embroidery in colors which are
rich, but carefully subdued, as one
sees them in Mr.. Tadema's pictures.
The ground of this embroidery is also
of silk, the color being precisely that
of the bloom of a ripe plum. Upon
this the tints of gold and orange, blue,
| red, and brown, with the slender curv-
ed lines Of pure white, giving a Pc
| culiar pattern. A rich trellis fringe
of mingled gray and gold runs along
the edges of the eouches, and beneath
it is a deep silk fringe of the plum
bloom color, which does not show, ex-
cept in the effect of depth and richness
it imparts TO the upper fringe.
The woodwork of all this is simply
Incompatible, being a mingling OF
cedar-wood, ebony, ivory and lockwood,
inlaid with the finest of mother-o'-pearl
to be had. Wherever there is a cor
ner a swans head is carved out of the
ebony, large carbuncles forming the
eyes. The labor of bending the ivory
has been immense. for it is essentially
a bright substance. On the arms of
the couches there are long curved lines
of tapering ivory. which approach each
other closely at the base, but gradual
ly increases the interval of width as
they rise.
The piano is not yet completed.
The upper part of the musical cabinet
is a copy of an Asiatic temple. The
pillars are Of futed cedar wood, the
delicious red-broWn of that beautiful
wood coming out with great eff ect by
reason of the carving. The capitals
are carved ivory in a mellow tint Of
warm cream, color. The rest is ebony
inlaid with various woods and with
exquisite mother O pearl. which gilt.
tiers like jewels. The curtains that
veil the recesses intended for holding
the music are of a gray silk embroi-
dered in soft, rich colors, a Tyre occupy.
ing the centre.
A large curtain is also of gray silk,
with a curious embroidered dado, the
ground of which is plum-bloom silk
with a quaint design in sections. in
each of which is a straight piece in
blue and red.
The round tables are too lovely.
The woodwork matches that of the
other furniture. but is not a repetition.
In fact. NJ two designs are precisely
alike. There is something to study in
each back of a chair, each side of a
stool, each arm of a couch. The tops
Of the tables are of Algerian onyx, and
they are like bits of golden sunsets
caught and fixed to be a joy forever.
So ~delicately, purely. transparently. eff
fulgently PINK is the ground of one OF
these that it looks as soft as a rose
leaf, though marble cold. Dashes OF
yellow and orange are splashed upon
this ground, and have q cloudy,
dreamy look that makes one think OF
summer ~skyscapes.