The Bolivar bulletin. (Bolivar, Tenn.) 1888-1946, 1889-03-29
FANoIEs IN FURNITURE.
Changes I'm the Popular Demand for Ce
tain Woods or Designs.

FANClES IN FURNITURE.
Changes I'm the Popular Demand for Ger.
tain Woods Designs.
Styles come and go in furniture ale
most as rapidly as in millinery" said
a leading manufacturer, in reference to .
the trend of taste in house-furnishing. |
every little while there is popular |
craze for some particular wood or
design, and even though there be no
pronounced demand of this sort there |
is always a reaching out after novelties. |
Thus every manufacturer is obliged to |
get out new designs periodically to
hold custom. All we can do is TO make
suggestions; it is the public that passes /
judgment and creates style. As a rule
the more unique the designs are the
better they take, but in the best line
of goods l think taste is taking a de-
cided turn to the better.
''In the new styles of furniture the
designs are simpler and the ornamen-
tatiOn less elaborate and more ohaste.
The same principles are now followed
in cabinet-making as in architecture
Barring special cases, which may be
regarded as exceptions, there is
growing disuse of Recommendation, pure
\ 1y as such. Designers are seeking more
and more the beauty that results from
/ simple, even severe, lines and fine fin
/ ish- I'm some styles. especially of ta-
IDles and bedroom sets. this is almost
carried to excess. The aim, of course,
Is to produce striking effects without
/ such an expenditure of labor in manu-
facture as to prohibit sale, and in so
/ far as designers now sin in this respect
|. I think they sin on the right side,
( Taste is now gravitating toward
I the antique. With the exception of
/ few patent devices, such as folding
! beds, Office furniture and revolving
bookcases, nothing really new has
been got out for years. The Eastlake
patterns, so popular some time ago,
were nothing but a crude adaptation
of the gothic. Painted furniture, once
so popular. was novel only in its finish.
So, too, with stained woods, which are
used only for cheap goods. All. these
are now out of date, and designers are
busy working over Romanesque, re-
naissance, Louis ", and colonial pat
terms. We adapt and unite the differ
ent types Just as modern architects
combine different styles of architecture,
and many of our most pleasing effects
are obtained in this way. The popular
| lad keeps us within the leading strings
of the antique, and so far as the re-
quirement is met we are free to make
as many violations or combinations Of
art principles as we choose
Lack of ornamentation in no wise
means cheapness of make. Carving is
a cover for defective wood and often
careless workmanship, but in the
smooth, natural finish of woods the ma
terial must be perfect and the work
manship faultless. Natural finish, de-
signed to bring out the beauty Of the
material, is now the rage, and it is
doubtless step in the right direction
In the matter of woods, oak has
precedence. Cherry probably follows
next Birch and curly maple are much
used, since they give pleasing, dainty
effect Walnut, which for some time
has been out of favor, is gradually
coming back again. Oak and cherry
! are now what walnut used to be-the
staple goods-and 1 presume it will
not be long before they, too, will yield
, to the popular fancy and take the OBJ
scure corners of retail establishments.
Good furniture to-day is much
, cheaper than the same quality of goods
was a few years ago. The secret of the
f matter is not because wood or labor is
cheaper, for material is actually more
expensive and labor not essentially y
: changed, but because machine-wOrk is
8 more largely taking the place of hand
h work, even in the best goods, and
Z. because, as I said before, beauty il
sought on different lines. A large
| share of the carved work now seen OF
: furniture is done quickly and cheaply
3 by machines which are little less thar
= a curiosity in the way they work on
q designs. There are some classes o
furniture, of course, such as uphOl
b. stored chairs and sofas, in which there
. is not so noticeable change either il
:, style or price. Tapestries and plushe
9 are now in vogue, as heretofore, ant
= there is no difference in these radica
= enough to deserve notice. Leather i
"a used chiefly for library and dining-roon
j. furniture. Brass trimmings are on tn
T. wane Chicago News.