Telegram-herald., 1889-05-15
HINGES YoE cABrSEr.

goods a. that commonly knowu as build
ers hard ware suffers is modes and sea
soas. Are the door knobs OF today like
the door knobs OF our grandfatherss Not
much
Door knobs and all sorts OF house hard
ware along with them, are all classic now
a-days. Ia domestic architecture there j.
decided reaction from various Otitrg
forms known most frequently a. Queen
Aane, term never very accurately ap-
piled. back 70 classical. renaissance aud
Colonial styles. just now a yellow house
with white trimmings - 80 artistic. "
Five years ago II was hideous, five years
hence II may DC hideous again. It Is quite
likely that the same n true OF the hard
ware used In trimming houses, and that it
will so0n DC susperseded by other designs,
which will DC a great pity. for never since
the days OF such old master metal-smIths
a. Colini and Quentin Mat-ys was 50 much
real art going into thee things as now.
Ia the drst place al the best builders
hardware - solid metal, and solid
metal always means, Ia the case OF anY
houses with any pretention 10 dignity
either OxldlEed silver, brunze or brass. He
macits or earthenwsre for door knobs,
cstst-irOn for window-cstehes, spring locks,
hinges and the like, are too cheap and
mean for 4 luxurious age. Wrought iron
l. adinissible because expensive but is not
So good form as Il was four or five years
ago. Then architects frequently threw
great scrolls OF 10, or Of dull brass across
the whole width OF a door ia imitation Of
the massive sisge-defying hinges Of a Fiji
tesnth Century castle. Now these ponder
Gus aud expensive shams are relegated TO
inOcuOus desuetuie along with the Jacob
can furniture put together with wooden
pegs. aud other whims and WITNESSES OF
the Queen Anne period. Now our doors
are Hat. broken only by modest depressed
panels. and without any Of the raised work
80 common few years ago. Modest and
quiet effects are also sought in the metal
work which accompanies them, and the
hnObs and hinges are not much too large
fSr use rule.
You can put $500 into the hardware of a
modest residence. You can have knobs
aud oell-pulls which = sculptor would
admire, aud hinges in low relief copied
from Greek friezes. You can have
special design made for hardware, copy
right 10 and prevent anyone else in this
country from having anything resem bling
it II VI. Fls1ler paid $1,000 10 a single
NV tEh Uftu LOT AtlQWhEr u StrCtdl
copyrighted design. for his big new hotel
a. st. Augustine, the Ponce de Leon. The
design = > rather queer one, somewhat re-
sembiing whOrl OF leaves unfolding. and
l. executed in = modest way ia dull bronze.
Ogden GOelet trimmed MS house in New
York with pear shaped knobs aud pulls.
big end up. but * he didn't get exclusive
design others caught on, and now half the
saloons in Harlem have pear-shaped door
knobs in polished brass or bronze. In
deed the New York saloons are the very
best customers for fine metal work, and
frequently a single saloon displays hun
dreds of dollars worth OF it. This is not
diGirult when dfteen dollars can be paid
for one door latch not Of enormous size
There Is a man named Lyons in New
York who built a splendid apartment
house. A a sort of grim pun on his name
bs had his hardware decorated with lions
beads Il = rather tough on convivial
tsnsnt. Hs goes home a trife bewilcered,
having dined not wisely but too well. and
big lions head with zrinning disteut
laws welcomes him on the front door.