The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1892-04-02
The aa1ish;a daily eagle Saturday gfor,ae, April 2 1882
WHAT ORNAMENT rs.
A DISSERTATION ON THE FUNCTION
OF HOME DECORATION.

To What Extent limitations May BE Pur-
| sued Before 1t Becomes Vulgar and
| Disgusting-why Good Taste Rejects
shams of All Kinds in the Home.
In using taste in the ornamentation of a
dwelling, a room or a wall one should bear
| in mind what ornament is. Dresser gives
US probably as good definition as can be
/ made when he said, Ornament is that
which, superadded to utility, renders the
| object more acceptable through bestowing
on it an amount of beauty which it would
otherwise not possess. 1t gives to that
| which it invests a new charm. as color be
slows upon the flower new loveliness, and
as the color cannot be said to be essential
| to the existence of the flower, SO the appli-
cation of ornament to objects cannot be
said to be absolutely necessary.
! The progress of ornament from the days
of the Greeks is a growth to that higher
form whose object is to express, as SeddoDs,
| in his Art and Architecture" says, THE
| feeling of delight which the artist has
| taken in the subject of his choice" Ne
di9val architecture addressed itself not
only to the sense and intellect of men, but
sought first to touch the more spiritual
| chords of his being to excite the sympathy
OF his soul Ornament grew out Of mere
imitation, but it has disowned its parent,
though even as high authority as RUskin
says, Everything then is ornamental
which is initiative"
But if imitation is ornament. then in
truth he who initiates best is the best Or
namenter, and the photographer must
outrank the painter, and She maker of
casts supersede the sculptor. What he
evidently means is what is suggestive of
nature is ornament. Ornament does not
initiate. 1t represents, suggests, typifies.
From typifying nature ornament went on
to embody ideas and emotions. That is
why even the irreverent are awed or en-
tering the cathedrals of the Old World.
Common sense requires that regard
should be given to the purpose for which
the ornament is designed, the material of
which it is constructed and the object
which it represents. A class of decoration
peculiar to one material is misplaced when
applied TO another. That always is best
which is Simplest and least affected.
WHEN ORNAMENT is SHAN
Fretwork in stone loses the solidity and
massiveness suitable to tone, yet the cob
weblike tracery of the stone ceiling of the
Chapel of Henry VII in Westminster alb
hey has been highly praised. 1t has been
written enthusiastically that "stone seems
by the cunning labor of the chisel to have
been robbed of its weight and density, sus-
pended aloft as if by magic, and the fretted
roof achieved with the wonderful minute
ness and airy security of a cobweb"
All must indeed admire the skill of the
workman, but one cannot help feeling that
it has been misplaced. Stone has indeed
"been robbed of its weight and density"
but those attributes should have been al
lowed to remain. Yes it is cunning labor,
and when that is said all is said.
That ornament which is not what it pre-
tends to be is not truly ornamental. It is
a sham Stucco work is probably the most
frequently encountered sham. But we see
less of it than we used to. Eastlake says
that it was an evil hour when stucco was
invented. This is how he bewailed its
prevalence in England thirty years ago:
Not only is plaster or cement used as
covering for inferior rickwork. but it is
boldly employed for columns, parapets and
veranda balusterS in place of stone. 1t is
not at all an uncommon thing to see a
would be Doric or Corinthan shaft trun-
Gated of it's base and actually hanging to
the side of a house until the pedestal
(which of course will also be of cement) is
completed"
That monstrosity, house covered with
plaster, marked out with imitation of
stone, when every one can tell at a glance
that it is not a stone house, is not seen so
often now outside the small cities. We
are growing more honest in our work.
Away with such pretense. Let work be
honest
The granting Of wood is another sham
For a few dollars one may have his poor
pine wood work tranforned into CHARTERED
oak or chestnut, but it remains pine and
no one is deceived. Far better to have
good honest pine or any wood so prepared
that whatever natural beauty the wood
has can be seen and admired than to
'ebonizc" il, ana the first time the poor
sham topples over its naked back tells
what counterfeit it is.
GOOD TASTE.
Whatever the sham be it is soon found |
out. Taste at once rejects it, for it sees no
beauty in it. There is no beauty in it if it |
does not delight the eye.
The great trouble is that people have |
misconceiyed the purpose of ornament. It |
is not to dazzle, to be seen of itself, as
many think. With this false notion they !
have tried to make their ornamentation as
eXtravagant as possible. When they lacked !
the means to have really handsome orna- |
ment they initiated. Ornament is some |
thing ''superadded to-" 1t must render |
another object attractive, not draw atten- !
ton to itself. A ceiling may become so |
handsome that it ceases to become an Or
nament TO the room. 1t becomes a work Of |
art This distinction it is well to bear in |
mind, for an uncertainty as to the func- |
tons of ornament has caused more dis |
plays of lack of taste than almost any other |
condition.
Doubtless the word taste" is often mis- |
used. Harmony of colors or proportions IS ,
meant. That is something alb
solute, something that can be learned by |
study. But the color of the walls, the fig |
ures in the carpet, the ornaments on the /
mantel, the pictures on the walls, the /
chairs in the room, the curtains at the win
dow-these call for the exercise OF judg |
ment, the use of taste The housekeeper /
must regard the purpose Of the ornament, /
its material sad the object it is designed |
to ornament. For instance. taste would |
hardly approve of a clock in reception
room. It's ticking Is too obstrusive hint /
TO callers of the fight of time.
Taste would also require that pictures
be hung on a level with the eye OF the
average sized man, not elevated TO height
at which only giraffe could inspect them
Taste would ask that they be hung as near