The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-12-25

Apt Quotations That Help i'm Decorating
Rooms of Country Houses.

Rooms of Country Houses.
Tho artistic value of Inscriptions in house
decoration does not seem to occur to the avn
eragc house owner. Even an inscription oveA
tho hearth is rarely seen, but occasionally Id
country houses one finds a quantity lettered
greeting across the chimney front. and then
one wonders why the custom is not more i'd
vogue. Even the despised Home. Sweet
Home" which is so dreary when worked id
worsteds or perforated cardboard, is glorif1ed
when It wauders in quaint gothic letter&
around the frieZe OF a living room. ono
needn't resort to platitudes, for there ard
hundreds of charming phrases in praise Of
home, and the less hackneyed the quotation
the greater the character It lends to the room{
These frieze inscriptions should be artistic i'd
the highest degree, or they fail utterlyto be decd
orative and call up memories of Bible clasa
rooms. The background for the letters must
be carefully chosen, and the letters themselvea
should be unique in design and color. A Bos%
ton artist has painted the frieZe for his study
and has designed the letters in the style OF the
old Illuminated missals with a wealth of orna%
ment and tracery for the initial letters. Such q
frieze would be beyond the reach OF inartistid
or impecunious mortals. and they must CONF
tent themselves with modified gothic letters1
artistic as to color and form. The inscriptions
should be appropriate to the place 1t fills and
btloull W allluOi Jul WIZ a. " Wv lahot
tuation in the old English or German fashion.
1t is easy to find apt quotations for librariesa
music rooms and dining rooms. but the scn&
tentious sayings of the early English writer4
lend themselves more readily to the gothic
lettering than modern phrases. Foreign quo<
tations are often used. but it is doubtful wis@
dom to make the force of the sentiment a hide
den quantity for many guests. A home in NeWA
Jersey has a great brick fireplace in the cenS
400, h-t o.I oo~oe, tha nhipnnau In FoptaotiQi
French lettering. runs this inscription: AUG
ames fol: du1 dnis Jovers." lFor souls. faith
for friends. the hearthside.l
Another fireplace in Westminster bears tho
inscription from the old English:
The fire, logs. poker and the tongs. ,
The bellows, with its brazen lungs.
The wood. the ashes and the smoke.
Do all to righteousness provoke.
In a picturesque old mansion In Connecticut
the great living room, has q wooden ceiling. and
text. The letters are dimmed with age, bu63
can still be read. and read with profit. by all thsd
viduals. in the household has a special .inscripf
ton. The texts are taken from Ephesians.
aH @d aiH Esry o %es1 your 90 Fn par p e commands the
first rafter. severely; and rafter number two
Fathers. provoke not your children to
Servants. be obedient to them that are you1
masters, forbear threatening" ,,
Husbands, love your wives" has the fiftlNl
place. and on the sixth is:
wives. reverence ye your husbands"
1t would be a terrible doom to live up to I'M
these degenerate days, but perhaps householdaa
We're better ordered in old colonial times. and 81
family could live sereneiy in the society OF sucha
texts. It is to be feared that the tremendously
decorative character of the inscriptions is whats
appeals to the present owners.
In an old house. in a Philadelphia suburb. th0I
dining room is decorated with conviyial Invita-
tions that trail, in zigzag fashion. around, mans
tel, doors and windows; and above the buffetl
is inscribed the immortal Sairey Camps adAa
monition to Betsey Prig:
=" Wotever you do, Betsey, drink fair" -
The billiard room of the same house has a dull
green wall. on which. inclosed in illuminated
scrolls, are Inscriptions relating to play:
the owners OF a charming country house in
ally through the house. and carried the tancEs
self Respecting sun dials, bears a quaint old
a picturesque summer house. overrun by fow.1
ering vines. and there the women Of the family9
are to be found any summer morning. packing J
great baskets with flowers to be sent to a city
mer house one reads the appropriate tnscripAl
ton: A ye little green things OF the earthA
praise ye the Lord"