The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1899-11-11
v. ARTISTIC FURNISHING.

v. ARTISTIC FURNISHING.
Houses and their furnishings DO not
exist for themselves. but as a back
| ground for the people who live in
them Just as the trees, rocks, fields,
| animals, have for their setting the
| green earth and the blue sky, just as
! pictures have a background. a middle
distance and a foreground. so human
beings have their settings If the set
ting be more striking or more elegant
! than the people for whom it exists,
| they are made insignificant and I'M
comfortable by it. How many houses
| there are whose furnishings are much
| more attractive than their inhabitants.
A woman of superficial education and
| trivial character prides herself on hav-
ing the most beautiful library in her
| state-rows on rows of the best books
| in beautiful bindings. in room of the
most artistic design, and nobody to
read them!
John Burroughs says that "eyery
| mans house is in some sort an effigy of
himself" When you build and furnish
a house you make public proclamation
| of your taste. your manners, your sin
| certify. If you wish others to think
| you richer, more fashionable, more cul-
| tivated than you really are. you may
| fill your house with exquisite things.
| Yet the contrast between the envircn-
ment and the owner will be only the
more evident and the more pitiful.
| The house and its contents should be
| the outgrowth of the tastes, habits and
| occupations of its owners. Farm life
| in its best aspects is suggestive Of
breadth. generosity simplicity: of
| cleanliness. abundance of sunlight.
| fresh air and good food; of the beauty
of nature and freedom from stiff for
mality. These are the things which
the city dweller envies the country
man. The furnishing and decoration
| of the farmers home should express
the breadth. beauty and freedom of
his life. 1t follows that some pieces Of
| furniture and some kinds of decoration
which are offered in the shops are quite
out of place in a farmers home.
On the other hand. city life is char
| acterized by extreme limitations so far
| as nature is concerned; and vet it is
rich in opportunities for culture and
complicated with every kind of me-
chanical convenience and device. Space;
| air, sunlight, pure water, are precious
! commodities. The whole interior of
| the house must be adapted to the diff
ferent aspect of human life. However
varied the tastes and habits Of city
and country jewellers. however limited
or abundant the income, however
rough or dainty the occupation. one
| fact Dervades every kind of life and
| must, therefore be the basis of all
principles of decoration-"the domes-
tic spirit is quiet, informal. unceremol-
ious: loves ease, privacy. low tones,
loves the chimney corner. the old arm
chair. the undress garb. homely cares.
children. simple pleasures Whenever
the home becomes a show place. a
museum of bric-a-brac and curios. it
violates the first and most important
requirements of the family. Expensive
and elaborate houses may provide for
both the domestic life and the public
ceremonious life, but the average house
| of the majority of Americans which
costs from $1,000 to $4,000, can devote
never more than a few rooms, and
sometimes only one. to formal enter
J .ainments., The first principle of house
| furnishing is, therefore. to have moth
ing Which does not contribute to the
use, the comfort and the refinement of
family life. After these have been
taken into account those who have the
means may add elegance. luxury and
/ stateliness to their establishments.
I The demands of formal hospitality
must always be subordinate to those of
| family comfort. ~
| In earlier times. when class distinc-
| tions and occupations were definitely
marked, people inherited not only
| houses. but furniture as well. There
was consequently no temptation for
| them to initiate those who were richer
than themselves. Much of the hideous
/ taste displayed in America is the nat
ural outcome of democracy. Every
body in this country is trying to rise,
yet those who have risen are not nee
essarily the cultivated in taste. Since
money can buy both real and sham
elegance. those who wish to appear
elegant initiate their superiors in
clothes and furniture. often with dis
astrous effect. Imitation becomes,
therefore. dangerous motive. for it
is likely to lead to the choice of articles
which. however suitable for some other
family and however pretty in them
selves. are quite inappropriate in the
situation of the purchaser.
Taste is a. matter of cultivation as
much as is efficiency or honesty;
skilled worlSmen are those who have
| learned their trade well and Dracticed
it faithfully: honorable people are those
who have formed the habit of truth
telling. Taste can be cultivated by
seeing beautiful things and by anaIyz-
ing the principles by which they have
been developed: still further by the
habitual application of those principles
in ones own household.
Man obtained his first conception of
form and beauty from the form and
color which he saw in the world about
him. We have only to apply the prin-
cinles which are there displayed in
order to have good taste. Nature pro-
vides an immense and comparatively
neutral background; nature makes
curves, rarely angles; nature blends
the most sharply contrasting colors to-
gether in the butterfly's wing, in the
yellow peoples in a green meadow. in
the feathers of a robins breast The
greater part of the world is in soft
colors; browns and grays.. green's and
dull blues. The brilliant reds. yellows.
pinks and puppies are found in very
small quantities against a large ned
trail background. The most beautiful
Oriental rugs are specimens both of
rare handicraft and of an exquisiteiy
unconscious taste: for in them vivid
colors are mingled in such small guam
titles of rich background that the eye
is satisfied rather than startled by the
contrast.
Nature. except in the very lowest or
ders. never makes a hundred or thou
sand things exactly alike. There is a
type. but the individuals always show
slight variations. There are symmet
ry and regularity in design. but not
identity. If this principle be applied
to art in the household. we see at once
that IL IS absurd to make household
furniture in pieces Identical with one
another. No two individuals are alike
in size and habit; therefore. the furni-
ture and utensils provided for each
should be adapted to his use: but since
individuals vary within comparatively
narrow limits. articles of general use
may be made after a type. with only
the slight modification necessary to
adapt them to the individual. The ar
tistic value of Handmade things con-
sists not merely in the fact that they
lin