The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1906-03-24
DECORATIVE PLAQUES.
The Mural Adjournment of the Dining
Room.

1GUOLls
For years, or even since the enamel
patton of the artistic mind from old
time hideousness in house furnishing,
women with charming homes have
struggled with the mural decorations of
their dining rooms. From the chrome
Nightmares which pictured impossible
fruits and vegetables down through
assassinated game and mounted fish the
gamut has been run by the housewife
with sublime satisfaction at the begin
ming of each period and distress OF
mind at the end Now she bids fair to
have struck the artistic thing at last.
This is no more or less than the decora-
tive wall PLAGUE.
These PLAQUES are, in the main, of
china, which establishes their claim to
the dining room at once. They are not
suitable to any other room in the
house. Always the thing that was
needed for the dining room walls was
distinctive something which exactly
fitted. Of course, these PLAQUES are
seen upon the walls of country homes
in the main halls or living room, when
the dining room is but corner, and
particularly is this effective. when the
furniture is the dark mission wood. In
these cases the PLAQUES are not con-
fined to the plate rail, but fill in empty
spaces between bookcase and window,
or above or below the rail. They are
suspended invisibly by wire running
around the under rim.
The color possibilities of these plac-
CUES are their most valuable feature.
A room that has hitherto tangled and
fretted the nerves in spite of the eff
forts of the owner to harmonic colors
will smooth out and assume harmony
of tone with the addition of a we'll
chosen wall PLAGUE or two. This is es-
pecially true of the Australian PLAQUES.
Some of the handsomest ones come in
dull blues, green's and -Pompeiian reds,
which blend as tremendously as do the
oriental rugs. They are simple in de-
sign, a conventional pattern often
carrying all these colors, with each
color separated by broad bands of dull
gold relief. The effect is indescribably
soothing, and the eye fingers on them
with the proof of rest. These are mo-
derate in size, the largest of them
being no more than twelve inches in
diameter.
Look Antique.
The Florentine placques depend for
effect upon novelty of design rather
than upon color harmony, although they
never are guilty of color dissonance
They contain all the colors that are
shown in the Austrian ware, only the
effect is that of being washed out. They
look like antiques in this respect. and
the large, old-fashioned sprays of jon
quils, tulips, etc, which stand stiff1y
upright over the PLAGUE, carry out this
illusion still further.
The unique feature in the Florentine
ware, however, is the raised work.
Many of the handsomest PLAQUES have
sprlgs of apple trees, with good sized
apples laid across one side of the
PLAGUE and colored to the life, looking
really as if they could be picked up
Other placques have sprays of flowers,
or grapes, or cherries modelled to the
life. The collector of PLAQUES cannot
well pass these by. Then. too, they are
not as expensive as the Austrian ware,
many of them selling for less than So.
There are placques in the royal Meis-
sen ware which are vivid green and red
in background covered with a raised
ornate design in bright gold They
will not be so acceptable according to
American notions of color harmony,
however, rs the softer toned wall deco
rators. The Russian burnt-wood plac-
cues are the most unique of ALL Far as
re have carried the artistic possibili-
ties of the fiery needle point, the Rus
jans have gone one better and sent us
'arge flats in series. depicting the in
oresting winter life in the Slav CAPT
ii. The nlacques resemble hard cork.
non which appear sleighs, snow.
Nrsns, docs and people. in vivid but
rtistie coloring. Several placques are
used in room, as the three depicting