Morgan County democrat. (Versailles, Mo.) 1900-1906, 1906-02-16
ANTIQUE FURNITURE
ENowLEDoE OF OLD CHINA AND
MAHOGANY 10 A CULT.
Reverence for Ones Family Heirlooms
Now Fashionable - Some Women
Have an Indiscriminate Longing
for Anything old-Essentials for
the Well-Furnished House.
BY MARGARET f. sANGsTER.

IVA ' thc AibS VI tut ueep STteu
solitudes of a New England parish,
where abandoned farms we're numer-
aus and neighbors scattered.
Suddenly my companion uttered q
%rapturous exclamation.
Look, oh! look; see that Quilt
spread on the rail fence heal those
hen coops! | wonder IL that woman
would sell 1t! oh, what a bcauty!"
Appreciation OF old quilts, old CHI
ne old mahogany AMI all the rest is a
cult. | have not mastered it, but l
never quarrel with those who have. I
held the horse Will. my friend inter
viewed the quilts owner. Presently l
was called from the doorstep.
Come in, do. There IL q sugar bowl
here in the loveliest copper luster!
Leave the pony. He will stand"
He did stand. until the bargaining
for quilt and sugar bowl was COM
pleted.
AS I have said. knowledge OF old
china and mahogany Is a cult! Some
have learned 1t. Some have not. But.
owing to its hold or the feminine pub
lie 1t has created a rev trade, and the
old fa'msteads of the country have
been searched and CLEANED and too
often their treasures have been bought
for Z song and sold for a fortune.
can understand love and reverence
for furniture and dishes which have
been in ones family for generations,
handed down from mother to daugh-
ter, and from father TO son. An Old
clock which has licked faithfully and
steadily in one household during the
changes Of 200 years is an heirloom to
be priced. no matter how ugly an arti-
Gle it may be in itself,
A mahogany table at which ones
Observation-Disclosures poured tea is
a possession to be tenderly cherished.
So with china. if it be Crowned Derby
or Wedgewood, or copper %luster, and
women of the same blood and lineage
have owned 1t since colonial days, they
are not to blame for considering it as
q thing of which they may boast.
Apart from family associations, |
am enough Of a Ph.llistine to prefer
examining elegant survivals which
have a large commercial value when
they are safe behind glass doors in 4
museum. or when they stand about IN
halls where historical collections are
In the custody OF a curator. | don't
want them in my home. however well
they are insured. FOr chairs and ia
bles that are simply cid | do not care.
IL thnv huyn halnD~nG tn Cnpp1lniv
else they are nothing TO me. | would
be quite as conten.ed with a good
copy of something antique as with the
antique thing itself. were | given the
choice, principally Tor the reason that
everyday home life brings burdens and
cares enough without stupidity adding
to them responsibilities which one need
not carry.
What we really want of a chair is
so,id!ty, responsibility and comfort
Perish the thought Of spider-legged
chairs and lettering sofas and jim
cracks of every kind that are traps for
the unwary. A table should be large
or what-not; should have a fiat sur,
face and good legs of its own. IL it be
deliberately carved it will need time
and pains to keep IL in decent order
for while carving Is beautiful wher
immaculate. 1t rs not beautiful wher
Clogscd with dust ard dirt. Whether
a table be Of oak, p,,e, walnut or ma
hogany IL a matter OF indifference II j
harmonic with the rest of ones fur
niture and meet the nses of q table
The peculiar beauty Of mahogany Is il
its deep wine-color and its capabilit.
of retaining polish. The older 1t !
and the more polish 1t has had tn
more pleasing it Is TO the eye Of tn
notable housekeeper.
In the south In e%nte-bellum day
there was a good deal Of old mahogan,
that had come down in families, som,
of 1t imported from the old home be
yoni the sea, and 1t was kept in per
feet condition by the daily rubbing o
the house servants. The air Of stabili
ty, comfort and leisure in those Lowell
southern homes was IN entire coutras
with that of a clutteie ed modern draw
Ing room, where there Is a chaoti
medley of all sorts OF articles, some q
one period, some of another, many O
them purchased without the least vie,
to the general effect. 1t must b
%mournfully admitted that the taste c
the average no useholder il q littl
, doubtful, or else that the ideal c
nOusa furnishing misses the DOint {