New Britain herald., 1914-08-11
Difficult to Obtain Just Right Picture for Certain P. aces in Room
 Many Object to Use of Mirrors 1Over Mantes Because They Often Reveal Bac ks of Objects Mantel Plaster Casts Are Effective.

estals are often very decorative if used with discretion and moderation, but statuary should never be placed upon supports so fragile that they suggest instab bility or which give one the idea that they might be easily overturned.
 Ivory Tinted Panels in Brick Walls.
 The tendency toward a more gen. eral use of the wall surfaces of room opens up a great number or op- portunities for the use of plaster casts in bas-relief. Such reliefs are often of sizes which make them useful in achieving bold and striking effects, which are we'll adapted to large wall surfaces. One of the most effective uses of plaster casts in bas-rellef IS literally to build such panels into brick walls. There is something ex- ceedingly attractive in the contrast be- tween the ivory tints in which such reliefs generally appear and the rich, dark tones of brick, whether the sur face, of the brick is plain or rough ened to an uneven texture and made in many very beautiful shades of brown, gray, buff and other colors.
 Bricks Set on End.
 The use of plaster casts in relief when combined with brick for exterior use deserves chapter to itself, but such use of the same combination is particularly successful upon brick chimney breast, where over fireplace a horizontal panel may be built into the wall by the brick masons, the bricks over the cast being set on end
 1 x1,i,a dows. With an overmantel decora- ton so rich and striking, the mantel shelf may we'll be dispensed With, as the placing upon it of the usual many small objects would detract from the value and dignity of the decorations themselves.
 For such use in connection with brick one may select a part of a frieze such as that of the Singing Boys" or the equally beautiful frieze where the workers in the vineyard are shown bearing great branches of vine with clusters of grapes. One may even prefer a fragment of the frieze from the Parthenon, known also as the "Elgin Marbles in the British mu- scum.
 Where it is hardly possible to build such casts into a wall, dignified treatment is to surround them with frames, preferably of wood. The form which the frame may assume depends very largely upon the size and char acter of the cast and the use which is to be made of it. Generally, however, it will be found that fiat and rather broad frames are better, and those made of wood showing we'll defined grain and treated in tones of oak will produce the most satisfactory results. Tapestry of Dark Wall Papers Effec-
 tive Background.
 Very successful results may often be had by hanging a plaster bas-relief against background sufficiently strong to give the dignity and con- trast which it requires. Often a rich and somewhat neutral wall paper will supply the needed background or the of old tapestry or a bit of fabric, which will give the dignity which so important an object demands
 One very successful use of a plas- ter cast as an over-mantel decoration has ebeen obtained by using cast of one of the well known "Madonnas," by Donatello, about twenty inches wide and about thirty inches in height, tinted to the tones of old Carrara marble and hung against square of Indian printed cotton. The fabric shows a rich and beautiful border of Byzantine design in tones of old blue and various wood colors printed upon the rough and rather coarse gray of the raw cotton. The square of fabric was neither just the size nor the shape required by the dimensions of the plas- ter cast, and to adapt it to this use many "pleats" have been made, which have been concealed by the design of the border. The result is an exceedingly rich and beautiful ef- feet which has been secured at tri- fling cost and which may offer an idea for a somewhat similar treatment elsewhere.
 Reproductions of Old Ivories.
 But it is not only the reproduc- tions of large and striking casts that are availab ble as interior decorations. Much of the most beautiful of ancient and mediaeval sculpture was in the form of ivories-"diptychs," made to commemorate the anniversaries of the old Roman consuls and the later
 tr1ptychs,' in which the subjects are to great extent of either religious or semi-religious nature. A diptych consists of two panels folded over one another, and triptych of three, the two outer. panels fitting over the cen tre one. These small objects, almost always of ivory, were carved with a craftsmanship truly exquisite. and their reproductions in plaster. after being very carefully colored nossess much of the beauty and very nearly all the decorative quality of the orig inals; and while the originals arc among the chief treasures of the great museums the reproductions are to be had at a very small cost.
 There are also reproductions of the