Hanging cabinets, more or less like those which the insatiate china
collectors of Queen Anne's time made fashionable, are among the pret-
tiest of modern trifles. But care must be exercised in their selection.
If the walls are white or very light in tone, ebonized cabinets or those
of very dark natural woods must be rejected and the less conspicuous
maple or ash chosen, otherwise the contrast is so sharp that the eye
loses pleasure in the proportions and outlines of the objects. The pan-
els of the light-hued cabinets may be enriched with dead gold ; but on
the ebony this decoration should be sparingly used and as a rule incised.
It is essential that this dainty hanging closet should seem to be use-
ful, and not placed simply to gaze at. Therefore the shelves must be
well stocked with trifles ; and if there be closed doors, they must be
open only to disclose some rare or fragile objects within. The arrange-
ment of the visible objects should be, of course, like that of the mantel —
irregular though orderly, and pyramidal though broken.
Many a room that has been thought hopelessly characterless, has
been made attractive by its wise mistress, who covered its richly-carved
table with a black cloth with a border of richly-embroidered peacock
blue, and put a footstool of the same color and texture beside it ; set up
a great jar of peacock blue above it in line of the eye, fastened one little
gleaming mirror to the wall, and at the far end of the apartment posted
an old second-hand cabinet in black and dead gold, which cost next to
nothing, and was the one bit of subdued splendor which transformed
the monotony into variety.
PICTURES.
The fashion of placing illuminated mats around photographs has a
common-sense foundation when viewed in a housefurnishing light.
Where the walls are hung with pictures of black and white only, the
room is apt to look cold. The little touches of color in the corners of
the mat between the picture and the frame cannot interfere with any-
thing else in the room, and add greatly to the bright and cheerful effect
of the whole. Of late the painters have designed their own frames, and
the result is encouraging. Oak or pine frames, broad and flat, unorna-
mented, and with the gilding laid on the wood, so that the grain shows
through, are very rich and effective for engravings, prints or photographs.
Water colors, with a wide white mat, look well in flat frames or solid
gilding, with a rosette in each corner, or in plain, well-rubbed oak or
chestnut. Some painted pine frames are effective for engravings or
photographs. Thus, black and partial gilt or even white or dull red
will prove satisfactory, but the color should be " flatted " so as not to
SCREENS AND EASELS. 181
Page 160
Presented as published in 1886. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
Hanging cabinets, more or less like those which the insatiate china collectors of Queen Anne's time made fashionable, are among the prettiest of modern trifles. But care must be exercised in their selection. If the walls are white or very light in tone, ebonized cabinets or those of very dark natural woods must be rejected and the less conspicuous maple or ash chosen, otherwise the contrast is so sharp that the eye loses pleasure in the proportions and outlines of the objects. The panels of the light-hued cabinets may be enriched with dead gold ; but on the ebony this decoration should be sparingly used and as a rule incised.
It is essential that this dainty hanging closet should seem to be useful, and not placed simply to gaze at. Therefore the shelves must be well stocked with trifles ; and if there be closed doors, they must be open only to disclose some rare or fragile objects within. The arrangement of the visible objects should be, of course, like that of the mantel — irregular though orderly, and pyramidal though broken.
Many a room that has been thought hopelessly characterless, has been made attractive by its wise mistress, who covered its richly-carved table with a black cloth with a border of richly-embroidered peacock blue, and put a footstool of the same color and texture beside it ; set up a great jar of peacock blue above it in line of the eye, fastened one little gleaming mirror to the wall, and at the far end of the apartment posted an old second-hand cabinet in black and dead gold, which cost next to nothing, and was the one bit of subdued splendor which transformed the monotony into variety.
The fashion of placing illuminated mats around photographs has a common-sense foundation when viewed in a housefurnishing light. Where the walls are hung with pictures of black and white only, the room is apt to look cold. The little touches of color in the corners of the mat between the picture and the frame cannot interfere with anything else in the room, and add greatly to the bright and cheerful effect of the whole. Of late the painters have designed their own frames, and the result is encouraging. Oak or pine frames, broad and flat, unornamented, and with the gilding laid on the wood, so that the grain shows through, are very rich and effective for engravings, prints or photographs. Water colors, with a wide white mat, look well in flat frames or solid gilding, with a rosette in each corner, or in plain, well-rubbed oak or chestnut. Some painted pine frames are effective for engravings or photographs. Thus, black and partial gilt or even white or dull red will prove satisfactory, but the color should be " flatted " so as not to
SCREENS AND EASELS. 181