The Business Of Decoration Previous Page (23)
It may be, supposed from the admission that the interior decorator is engaged in trade that his work is therefore directly akin to that of the antique dealer of the higher order or of the dealer in pictures, but this is not exactly true. The purpose of the latter is, as a rule, to unload upon a customer as many and as costly articles of merchandise as possible, which can be converted from his own stock to the houses of the wealthy and thus afford the dealer himself increased capital with which to purchase other articles which can later be sold. The decorator has necessarily a more conscientious r61e to follow, and his responsibility does
Page 28a
A dining room in the style of Thomas Chippendale, with dull reddish mulberry lacquered pieces, a Coromandel screen, and a batik panel.
Page 28b
A dining room of Spanish type.
Page 29
BUSINESS MAN OR A PROFESSIONAL 29
not end with the delivery of his goods. It is not always to his advantage to sell the greatest possible amount from his own stock or to dispose of the largest possible quantity of any sort of goods. A certain critical faculty is demanded of him, a certain effect that will yield the purchaser immediate and lasting satisfaction. This is one of the particular elements which complicate his task and which render so difficult the just harmonizing of the salesman impulse to create the largest possible order with the artistic impulse to create the most beautiful possible result. In a sense, it is not unnatural that the decorator should wish to dispose of his own stock. Not only does the commercial instinct impel him to do this, but, after all, the things which he has on hand represent in a large measure his own taste and are chosen because they express his preferences, and he cannot do better or deal more sincerely with his client than by recommending the things which he himself loves. It is only when he tries to rid himself of some article which he feels he has made a mistake in ever getting hold of that he acts with doubtful honesty, and this probably does not occur once in a hundred cases.
The Business Of Decoration Next Page - (25)
Bed In A Bag Sets Books - The Business Of Decoration
