The Business Of Decoration Previous Page (25)
The same attitude of mind as that of this dealer in pictures can be found in most antique sellers. They seem to imagine that the possession of a few authentic old pieces makes a home a thousand times more happy than the furnishing of it with what may be far more
Page 30a
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One wall of a boudoir or morning room with provision for books in chintz-lined walnut bookcases. The couch is satinwood above which hangs a square of brocade.
Page 30b
The furniture of this dining room is of Adam design in mahogany. There are also two commodes one of which can be seen
by reflection in the glass.
Page 31
BUSINESS MAN OR A PROFESSIONAL 31
appropriate and useful reproductions or adaptations. There is no fundamental reason that can possibly be advanced why we should be bound so slavishly to the creations of our forefathers or to forefathers of races completely alien to us. It is very well to recite the charms of the Renaissance in Italy and the later periods in France and England, and it is equally well to learn all that we can from them and to use them whenever they yield a fitting and satisfying result; but to feel, as almost every collector of antiques does feel, that only these originals or their exact reproductions are even tolerable, is to tie one's hands and one's mind at every turn and to create endless reproductions of the same device. The architect has not done this. He has not felt it necessary or proper to impose the Parthenon upon the Fifth Avenue public, nor has he even slavishly reproduced the French chateaux except in rare instances when his millionaire clients demanded them. But the decorator is supposed to be so unskillful that he must be tied irrevocably to representing what others have done before him.
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Bed In A Bag Sets Books - The Business Of Decoration
