International studio (58.1916)

Modern Stairways and their Antecedents

last phase of development brought out all the
technical skill of the carpenter and his results are
more than mere construction; they were imagi-
native works of art, comparable to the master-
pieces of the period of Louis XVI.
The introduction of mahogany is coincident
with the Georgian era. Originally imported from
the island of Jamaica, the suitability of this wood
for stair rails was almost instantly recognized by
the eighteenth-century architect and its rich
colour strikes a characteristic note in all Georgian
stair design. That its use was confined to stair
rails largely was not
entirely due to its cost,
but as much to the
good taste of the de-
signers who must have
felt its inappropriate¬
ness when used in large
surfaces and quantities.
In the design of stair-
ways probably more
than of any other part
of the house, we have a
definite tradition that is
still a very potent in-
fluence. The Georgian
stairway has persisted
to this day with no
essential modification
and remains the strong-
est factor in modern
stairway design. Its
simplicity of construc-
tion in contrast with
the more elaborate
French or Tudor types
is only one of the nu-
merous reasons for this. Its forms reflect as
faithfully the characteristics of our modern
American life as they did the society of the epoch
of the Georges and they seem part and parcel of
our interiors. The few modifications that it has
undergone in the hands of American designers lie
chiefly in the introduction of some of the spirit
of the Italian Renaissance. Under the hand of
so notable an architect as Charles A. Platt, this
mixture of the Colonial and the Italian becomes
a happy and successful fusion of the two styles
and moreover one of distinctive character. The
theorist must be asked to pardon the foregoing
use of terms—the so-called Colonial style is, of

course, only a derivative of the Italian Renais-
sance, and the introduction of pure Italian mo-
tives is nothing more nor less than a plain rever-
sion to type, to paraphrase an entomological
expression.
The Tudor stairway was essentially a product
of the joiner’s art. Its most conspicuous feature
was the newel, square at first with strap-work
ornamentation, and later turned, surmounted by
more or less elaborate finials that took first the
form of heraldic figures, and as the seeds of the
Renaissance began to germinate, vase forms or
baskets of fruit and
flowers. The balustrade
also received the atten-
tion of the woodcarver
and the blocky balu-
sters of Elizabethan
times were later sup-
planted by panels of
flowing vine patterns,
carved in most elab-
orate and extravagant
motives. A solidity that
often approached the
ponderous was a marked
characteristic of the
stairways; the reten-
tion of the arcade di-
viding the staircase
from the hall added
to this feeling of weight
as did also the prepond-
erance of heavy mould-
ings.
The modern deriva-
tives of this type are
full of appealing charm
that is only surpassed by the original examples
that form their inspiration. To the variety
of play of light and shade and bold compo-
sition are added the texture of the oak in
which they are executed, for to be cor-
rectly authentic, it is quite necessary to fashion
them from woods that most nearly approximate
the colour and tone of old English oak. They
have a sturdy masculinity and healthful virility
that refreshes one after having been steeped in
the severe correctness and primness of the Geor-
gian types. Only too often the modern transla-
tion of the Tudor stair is cumbersome and unin-
telligent—our architects work in this style with


THE HAYWARD HOUSE BATES & HOWE, ARCHITECTS

LXXXII