DOI Artikel:
The editor's room
DOI Seite / Zitierlink:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.17294#0288
THE EDITOR'S ROOM
NEW PUBLICATIONS
The Cabinet-maker and Upholsterer s Drawing-
book. By Thomas Sheraton. Revised and Pre-
pared for Press by J. Munro Bell. (London :
Gibbings &. Company, Limited, Bury Street.)—
It is not so many years since English "artists"
deemed the study of such a commonplace subject
as style in furniture as beneath their notice;
but fortunately we have changed all that, and it
is not now necessary to insist upon the import-
ance, to all who follow the arts, of a knowledge
of the past history of our household gods. One
great obstacle, however, to the cultivation of
the study has been the extreme difficulty of ac-
quiring copies of the books published by the great
masters of our national cabinet work, for the
book works of Chippendale, Heppelwhite, and
Sheraton have become so rare as to be almost
unobtainable at any price. It is with pleasure,
therefore, that we observe the publication, in a
form which leaves nothing to be desired, of the
masterpiece of Thomas Sheraton, one of our
greatest eighteenth-century cabinet-makers. The
fact that we are now in a position in which we
need not fear comparison between the furnishing
of our homes and that of other nations, is largely
due to the influence of the old craftsman whose
work is under review, and our indebtedness to
him should be fully recognised. In the hands of
Chippendale—whose name has been, and is, em-
ployed to cover a multitude of sins—our furniture
became diseased with the virus of the French
rococo to such an extent that it has never fully
recovered therefrom even to this day; but Sheraton
did much to counteract the ill-effects of that
disastrous influence, and his name should be
cherished by all who appreciate beauty in the
home. Nowhere do we find him seriously violat-
ing constructive principles for the sake of effect,
for his skill in designing new forms was always
guided by an intimate knowledge, not only of the
conditions imposed by the nature of the materials
in which his ideas were to take practical shape,
but by a thorough acquaintance with the cardinal
principles of design enunciated in the styles of
antiquity; and as an example of thoroughness
his devotion to his craft is a lesson which may
well be read, marked, learned, and inwardly
digested by one and all who would make their mark
in any branch of art. Sheraton was, of course, to a
very great extent, inspired in the origination of his
creations by the charming works executed for the
Court of Louis XVI., which were largely directed
by the rare taste of the ill-fated Marie Antoinette,
and his productions are throughout characterised
by a refinement and grace which will entitle them
to favour so long as a love of beauty exists. The
true merit of his work has striking proof in the
fact that every day his designs are being produced
by our best furnishers for their showrooms, as
original pieces have been so eagerly snapped up
by connoisseurs that it is most difficult to obtain
them. Messrs. Gibbings & Co., Ltd., t8 Bury
Street, are the publishers of the book referred to,
and they are to be congratulated on the manner in
which they have accomplished their task. The
old character of the original letterpress has been
adhered to, and the plates have been reproduced
by a photographic process with as perfect a
result as possible, so that the work is in every
way of as great practical value as the original from
which it is reproduced.
Stencils of Old Japan. From originals in the
Collection of Ernest Hart, D.C.L. (London : J.
S. Virtue & Co., Ltd.)—A work which professes
to contain a selection of designs from " an old and
valuable collection," and is "strictly limited" to
an edition of 300 copies, and is, moreover, pub-
lished at the respectable price of one guinea,
ought to contain matter of unusual interest and
artistic value. To say that we are disappointed
with this book insufficiently expresses our opinion.
It is the very worst collection of Japanese stencilled
patterns we have ever seen. The subject is such a
vast one, there being literally tens of thousands of
such designs readily available, and Mr. Hart is so
well known as a keen admirer and enthusiastic
collector of Japanese art objects, that we might
reasonably have expected from him a work of
surpassing interest. But the production before us
bears no comparison with the delightful book on
the same subject, issued some time ago from the
Leadenhall Press, under the guidance of Mr. A.
W. Tuer, which is a work well worthy of a place
in every art library.
xlv
NEW PUBLICATIONS
The Cabinet-maker and Upholsterer s Drawing-
book. By Thomas Sheraton. Revised and Pre-
pared for Press by J. Munro Bell. (London :
Gibbings &. Company, Limited, Bury Street.)—
It is not so many years since English "artists"
deemed the study of such a commonplace subject
as style in furniture as beneath their notice;
but fortunately we have changed all that, and it
is not now necessary to insist upon the import-
ance, to all who follow the arts, of a knowledge
of the past history of our household gods. One
great obstacle, however, to the cultivation of
the study has been the extreme difficulty of ac-
quiring copies of the books published by the great
masters of our national cabinet work, for the
book works of Chippendale, Heppelwhite, and
Sheraton have become so rare as to be almost
unobtainable at any price. It is with pleasure,
therefore, that we observe the publication, in a
form which leaves nothing to be desired, of the
masterpiece of Thomas Sheraton, one of our
greatest eighteenth-century cabinet-makers. The
fact that we are now in a position in which we
need not fear comparison between the furnishing
of our homes and that of other nations, is largely
due to the influence of the old craftsman whose
work is under review, and our indebtedness to
him should be fully recognised. In the hands of
Chippendale—whose name has been, and is, em-
ployed to cover a multitude of sins—our furniture
became diseased with the virus of the French
rococo to such an extent that it has never fully
recovered therefrom even to this day; but Sheraton
did much to counteract the ill-effects of that
disastrous influence, and his name should be
cherished by all who appreciate beauty in the
home. Nowhere do we find him seriously violat-
ing constructive principles for the sake of effect,
for his skill in designing new forms was always
guided by an intimate knowledge, not only of the
conditions imposed by the nature of the materials
in which his ideas were to take practical shape,
but by a thorough acquaintance with the cardinal
principles of design enunciated in the styles of
antiquity; and as an example of thoroughness
his devotion to his craft is a lesson which may
well be read, marked, learned, and inwardly
digested by one and all who would make their mark
in any branch of art. Sheraton was, of course, to a
very great extent, inspired in the origination of his
creations by the charming works executed for the
Court of Louis XVI., which were largely directed
by the rare taste of the ill-fated Marie Antoinette,
and his productions are throughout characterised
by a refinement and grace which will entitle them
to favour so long as a love of beauty exists. The
true merit of his work has striking proof in the
fact that every day his designs are being produced
by our best furnishers for their showrooms, as
original pieces have been so eagerly snapped up
by connoisseurs that it is most difficult to obtain
them. Messrs. Gibbings & Co., Ltd., t8 Bury
Street, are the publishers of the book referred to,
and they are to be congratulated on the manner in
which they have accomplished their task. The
old character of the original letterpress has been
adhered to, and the plates have been reproduced
by a photographic process with as perfect a
result as possible, so that the work is in every
way of as great practical value as the original from
which it is reproduced.
Stencils of Old Japan. From originals in the
Collection of Ernest Hart, D.C.L. (London : J.
S. Virtue & Co., Ltd.)—A work which professes
to contain a selection of designs from " an old and
valuable collection," and is "strictly limited" to
an edition of 300 copies, and is, moreover, pub-
lished at the respectable price of one guinea,
ought to contain matter of unusual interest and
artistic value. To say that we are disappointed
with this book insufficiently expresses our opinion.
It is the very worst collection of Japanese stencilled
patterns we have ever seen. The subject is such a
vast one, there being literally tens of thousands of
such designs readily available, and Mr. Hart is so
well known as a keen admirer and enthusiastic
collector of Japanese art objects, that we might
reasonably have expected from him a work of
surpassing interest. But the production before us
bears no comparison with the delightful book on
the same subject, issued some time ago from the
Leadenhall Press, under the guidance of Mr. A.
W. Tuer, which is a work well worthy of a place
in every art library.
xlv