DOI issue:
Nr. 77 (August 1899)
DOI article:An experiment in the application of japanese ornament to the decoration of an english house
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.19232#0200
Mr. Mortimer
in many respects, but working together in strange
harmony—have resulted in the formation of a
national style of decorative art in which simplicity
and richness are combined in varying predomin-
ance and with just such elasticity as to be adapted
to almost every idiosyncrasy of character. The
recluse and the man of society may so order their
houses as to render them entirely appropriate to
their different ways of thought and of life, and yet
the principles upon which their respective habita-
tions have been built and decorated are in no sense
at variance with each other. The cottage and the
palace may exist side by side just as in Nature may
the lowly daisy and the mighty oak, the one in no
way detracting from the beauty of the other; each
fitting and perfect in itself and fulfilling the con-
ditions of its existence.
That a similar state of things should one day
result in the West may be the dream of many an
enthusiast; but the character of the Western
Menpcs House
people must be changed before such a Utopia can
be fully realised.
In the meantime we may ask ourselves, Is it pos-
sible to borrow anything from this beautiful style
of Japanese decoration that maybe appropriate for
the ornamentation of our own houses ? To do so
is more difficult than it may at first seem. We
have primarily to face the fact that movable furni-
ture in a Japanese house is reduced to a minimum
of quantity and variety. Chairs, couches and bed-
steads are non-existent. Cabinets and wardrobes
are of small dimensions, or are replaced by drawers
and cupboards built into the house itself. Tables
are of the tiniest dimensions, to be removed as
soon as done with. Of fireplaces, chimney-grates,
and glass windows there are none. A condition of
things so entirely differing from Western necessities
is opposed, on the face of it, to transplantation;
and the more it is considered the more evident it
becomes that any strictly correct imitation of a
Japanese house would
be totally unsuited to
Western life. It remains,
then, only to consider
what details of decoration
can be borrowed and
legitimately adapted to
our own homes. Mr.
Mortimer Menpes, the
well - known Australian
painter, during a recent
visit to Japan made an
especial study of Japanese
house decoration and,
armed with the plans of
a house constructed for
him in Cadogan Gardens,
London, in which the
fittings and decorations
had not been completed,
he set himself the task of
superintending the con-
struction of a complete
range of fittings, each
detail of which should not
only be designed but
actually made by a
Japanese craftsman; the
whole being so con-
structed as to be readily
taken to pieces, packed,
and put together again in
London. Some idea of
the results of his experi-
in many respects, but working together in strange
harmony—have resulted in the formation of a
national style of decorative art in which simplicity
and richness are combined in varying predomin-
ance and with just such elasticity as to be adapted
to almost every idiosyncrasy of character. The
recluse and the man of society may so order their
houses as to render them entirely appropriate to
their different ways of thought and of life, and yet
the principles upon which their respective habita-
tions have been built and decorated are in no sense
at variance with each other. The cottage and the
palace may exist side by side just as in Nature may
the lowly daisy and the mighty oak, the one in no
way detracting from the beauty of the other; each
fitting and perfect in itself and fulfilling the con-
ditions of its existence.
That a similar state of things should one day
result in the West may be the dream of many an
enthusiast; but the character of the Western
Menpcs House
people must be changed before such a Utopia can
be fully realised.
In the meantime we may ask ourselves, Is it pos-
sible to borrow anything from this beautiful style
of Japanese decoration that maybe appropriate for
the ornamentation of our own houses ? To do so
is more difficult than it may at first seem. We
have primarily to face the fact that movable furni-
ture in a Japanese house is reduced to a minimum
of quantity and variety. Chairs, couches and bed-
steads are non-existent. Cabinets and wardrobes
are of small dimensions, or are replaced by drawers
and cupboards built into the house itself. Tables
are of the tiniest dimensions, to be removed as
soon as done with. Of fireplaces, chimney-grates,
and glass windows there are none. A condition of
things so entirely differing from Western necessities
is opposed, on the face of it, to transplantation;
and the more it is considered the more evident it
becomes that any strictly correct imitation of a
Japanese house would
be totally unsuited to
Western life. It remains,
then, only to consider
what details of decoration
can be borrowed and
legitimately adapted to
our own homes. Mr.
Mortimer Menpes, the
well - known Australian
painter, during a recent
visit to Japan made an
especial study of Japanese
house decoration and,
armed with the plans of
a house constructed for
him in Cadogan Gardens,
London, in which the
fittings and decorations
had not been completed,
he set himself the task of
superintending the con-
struction of a complete
range of fittings, each
detail of which should not
only be designed but
actually made by a
Japanese craftsman; the
whole being so con-
structed as to be readily
taken to pieces, packed,
and put together again in
London. Some idea of
the results of his experi-