DOI Heft:
Nr. 77 (August 1899)
DOI Artikel:An experiment in the application of japanese ornament to the decoration of an english house
DOI Seite / Zitierlink:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.19232#0202
Mr. Mortimer Menpes House
are nearly always panelled in that material. In
small houses the panels are large and are cheaply
and effectively made of plaited bamboo. In
better class houses choice woods are employed—
the wood being unpainted and unvarnished, prefer-
ence being given to beautifully grained varieties.
In other rooms—as in the guest rooms attached to
important temples—the panels are painted in bright
colours. Mr. Menpes has selected for his ceilings
the perforated and carved wooden Osaka panels,
which have been stained and relieved by a gold
background. The beautiful coved lacquer cornice
is a striking feature in some Japanese temples, and
in adopting it Mr. Menpes has displayed excellent
judgment. The frieze immediately below the cor-
nice is filled by a series of panels known in Japan
as ramma. These are nearly always of carved
wood cut ci iour for purposes of ventilation. Such
a method of ventilation being unnecessary and im-
practicable in a house constructed upon European
methods, the ramma have been backed in the same
manner as the ceiling panels. Below these carved
wood ramma, in some of the rooms, is another
series of panels filled in with Osaka lattice-work, by
the aid of which a difficulty connected with the
proportion of spaces has been happily overcome.
Japanese rooms are much less lofty than those at
Cadogan Gardens, and in order to keep the lower
part of the room in correct proportions, this clever
but otherwise indefensible subterfuge has been
adopted.
The simple methods of panelling, the absence of
mouldings, the entirely plain wall-surfaces, are in
excellent taste and follow entirely Japanese pre-
cedents.
The doors and windows, no doubt, caused Mr.
Menpes many hours of anxious thought. In Japan
the interior doors and the windows are invariably
substituted by sliding panels, the latter being
covered with thin paper instead of being panelled
with glass. Happily, however, exterior doors upon
hinges are used for entrances to many important
buildings, and it was only necessary to copy the
lightest form of these with their lacquer panels and
metal appliances in order
to overcome what, other-
wise, would have been a
serious difficulty. The
window difficulty was
met in the only manner
possible. Double win-
dows were made—most
admirable contrivances in
a London house — the
outer one of which was
in Western fashion, and
the inner one of light
lattice-work in Japanese
form.
In the matter of floor
covering, the verminous
but otherwise speck-
lessly clean tatami of
Japan are impossible for
a high - heel - wearing
people. They were,
therefore, wisely aban-
doned for a thick-pile,
unpatterned carpet,
equally delightful to tread
upon as the tatami, with
none of their drawbacks.
On the delicate subject
of furniture Mr. Menpes
has acted with much cir-
cumspection. We have
are nearly always panelled in that material. In
small houses the panels are large and are cheaply
and effectively made of plaited bamboo. In
better class houses choice woods are employed—
the wood being unpainted and unvarnished, prefer-
ence being given to beautifully grained varieties.
In other rooms—as in the guest rooms attached to
important temples—the panels are painted in bright
colours. Mr. Menpes has selected for his ceilings
the perforated and carved wooden Osaka panels,
which have been stained and relieved by a gold
background. The beautiful coved lacquer cornice
is a striking feature in some Japanese temples, and
in adopting it Mr. Menpes has displayed excellent
judgment. The frieze immediately below the cor-
nice is filled by a series of panels known in Japan
as ramma. These are nearly always of carved
wood cut ci iour for purposes of ventilation. Such
a method of ventilation being unnecessary and im-
practicable in a house constructed upon European
methods, the ramma have been backed in the same
manner as the ceiling panels. Below these carved
wood ramma, in some of the rooms, is another
series of panels filled in with Osaka lattice-work, by
the aid of which a difficulty connected with the
proportion of spaces has been happily overcome.
Japanese rooms are much less lofty than those at
Cadogan Gardens, and in order to keep the lower
part of the room in correct proportions, this clever
but otherwise indefensible subterfuge has been
adopted.
The simple methods of panelling, the absence of
mouldings, the entirely plain wall-surfaces, are in
excellent taste and follow entirely Japanese pre-
cedents.
The doors and windows, no doubt, caused Mr.
Menpes many hours of anxious thought. In Japan
the interior doors and the windows are invariably
substituted by sliding panels, the latter being
covered with thin paper instead of being panelled
with glass. Happily, however, exterior doors upon
hinges are used for entrances to many important
buildings, and it was only necessary to copy the
lightest form of these with their lacquer panels and
metal appliances in order
to overcome what, other-
wise, would have been a
serious difficulty. The
window difficulty was
met in the only manner
possible. Double win-
dows were made—most
admirable contrivances in
a London house — the
outer one of which was
in Western fashion, and
the inner one of light
lattice-work in Japanese
form.
In the matter of floor
covering, the verminous
but otherwise speck-
lessly clean tatami of
Japan are impossible for
a high - heel - wearing
people. They were,
therefore, wisely aban-
doned for a thick-pile,
unpatterned carpet,
equally delightful to tread
upon as the tatami, with
none of their drawbacks.
On the delicate subject
of furniture Mr. Menpes
has acted with much cir-
cumspection. We have