The Studio yearbook of decorative art (1906)

Furniture

save for the sake of the
music of which it was the
medium. That designer,
then, is conferring the great-
est boon on the public at
large who can contrive to
adjust the design of the
piano to the style of its sur-
roundings, without in any
way impairing its qualities
as an instrument of music.

The grand piano, with
its irregular and not un-
picturesque outline, is no
doubt -the easier shape of
the instrument to decorate
writing-table designed by c. r. ashbee in conformity with some

executed by the guild of handicraft, ltd. historical Standard of OHia-

ment, especially as there

the narrowest border, and even so it is hard to are plenty of instances extant of sufficiently
argue what aesthetic advantage is gained thereby. kindred instruments — e.g., clavichords, harpsi-
For stained glass has no trans-
parency unless it be lighted
from behind, which is, of
course, out of the question in
the case of a cupboard door ;
and a glazed door that one
cannot see through might as
well be solid. The safest
plan, therefore, is to avoid
using stained glass altogether
in furniture composition.

Next to be considered is
the piano, in the artistic treat-
ment of which, since the
instrument, as such, is too
recent in origin to have estab-
lished a formal precedent for
itself, the decorator is the
more free to exercise his
individual taste and inven-
tiveness. It is only of recent
years that serious attempts
have been made to deal
aesthetically with the some-
what intractable lines of the
piano case. The stereotyped
conventions that used to
prevail were the despair of the
decorator; the piano being a
mass of ugliness that fought
with every conceivable scheme
of decoration, and could not bookcase in walnut designed and executed by

have been tolerated at all hamfton & sons, ltd.

66 i