The Studio yearbook of decorative art (1908)

BRITISH WALL AND CEILING DE-

CORATION. By F. G. Froggatt.

THE decoration of walls and ceilings falls naturally into two
main divisions. It is not the lot of the majority to command
the first, to have carried out for them a scheme planned
for the particular space to be decorated.

Under this first division come the three ceilings of Mr. g. P.
Bankart. They all show a very real appreciation of the beauty of
the old plaster work still happily existing in many of the houses
scattered through the shires. The reproductions convey so good
an idea of the actual finished work that other description is
unnecessary. The treatment of the fine curved ceiling in a
drawing-room at Bishops Barn, York (B 149), however, should be
especially noticed for its clever spacing and lightness, whilst the
ceiling of the hall in a Devonshire house (B 148) with its wreaths
of grapes in deeply sunk panels is an example of great richness.

The overmantel from the same hand (B 146) seems somewhat
less satisfactory, the use of the same moulds both for the frieze
and for the upright and horizontal bands on the walls tending
rather to monotony, though for this Mr. Bankart could no doubt
quote many a precedent set by the plasterer of earlier days.

Mr. Brangwyh sends a very fine panel of pomp and circum-
stance (B 142) distinguished as always by an opulence of colour
reached by no other of the decorators.

From Prof. Gerald Moira come three lunettes, which are illus-
trated in colour (B 143 to 145), the upper one being part of a
scheme of decoration in the drawing-room of a private house, and
the remaining two, a scene from " Twelfth Night" and " Queen
Elizabeth's visit to Drake's ship," are used to embellish a music
room.

The remaining decoration which comes under our first section,
of design carried out for some given space, is a mural panel in
" Keramic Glass" (B 155) carried out by Mr. Oscar Paterson from
a design by Mr. J. S. Melville. The process, a modification by
Mr. Paterson of an old pottery process, is best described in his own
words. " It is a vitrified enamel painting on glass, but with the
" feeling and texture of fresco. Large pieces are joined with a
" thin edging of lead, not unlike cloisonne. Practically it is a
" hard permanent fresco, suitable for inlay in large surfaces."

But, after all, specially designed decoration is for the few.
The great majority must rely on ready-made patterns, and the
designer of these patterns works in the dark, having no knowledge

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