DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.1401#0152
102
THE ILLUSTRATED EXHIBITOR.
(febtot-ttniilt in tju Cqstitl ^hkn.
In" articles of decorative furniture the Crystal Palace is
particularly rich, many of the objects exhibited belonging,
from the care and expense evidently .bestowed upon their
production, rather to the fine arts department than to mere
manufacture. Indeed, taste and luxury and ornament
appear to have been studied in the specimens of cabinet-
work shown, to the entire exclusion of all humbler do-
mestic appliances. It would seem natural to anticipate
that a branch of industry, rising by regular gradations
from the bare wooden table and chairs of the cottage to
the magnificent furniture of the palace, would present, in
its highest development, many of those features which it
had acquired in supplying the wants of the great body of
the community, and that we should find among the British
Whether from the remnants of heraldic tastes still linger-
ing among us, or from a genuine attachment to the super.
natural, our tradespeople have a marvellous and unac-
countable love for griffins and other nondescript animals"
which intrude themselves, by the agency of the uphol-
sterer, into the very penetralia of the Englishman's house-
hold—are grimly snarling at his legs as he sits at table
or fiercely glaring at everybody who approaches the side-
board, which they almost invariably support. It is well
that things should be made to last and stand wear and
tear; but durability combined with unsigktHness is an
infliction sincerely to be deprecated, and, as there are
limits to all human productions, there is a time when
chairs, which have never been sat upon with comfort
PRINCE OF WALES'S COT.
upholstery at the Exhibition, solidity, comfort, and sim-
plicity, united with a tendency to avoid ornament, and to
be plain, massive, handsome, and serviceable. "Perhaps,"
says a writer in the Times, u our furniture makers have
not been fully represented, but what they do exhibit does
not leave this impression on the mind. Their contribu-
tions generally are not wanting in solidity and massiveness,
but for any other qualities, either useful or ornamental, it
is, with two or three exceptions, difficult to give them
much credit. There is no particular reason why we should
establish mountains of mahogany or rosewood in our
dining rooms; why we should have bedsteads strong
enough to bear the weight of ' the seven sleepers,' or to do
service in one of the over-crowded lodging-houses of St.
Giles'. Carving is a legitimate source of embellishment;
but it must not be introduced to decorate the frames of
mirrors after the fashion of a poulterer's or fruiterer's shop,
and to commit many other monstrosities equally glaring.
ought to break down; when tables with hideously con-
torted legs should become cranky; and when sofas, bed-
steads, and suchlike, may be properly condemned to the
lumber store. Any visitor of ordinary taste who goes to
the English Furniture Courts will be struck with fixe
rather absurd manner in which many of the contributions
are disfigured by decorations. It will hardly be credited
that there is scarcely one good chair, table, or sofa, for
ordinary use in a gentleman's house, exhibited by our up-
holsterers. Now, these articles, and the first mentioned
especially, are far from having attained perfection, and
the public would like to have seen such important items
in our domestic establishments more worthily represented
in the Exhibition. The general conclusion to which most
visitors will come, on a careful survey of the English Fur-
niture Courts is, that they appeal more to the parvenu,
who wants to get his house flashily decked out, than to
the man of elegant tastes or of moderate means"
In
THE ILLUSTRATED EXHIBITOR.
(febtot-ttniilt in tju Cqstitl ^hkn.
In" articles of decorative furniture the Crystal Palace is
particularly rich, many of the objects exhibited belonging,
from the care and expense evidently .bestowed upon their
production, rather to the fine arts department than to mere
manufacture. Indeed, taste and luxury and ornament
appear to have been studied in the specimens of cabinet-
work shown, to the entire exclusion of all humbler do-
mestic appliances. It would seem natural to anticipate
that a branch of industry, rising by regular gradations
from the bare wooden table and chairs of the cottage to
the magnificent furniture of the palace, would present, in
its highest development, many of those features which it
had acquired in supplying the wants of the great body of
the community, and that we should find among the British
Whether from the remnants of heraldic tastes still linger-
ing among us, or from a genuine attachment to the super.
natural, our tradespeople have a marvellous and unac-
countable love for griffins and other nondescript animals"
which intrude themselves, by the agency of the uphol-
sterer, into the very penetralia of the Englishman's house-
hold—are grimly snarling at his legs as he sits at table
or fiercely glaring at everybody who approaches the side-
board, which they almost invariably support. It is well
that things should be made to last and stand wear and
tear; but durability combined with unsigktHness is an
infliction sincerely to be deprecated, and, as there are
limits to all human productions, there is a time when
chairs, which have never been sat upon with comfort
PRINCE OF WALES'S COT.
upholstery at the Exhibition, solidity, comfort, and sim-
plicity, united with a tendency to avoid ornament, and to
be plain, massive, handsome, and serviceable. "Perhaps,"
says a writer in the Times, u our furniture makers have
not been fully represented, but what they do exhibit does
not leave this impression on the mind. Their contribu-
tions generally are not wanting in solidity and massiveness,
but for any other qualities, either useful or ornamental, it
is, with two or three exceptions, difficult to give them
much credit. There is no particular reason why we should
establish mountains of mahogany or rosewood in our
dining rooms; why we should have bedsteads strong
enough to bear the weight of ' the seven sleepers,' or to do
service in one of the over-crowded lodging-houses of St.
Giles'. Carving is a legitimate source of embellishment;
but it must not be introduced to decorate the frames of
mirrors after the fashion of a poulterer's or fruiterer's shop,
and to commit many other monstrosities equally glaring.
ought to break down; when tables with hideously con-
torted legs should become cranky; and when sofas, bed-
steads, and suchlike, may be properly condemned to the
lumber store. Any visitor of ordinary taste who goes to
the English Furniture Courts will be struck with fixe
rather absurd manner in which many of the contributions
are disfigured by decorations. It will hardly be credited
that there is scarcely one good chair, table, or sofa, for
ordinary use in a gentleman's house, exhibited by our up-
holsterers. Now, these articles, and the first mentioned
especially, are far from having attained perfection, and
the public would like to have seen such important items
in our domestic establishments more worthily represented
in the Exhibition. The general conclusion to which most
visitors will come, on a careful survey of the English Fur-
niture Courts is, that they appeal more to the parvenu,
who wants to get his house flashily decked out, than to
the man of elegant tastes or of moderate means"
In