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CHAPTER XXIII
THE REVIVAL OF DIRECTOIRE AND EMPIRE FURNITURE
The revival of Directoire and Empire furniture within the past few
years, is attributed by some, to that highly artistic, and altogether
illuminating publication, the Gazette do Bon Ton—Arts, Modes and
Frivolities—published in Paris by the Librarie Centrale des Beaux
Arts, 13 rue Lafayette and contributed to by the leading artists of
Paris—the ultra moderns.
There was a time, fifteen or twenty years ago, when one could buy
Empire furniture at very low figures, for in those days there was many
a chance to pick up such pieces. To-day, a genuine antique or a
hand-made reproduction of an antique made sixty years ago, will
command a large price, and even in Paris one has difficulty in finding
them in the shops at any price.
Empire furniture ceased to be admired in America when the public got
"fed up" on this type by its indiscriminate use in hotels and other
public buildings.
The best designers of modern painted furniture are partly responsible
for the revived interest in both Empire and Directoire. From their
reproductions of the beautiful simple outlines, we, as a people, are
once more beginning to feel line and to recognise it as an intrinsic
part of beauty.
PLATE XXI
A Victorian group in a small portion of a very large parlour, 70
x 40 feet, one of the few remaining, if not the last, of the old
Victorian mansions in New York City, very interesting as a
specimen of the most elegant style of furnishing in the first
half of the nineteenth century. We would call attention to the heavy moulding of ceilings, the
walls painted in panels (painted panels or wall paper to
represent panels, is a Victorian hallmark), beautifully
hand-carved woodwork, elaboration of design and colon carpet,
woven in one piece for the room; in fact the characteristic
richness of elaboration everywhere: Pictures in gilded carved
frames, hung on double silk cords with tassels, heavily carved
furniture made in England, showing fruits, flowers and medallion
heads, and a similar elaboration and combination of flora and
figures on bronze gas fixtures.
Heavy curtains of satin damask hung at the windows, held back by
great cords and tassels, from enormous brass cornices in the form
of gigantic flowers.
Also of the period is an immense glass case of stuffed birds,
standing in the corner of the large dining-room. This interior
was at the height of its glory at the time of the Civil War, and
one is told of wonderful parties when the uniforms of the
Northern officers decorated the stately rooms and large shaded
gardens adjoining the house.
As things go in New York it may be but a matter of months before
this picturesque landmark is swept away by relentless Progress.
Part of a Victorian Parlour in One of the Few
Remaining New York Victorian Mansions |
