Gossip in the arts and crafts world
The article is a collection of short pieces of gossip and news related to the arts and crafts world in October 1902. It covers topics such as antique furniture, technical education, embroidery, carpentry, and cosy corners. It also features illustrations of various decorative items and designs. The article is intended to inform and entertain readers who are interested in heritage arts and crafts. It showcases various examples of antique furniture, embroidery, carpentry, and other decorative items that reflect different styles and influences. It also provides some historical background and context for some of these items. The article also uses humor and wit to engage reader's attention and curiosity.
The Mme. de Maintenon Chair
It should, remarks a writer in an American paper, interest lovers of antique furniture to hear that the style of winged armchair now familiarly known as "sleepy hollow," or "grandfather's chair," is really the Mme. de Maintenon Chair. It having been first invented for her when she complained of the draughts at Versailles.
In the course of time, Louis XIV. adopted one for himself, and then the high-back armchair, with projections to protect the ears from cold currents of air, became a standard piece of furniture.
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Lady Warwick at Southend
The new Technical School at Southend was opened by Lady Warwick, Countess of Warwick on 13th September 1902. In the course of a stirring and helpful discourse her ladyship said whether the education given in our technical schools was the best adapted to enable the future England to enter upon the industrial campaign with other ations which had now commenced in downright earnest, and which was bound to become more and more acute as time went on, was not for her to say; but those who were most competent to form an opinion on this point said that great as was the progress which had been made in this country in secondary and technical education during the last decade, we have not yet caught up with, the Americans or Germans or Swiss in our technical.
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"Original"
Customer: "When I bought this cabinet you had a ticket on it stating Original by Chippendale and now I find it is only a copy"
Dealer: "But, my dear sir, the original is by Chippendale."
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Notes from Bushey, by Miss Clive Bayley
The motorbility which frequents the splendid road running through Watford and the peaceful Bushey village seem to take much interest in the comer near the ancient Bushey Church. The work and the workers in the wide window have a special attraction for this rich and open-handed autocar-ocracy.
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An interesting Old Chair with with character
An unusually interesting discovery has been made at Stanford Bishop. Dr. James Johnson, the eminent antiquarian, has found an old oak chair in the village church, which is said to be the most perfect example of ancient British carpentry extant. It is believed to have been used by St. Augustine at the synods held between A.D. 590 and 603. It is made entirely of oak, without any form of iron work.
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Too much Cosy Corner
Mr. Flushing (hospitably): "So you have joined our club?"
Mr. Elmhurst (wearily): "Yes, my wife has got the house so full of cosy corners there isn't any place where I can sit down and be comfortable."
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Domestic Hints
New Boots
When boots are new they are apt frequently to squeak. A remedy recently suggested by a contemporary is to stand the boots on a plate carrying about enough linseed oil to cover the leather soles. This is said not only to prevent the squeaking, but to make the soles tougher.
Velvet Pile
When the pile of velvet has been crushed and flattened, it may be renewed by holding the velvet lining downwards over a basin of hot water. This will cause the pile to rise and have a fresh and new appearance.
Substitute for Paint
Distempers are very much in favour, and for bedrooms, especially of wooden houses have proved very successful. There is also what is called silicate mineral paint, which has the advantage of being non-poisonous, non-volatile whilst drying, and washable, and also of not being liabie to blister, even when exposed to 100°C heat at which ordinary paint would blister up and spoil.
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American French sofa
At one of the older hotels on Pennsylvania Avenue, says an American contemporary, a special French Envoy sent to this country during the Civil War made his official home, with his corps of attaches. Among his personal belongings brought from France was an elegant gilt suite of Louis XV. style. When his mission ended and he returned home, the minor pieces of the suite were presented to friends attached to the office of the resident French Minister, and a large elaborate sofa was left at the hotel to be sent for. A year or more passed, and it still remained at the hotel, and the proprietor placed it in one of the public parlours, when it was called Lalayette's sofa and was much admired. A carpet bag Congressman of considerable wealth, in the belief that it had once been the property of the French General, gave the landlord $500 for the privilege of letting an Italian cabinet maker construct a duplicate of it.