File:American homes and gardens (1905) (17964040929).jpg

Title: American homes and gardens
Identifier: americanhomesgar11905newy (find matches)
Year: 1905 (1900s)
Authors:
Subjects: Architecture, Domestic; Landscape gardening
Publisher: New York : Munn and Co
Contributing Library: Smithsonian Libraries
Digitizing Sponsor: Biodiversity Heritage Library

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July, 1905 AMERICAN (HOMES AND GARDENS 39 In 1780 an advertisement appeared in the New York Gazette in which attention was called to the fact that the sideboard was coming into fashion and would soon take the place of the plain side table. This statement was due to the colonists bringing over to this country their household be- longings, and the sideboard naturally occasioned considerable comment. When Washington lived in Mount Vernon, his dining- room was furnished with a mahogany sideboard, two knife cases and a large case, two dining tables and a tea table, an oval looking-glass and ten mahogany chairs. The floor was covered with a carpet, the windows were hung with curtains, and the fireplace was fitted out with brass andirons and firepieces. used in this way, the extra tables were placed against the wall for serving. The choice, at the present day, in extension tables often leaves the home-maker in doubt as to their being an artistic triumph, for the pedestal that is used in the center as a sup- port is often aggressively ugly, and when severed in half to introduce additional leaves its appearance is still more objectionable. The disadvantage of the center pillar is obviated in another style by two legs supporting the center of the table, with a leg at each corner. This arrangement suits the Shera- ton and Heppelwhite sideboards better than the carved cen- ter pillar. The corner cabinet for china may be classed among
Text Appearing After Image:
Colonial Dining-Room in a Seaside Residence The Sideboard and Serving Table are more than a hundred years old. Note the plate rack for Staffordshire blue ware and the corner cupboards filled with old china The Colonial atmosphere is faithfully preserved even to the old-fashioned rag carpets, especially made for the room A late Colonial, or early nineteenth century, style of fur- niture traced its beginning from the Empire school that Napoleon founded, and dining tables and sideboards were made in heavy shapes and with massive carvings. A few genuine pieces of the eighteenth century English furniture and others of the early American make have been handed down to our time; but these are so rare that, to meet the eager demand for the old forms, reproductions must be manufactured. The dining table of our forefathers was made with drop leaves at the ends. For a very extensive entertainment two such tables were joined together. Another fashion that was a forerunner of our modern extension table was to join to the center table two side tables, one at either end, and when not Thomas Sheraton's list of " substantial and useful " articles for the dining-room, and when it is built on suitable lines it contributes to the good effect of the room. In homes of moderate cost, the conventional rules for the fitting up of a dining-room may often be relaxed and sim- plicity and interest be the dominant expression. The fur- niture may be procured in the unfinished wood and painted to correspond with the woodwork in some pleasing color. The floor may be covered with a rug that is woven in the old-fashioned rag style, with selected material of harmonious tones. The window light may be subdued by dainty stuffs that are not listed among the regular curtain materials. Shelves for a collection of old china or family silver may be fitted in some jog or angle of the wall.

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