The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, January 31, 1904, Page 11

THE SAN FRANCI procdiiciis % 352 ) EW peopie rulty comprehend the variety and quaintness, the re- finement and general charm that fabrics have in furnishing a home in this age and generation. ‘Without them the house appears dull and uninteresting: with them there is all the difference in the world, and the ali-absorbing question these days is, *how, When and Where to use them.” In solid, substantial homes the colo- nial period is quite the rage; and well it may be, for there is nothing that is more of a comfort than good, old ma- hogany and the warm colors that seem to be such a part of its appointments. For some untold reason the word “colonial” calls up visions of horsehair furniture, warming pans and rag car- pets, and they were all right in their place, but they were seldom if ever found in the homes of people of means excepting in their most modest apart- ments. Everything was much more apt to be of the most elaborate quality, and when one stops to think that the men ‘were in the habit of wearing satin knickerbockers, lace frills and curled hair one wonders just why their ideas were so vastly different concerning their homes. . Rag carpets were all well enough, but they didn’t prevent the use of rich Oriental rugs and all the hand- some necessaries that go with them. Stripes, blocks, squares, diagonals and variations in satins, serge and plain weaves were most seen, and a small change was obtained by the texture of the yarn used and by hand embroideries employed. Generally in woven stuffs the figures were small and simple, and as almost all of the fur- niture was in a highly polished mahog- any the fabrics were invariably dull and lusterless in order to show a great- er contrast. Large figures were used to some extent, as they are employed nowadays, but they were never made in woolen goods, rather in cottons, English, Chinese or Indian, and the big figures, block printed, full of bird life and flowers ail in the most gorgeous colorings, became wonderfully popular for a time. There is the neatest little figure (No. 2) in blue and white that is perfectly charming for a bedroom, but it is al- most too cold looking to be used as a wall covering in a din.ag-room or library, but if ome particularly fancies the pattern it can be had in a warm, glowing red that is delightful with Flemish oak or any of the darker, richer looking woods. And, by the way, these quaint designs have taken such a hold on the fickle public that the wise manufacturer {s turning out blankets, curtains, bedspreads and even the cloth for the top of the old-fashioned “highboy,” and turning them out at such a price that they are within the reach of every one. ‘With this idea for things new and old at the same time has come the fad for periods, and the combination, when well worked, is a difficult one to beat. Feor instance, what could be more beautiful than the empire room (No. 6)? It is as different from the Leuis XV (No. 9) as day 1s from night. One calls to mind delicate colors, slen- der gold furniture and all the fitting bric-a-brac that make a drawing-room 80 exquisitely pretty; while the other brings visions of a soft, flowered green mahogany furniture dressed up with metal or gold trimmings and the more solid marbles and vases to add the last finishing touches. In reality they rep- resent just what they are. Periods that were designed by a man and a woman; sone the light and graceful, the other substantial “and ‘elegant, but both :‘Dlendldly adapted to their mission :n fe. « ; For a living room ones of the best pieces of tapestry is what is commonly known as the “‘heraldic” (No. 6). It comes in an old blue and the contrast- ing colors are a peculiar shade of rose and a gold metal which makes it costiy. But it is beautiful and is emblematic of the time of the Tudors, as the dragon, the shield and the Tudor rose comprise its design. Taken all in all it'is one of the best hangings that can be had for libraries, living rooms and halls, but as it sells for $25 a yard there is not the slightest danger of its ever becoming commonplace. Persian hangingg are always pretty for libraries and they are seldom, if ever, too high in price for the pocket- book of the average man, which is a SCO SUNDAY CALL. Ereat comfort. The prevaliing idea re- garding Turkish and Persian rooms is that they must be fllled with all sorts and conditions of musty dust catchers and that floating, flying ends must be hanging from every corner and furthe.- more that they must be of a peculiar pattern and tone! That is not necessarily true. To be sure, Persian ornaments are of a mixed style, combining the conventional simi- lar to the Arablan in the graceful sweeps and curves of drawing, with an attempt at birds, flowers and ani- mals. In fact, Persian fabrics are ak most invariably covered with flowers. Very frequently the design (No. 7) springs from one root at the base and broadens like the branches of a tree upward and outward, each line repre- senting a limb, and the whole covered with & conventipnal treatment of flow- ers, each detail balancing one with the other. Another line of material that is beau- tiful as well as very useful is the Rus- sian embroidery (No. 3) that is made in France in imitation of an old weave, It is not unlike some silk and wool dress mixtures that are seen now and then, where the silk seems almost sep- arate from the wool at’ places, but on examining it is caught here and there and always appears at the right time and place. The embroidery does not belie its name, for it actually presents’ a surface that looks much more like hand work than the product of a loom. And portleres (No. 1) have undergone such a radical change, too, No one 1T FABRIC . DESICNYS ALwdm ILIEICTREI S ever. thinks of buying the regulation ones at shops any more. ‘What won't the world pay for ex- clusiveness? It doesn’t care a fig If the bill mounts into the cold thousands a8 long as no one else has the great privilege of saying, “No one but Mrs. So-and-So has this pattern.” It wants to say, “This whs made for me and s the only one in existence,” and dealers in tapestries and wall hanging of all kinds are catering to this whim, and the varfety of beautiful and Inexpen- sive fabrics are almost endless and so much in vogue that one can scarcely afford to be without them.