The Southern Architect 3, no. 10 (August 1892)

so I will be general in my remarks. All the materials described for the dining-room treatment would be applicable for the drawing-room. The dado is not so necessary here, as the chairs are not usually placed against the walls, and instead of the sombre hues suited to the dining-room, soft, quiet and light effects are best—say cream or soft duck-egg shell blue or French grey for ceilings, the walls fawn color or a richer French grey or a deeper grey blue, approaching peacock shade. All these are good for showing ladies’ complexions and dress to the best advantage, and that is a consideration not to be overlooked. Water-color drawings will also look well on these grounds. The woodwork may be cream-white finished with enamel varnish; this gives a beautiful smooth and fresh effect. I think the judicious application of gilding in this room very advantageous, but the same remark applies to all the public rooms and hall. I think it is better to gild the small enrichment of cornices solid than to break up the ornament of the large enrichments with points of gold—what is technically called “ hatching ” or “ picking out.” The round, the concave and small ogee mouldings always look well gilded, as their rounded surfaces catch the light from all points. The wall should be decorated with water-color drawings or etchings tastefully arranged. Choice pieces of Oriental and Doulton pottery are beautiful and very decorative. I have fitted a narrow moulded shelf, supported on neat brackets, all round the walls—except where occupied by cabinets— about four feet high from the floor; this shelf has a groove on the upper surface for holding plates and photos —this is to prevent them from sliding—and is a very pretty arrangement, as between the photos pretty pieces of pottery and statuettes may be placed. Above this shelf should be hung the water-color drawings, etchings and engravings; or, instead of this narrow shelf, dwarf book cases rising three feet high may be put round the room, and on the top of those the photos and ornaments may be placed. Books in themselves are very decorative in effect, besides the delight of sitting in rooms supplied with plenty of them. I think there should be many books in the drawing-room ; it is the general sitting-room and no one need ever be weary or suffer ennui who loves good books. The morning-room I will not describe further than to say it should be light and cheerful and cool in tone French greys and light hues are good. It may be painted entirely and decorated in a simple manner, or any of the wall coverings may be u Q ed here quite fitly. The library is better to be subdued in tone, but not gloomy. The wall should be the background for rare prints and etchings, so should be painted or, if paper, some old rich leather effect is good with a pattern not over conspicuous, the ceiling and cornice colored to match and the woodwork as in the dining-room, dark and decorated with thin lines and ornaments. The books should be easily accessible, and low bookcases not more than five feet high or lower look very well. I think it is better to have no glass in front of the books, except to protect the rarest of very valuable ones. I have observed that those placed beyond reach of the hand are rarely opened. The floor should be stained or painted all round, say one foot in front of the book cases, so that carpet or rug may be lifted without disturbing the bookcases. The bedrooms should be dealt with as to color according to aspect; those getting much sunshine should be cool, and those in the shade warm in tone. I think it good to paint the ceilings and walls of bedrooms. The walls may be finished with a dull gloss, the paint being partly mixed with varnish; this allows of their being washed down without injury to thepaint, and insures that they be always fresh and clean. Walls painted in this manner will last a lifetime. The walls and ceilings may be perfectly plain, but there is no reason why the ceilings may not be decorated in a simple way with lines, borders and corner ornaments, or even in a fuller manner. In the children’s rooms it is as well to have dadoes that may be fully varnished ; of course the walls may be papered without any breach in the fitness of things, and lovely papers are to be had in jdenty, and some are made purposely to allow of sponging down. They are called sanitary papers; they are quiet in color and very serviceable. The woodwork should be painted to suit the walls, generally in light tones, and if varnished, so much the better; it lasts much longer and all finger marks can be easily wiped from it. I think it is best to oil paint the ceiling in all cases; itlasts for many years and iseasily cleaned, and if renewed can be done without causing the dirt and mess that distemper always produces, when washed off. The margins of floors should in all cases be stained or painted and varnished, so that the carpets may be frequently shaken; freshness and cleanness in bedrooms is of the utmost importance. For thesame reasons the kitchens and offices should be oil painted, and not distempered; the paint can so easily be washed down by the servants, and it lasts so much longer than distemper, that the difference in the first cost is soon made up. Here the woodwork should be varnished, and the walls for five feet up the same ; a simple line should be drawn at the top of the dado. For the outside of cemented houses there is no treatment that so effectually resists the entry of rain as to paint the walls thoroughly, and when applying the last coat to powder them with fine dry sand. When dry this makes so hard a surface that water cannot penetrate it; it is more costly than ordinary painting, but it is practically imperishable, and so cheaper in the end. As to the best colors for outside painting, I don’t feel that any hard and fast rule can be laid down. All tones of stone-color, from cream yellow to terra-cotta and dark chocolate, may be used. I would avoid shades of green and blue on the cement, except they be very neutral in tone; from white through yellow tones to dark red and brown are the most suitable shades. When the walls are painted dark colors, then the windows sashes and verandah should be made very light, say white tinted with yellow, green or blue or even pure white; on the other hand, if the walls are painted in light colors, the window sashes and other outside woodwork may most fitly be painted in dark shades, say olive green, Indian red or dark peacock-blue. The above is a very general survey of the house, but, perhaps, as much as can be profitably introduced into an hour’s lecture such as this. It is impossible to do more than treat the subject on the broadest lines. I am embarrassed with too much matter rather than with too little, for practically there is no limit to the modes of treatment for every part of the house. I am far from thinking there is only one good way of painting houses • there are many. For instance, if character is wanted, the house could be treated in purely Greek design—- or full of refined designing and affording scope for full harmonious coloring. The Renaissance is founded on the Classic, but treated with abundant freedom and grace by the Italians and other European nations. The various French developments of the Renaissance have their own beauties. Louis Quinze and Louis Seize are full of char238 THE SOUTHERN ARCHITECT.

acter, lightness and elegance. But while I have seen much of this high class work, and executed some, the ever-present regret one feels in the colony is that so little of it is in demand. The country is probably too young, and feels itself bound to be content with humbler things until it can afford better. But of one thing I do complain : it is the system of tendering for every kind of work. Every contractor is assumed to be equally able to do artistic work; cheapness is held to be the criterion of merit and not quality. Things are different in England. A man of merit there is treated with respect, and his worth is acknowledged. I suppose things will improve here as we develop a richer and more leisured class. As this class grows, so the appreciation for art work of every description will grow with it—aconsummation devoutly to be wished ! —From Canadian Architect. ILLUMINATING BUILDING INTERIORS. ARTIFICIAL illumination of the interior of buildings is a subject that has engrossed the attention of architects for many years, we may say from time immemorial. Their efforts have been taxed to the utmost in late years, as civilization has become more refined and the demand for more light to illuminate artistic interiors has grown. When the electric light made it appearance it marked a new era in lighting, in that a demand was created in a new direction for beautiful illuminating effects. Artists exercised their knowledge and skill to the utmost limit, and the success which has attended their efforts is familiar to most every one who has a pair of good eyes in his head. The Journal of the Royal Institute of British Architects in a recent number published an abstract of a paper on the subject of internal illumination of buildings, read before that body by Mr. W. H. Preece, the eminent English electrician. As this abstract contains a good deal that is of interest, we publish it in full for the benefit of our readers: “ The art of internal illumination of buildings, the author considers, is just born, and will be an art in the future. Electricity is rendering theatres bearable and houses healthier, while the architect is brought face to face with a new art, in which the aid of the electrician is required to solve some of the difficulties. History is silent as to the origin of tallow, pitch, wax and oil, but gas as an illuminant came in with the present century. From the earliest days, history, whether culled from paintings or writings, teaches that lights have been dim and crude until the middle of the present century. Light, by whatever means generated, follows the same laws, and is due to the rapid rhythmic undulation of the medium, called the ether, that fills all space. Wherever there is light there is heat, and the hope of the philosopher to supply light without any heat at all is at present but a dream. Light cannot be produced without heat, and the higher the temperature the brighter the light. Color varies with the rate of vibration of the ether, while changes of color are due to the changes of wave-motion of the ether. Light may become so intense that all sense of color is lost, and every bright illumination causes all colors to appear whitish. If light emanates from a point its intensity diminishes with the square of the distance. The candle is the British standard source of light, and the bright surface produced by it at a distance of one foot the standard illumination by which to measure the amount of light distributed by any other means. This standard Mr. Preece calls a ‘lux.’ A sixteen candle-power glow lamp is a lamp which gives a light equal to that of sixteen British standard candles concentrated on one spot, and it will at a distance of four feet give the illumination of a lux. Thus one candle-power at one foot, four candles at two feet, nine candles at three feet, sixteen candles at four feet, twenty-five candles at five feet, give exactly the same illumination, viz , one lux, on the paper on which we write or on the page from which we read. The great problem is to diffuse light throughout a room so that it be distributed uniformly over the working surfaces with an intensity of a lux. Sixteen-candle glow lamps suspended eight feet above the floor, and fixed in eight-feet squares, effect this very well; and groups of four such lamps fixed sixteen feet high produce a similar result. The light a lamp gives is owing to the expenditure of energy in its carbon filament; an electric current is driven through this filament by electric pressure, its resistance is overcome, it is intensely heated by the proceeding, and the result is pure unadulterated light. The energy expended per second by an ampere (the standard current), driven by a volt (the standard pressure), is called a watt. A sixteen-candle glow lamp takes sixty-four watts, which, assuming the lamps to be fixed eight feet high, means that one watt per square foot of surface is required to secure ample illumination from lamps so fixed. Therefore, in designing the normal illumination of rooms, Mr. Preece takes the floor area in square feet and divides it by sixty-four, which gives the number of sixteen candle-power lamps required, fixed eight feet high ; these being increased or diminished according to the purposes of the room, its form and height, etc. The adaptability of the eye to nearly every degree of light is very great, and it is almost impossible for it to judge accurately of the amount of light present; but it is not as a mere source of light that the glow lamp is superior to the gas burner. The former can be put anywhere and used without the adventitious aid of match or fire. It does not vitiate nor unnecessarily warm the air, and it simplifies the problem of ventilation, while it lends itself above all to the aesthetic harmony of furniture and decorations. Electric light is not always absolutely safe; security is to be obtained only by good design, perfect materials, first-class workmanship and rigid inspection. Imperfect materials erected by cheap contractors lead to many disasters; on the other hand, it is stated no fire has occurred in buildings fitted up under the rules and regulations, and inspected by the officers of the insurance companies in this country. Mr. Preece advocates keeping everything as much as possible in view, and not hiding the conductors under wainscots or floors or above ceilings. The glow lamps excited by three watts per candle is at present the most perfect source of domestic light, and when patent expires—in a year or two —will be obtainable at one-third the present price. It is scarcely fair, Mr. Preece thinks, to say all light should come from the side of a room, as Lord Beaconsfield stated in £ Lotliair’ when describing the lighting of Belmont. The House of Commons is one of the best lighted chambers in London, and is lighted from the roof, a false glass ceiling excluding the heat and glare, and admitting only the light. What is wanted is to avoid the glare of the incandescent filament in the eyes, and to prevent the lamp from being too obtrusive; it can be shaded from the eye without its effectiveness being destroyed, and without the flow of light being obstructed or its quality being deteriorated. Judging from the Costal Palace Exhibition, at which several leading firms 239 THE SOUTHERN ARCHITECT.

have not exhibited, the electric-light fitter has not seized upon the spirit of the age —which is the rule of science over more conventional aestheticism. Two exhibits at the Crystal Palace, however, the author considers, especially deserve inspection. The one is a Tudor ribbed ceiling erected by Messrs. Allen & Mannooch, who have applied glow-lamps to the moulded intersecting pendants in such a way that the feeling of the artist is maintained by day, and is rather intensified, and not marred, by the artificial illuminant at night. The other is a bold attempt of Messrs. Rashleigh, Phipps & Dawson to design in ironwork the whole of the fittings of a diningroom, so that they shall, in combination, convey an idea. The artist (Mr. Reynolds) has attempted to symbolize the solar system, the center over the table representing the sun, and the brackets on the walls the planets. A survey of the Royal Academy pictures, the author thinks, affords instructive study. There are many interiors, but few into which artificial light has been introduced. Having described several pictures in which artificial light has been introduced with more or less successful results, Mr. Preece, in conclusion, considers that science is advancing with giant strides. Science has subdued nature so as to bring it within the compass of the human intellect, and art must follow the knowedge thus acquired. These two being the chief instruments of modern civilization, the architect and engineer must work hand in hand.” FUTURE ELECTRICAL ADVANCEMENT. r PRUE science, bound by no fetters, its theories tenable 1 only so long as they are useful in connecting facts, its progress limited only by the life of the race on the earth, and its field unbounded, is not only vastly enlarging the mental horizon, but it is, at the same time, conferring incalculable practical benefits. Did this statement need emphasis, it is found in the growth of no particular branch of science more than in electricity. With the vast accumulation of new facts, electricity has come to be understood as intimately related in its nature and actions to that necessary something which has been called the universal ether, filling all space and permeating the most solid objects. By the electrical vibrations of this medium, the stars not only declare their very presence, but transmit to us indications of their directions and rates of motion, their temperatures, and even the kind of matter which composes them. The beam of light is an electrical phenomenon, it is an electrical oscillation or vibration of such extraordinary hundreds of trillions per second, as to become unreasonable in thought. It is conveyed in the ether at the rate of nearly two hundred thousandmiles per second. So also are other electrical actions. The fact that electrical action is so intimately related to the phenomena of heat, chemical energy and crystallization leads us to think that future discoveries can but tend toward further harmonies of these great forces. Electrical attraction and repulsion, magnetism, light and radiant heat are now known to be dependent in some way on the properties of the ether of space. Gravitational force must be similarly dependent. Cohesion and chemical are, without doubt, manifestations depending on the same medium. The future scientific investigator will find his field of work gradually expanding. The growth of electricity as a branch of science must be at least commensurate with that of the broader science of physics. As a swift messenger, as a conveyer of intelligence, electricity has in the telegraph been familiarly known for about half a century. So far as appears from the present outlook, future telegraphic progress promises no great revolutions. Methods and means will, no doubt, become more and more refined and greater speeds be attained. The more general introduction of multiplex systems will increase the capacity of the lines and decrease the cost. More attention will be given to permanence of lines and to securing immunity from extended interruptions due to storms. It may be remarked here, however, that electricians are not without some hope that signaling or telegraphing for moderate distances without wires, and even through dense fog may be an accomplished fact soon. Had we the means of obtaining electric oscillations of several millions per second, or waves similar to light waves, but of vastly lower rate of vibration, it might be possible by suitable reflectors to cause them to be carried a mile or so through a fog, and to recognize their presence by instruments constructed for the purpose. Many of the difficulties and dangers which now beset the navigator would, at least, be lessened, if not removed. Signaling or telegraphing without wires is no new proposal, and there have been many such proposals which are extravagant and impracticable. The fact is, however, the essential means are not yet forthcoming. In telephonic transmission the past few years have permitted us to witness extensions from communication over restricted areas and moderate distances to hundreds of miles between cities, an achievement which must count as one of the wonders of the century. Can we, however, anticipate such an extension of the power of the telephone, that may at some time use an ocean cable as the line over which speech is to be conveyed? To answer this question in the negative would be to set a limit to the capacity of the human intellect to make future advances; nevertheless, there are reasons which are cogent enough tending to point to the impracticability of telephonic transmission through cables of great length. In such cases a retardation and an obliteration of the delicate pulses of current which characterize electrical speech serve to prevent the reception of speech at the far end of the line. By enormously increasing the power of the waves or impulses, the difficulty would be, in a measure overcome, but to do this introduces other grave difficulties, the solution of which is not easy to foresee. — Prof. Elihu Thompson , in the New England Magazine for July. Penalty Clause in Building Contract.—A person named Kemper and one named Candon entered into a written contract whereby Candon agreed to build a wall, etc., or else at his election, to remove a certain house three feet, and put it in as good condition as it was before; and in such contracts the parties further stipulated as follows : “It is mutually agreed between said parties that a failure on the part of said Candon to perform these obligations shall entitle • said Kemper to recover from him the sum of five hundred dollars as liquidated and ascertained damages for the breach of this contract.” Candon elected not to build the wall, etc., and afterwards failed to remove the house. The cost of removing the house, and putting it in as good condition as it was before, would not have exceeded $lOO. When the parties made the contract, and stipulated for damages in case of breach, fixing the amount at $5OO, they could not have had in contemplation actual compensatory damages; and therefore the sum of $5OO mentioned in such contract as liquidated and ascertained damages must be treated as a penalty, and not as liquidated damages, and therefore it cannot be and only actual damages can be recovered. Candon v. Kemper, Supreme Court of Kansas, 27 Pac Rep. 829 (200 C). 240 THE SOUTHERN ARCHITECT.

AN ILL US TRA TED MONTHL V JO URNAL, DEVOTED TO THE INTERESTS OF ARCHITECTS, BUILDERS AND THE HARDWARE TRADE. PUBLISHED BY THE Southern Architect Publishing Co., 65, 67, 69 and 71 Ivy St. and Edgewood Ave. Atlanta, Ga. TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION: IN THE UNITED STA TES AND CANADA. One Copy, one Year in Advance, $2.00 IN GREAT BRITAIN, IRELAND AND COUNTRIES OF POSTAL UNION. One Copy, one Year in Advance, - $2.50 Advertising rates furnished on application. All remittances must be made by Post-office Money Order, Express Money Order, Registered Letter, Certified Bank Check, or Draft. We will not be responsible unless above means are complied with. Make all orders payable to The Southern Architect. We shall be pleased to receive from architects, engineers, builders, and others articles treating on matters of interest to architects and the building trades. In order to make this journal a true representative of Southern architecture, we will he glad to receive from architects and draughtsmen desigvs of buildings for illustration in these pages. Headquarters City Fire Department , Atlanta , Ga.—Bruce & Morgan, architects. Cincinnati Crematory.— Nash & Plympton, architects. Residence for Mr. Garnett. —A. S. Eiehberg, architect, Augusta, Ga. THE DECORATIVE FEATURES OF SCULPTURE.* IT would be pardonable in me, perhaps, if I looked a little ahead to see, in the now rapidly developing recognition of the worth of women in public affairs, another source of difficulty to the future sculptors, if their only chance for distinction lies, as it does now, in portrait statues too; and difficult as it now is to make a male standing statue in modern costume suggestive of the figure beneath the garb, still greater will the difficulty become Avhen dealing with the fashionable dress of the other sex. Let us, for all reasons then, be prepared for the erection of the coming memorials by having homes made for them in buildings that are now being constructed, so that architect and sculptor may combine together and work out, each in their several ways, one common idea. To do this would be to return to our best traditions; it would emphasize the object of a building, and, by accentuating the past deeds of great men in the scene of their labors, serve as a stimulus to coming generations. With this simple principle in our minds we shall be better able to understand how it is that the sculpture of * A lecture delivered in the Applied Art Section at the Society of Arts, London, by Mr. E. Roscoe Mullins. the end of the last century and the beginning of this has so little of permanent value or interest to us, although the sculptors were, individually, often men of great ability; one or two, indeed, such as Roubiliac, of exceptional ability. One feels that the works of men like Bacon, Banks, Wilson, Gibson and others are misplaced, or, rather, as if they were not intended for any particular place at all, but were executed for a museum and for any old corner where there was room. They do not touch us as they should, in spite of, as in those by Roubiliac, their great merit in execution. But not only are they not decorative in treatment, they are not representative of the leading thoughts of that age. I suppose the two leading ideas of that time were the establishment of our colonies and the abolition of slavery. Yet neither of these great subjects inspired our sculptors then—at least I can think of no important work that would typify them. When not engaged upon portrait statues, their skill was exercised in creating a Venus, a Diana or a Cupid, which, at the most, could only rank as conventional classical imitations, not especially beautiful in themselves, and possessing for a future age none of that archaeological interest that work, true to the thoughts and aspirations of its own time, must always have. The chief exponent of this experimental art was John Gibson; to me there is a special sadness in looking back on his life and works. We are conscious now. of the weakness of his work; but, even in my student days, most art lovers that I came across esteemed him as the finest sculptor of the day. It is not that fashion has shifted from classical standards to the freer development of the Renaissance —lovers of art will always love the best Greek sculpture—but it is the want of aim in his works and their isolation from the thoughts of the time that has brought this neglect. There is a warning note to sculptors in the words of his will, by which he bequeathed his casts to the nation : —“Yes, I do feel,” he wrote, “that the collection of my models, seen together, would be of use to young sculptors as to style.” Now, not a soul but the very curious goes near them, and the works represent a splendid gallery of an art that is dead, because created apart and away from the needs of the time and the sympathies of the nation. Flaxman’s work was a glorious exception to this conventional art, and redeems this period from the wholesale condemnation that would otherwise be justly meted out to it. His reliefs are especially decorative, and when placed effectively, as I have seen them, they have great power in accentuating the purpose of a building. Those that I refer to are panels from the Lord’s prayer series, and are let into the wall at the east end of a church? occupying the space where they serve as true sermons in stone, without need of comment or words of any kind. Such I maintain to be instances of true religious decorative art. The inevitable result of detaching sculpture from architecture, and looking upon the art as independent of other arts and capable of stirring sentiment alone and unattached, is this harping back on the old masters and following in grooves dug out by them, working, that is to say, according to theories rather than up to required needs. Theories must always be cramping and dangerous if meant as a guide to future production. In sculpture it has proved itself to be especially so, because the art has been such a happy hunting ground for the critic and connoisseur. Theories are only interesting as gathering up and focusing what has been but not at all in deciding upon the form future work shall take. Of all theories, that based on the search of beauty is perhaps the most destructive of all original 241 THE SOUTHERN ARCHITECT.

talent, and yet it is the one most frequently set up. Even Goethe, with his width of view and knowledge of the many-sidedness of life, when commenting upon Less-' ing’s Laocoon, says: “The former (that is sculpture) had to confine itself within the limits of the beautiful,” and, again, “Sculpture labors for external sense, which is satisfied only by means of the beautiful ” An artist, it seems to me, who is seeking for beauty is as a man seeking for happiness as the one aim in life —a desirable end to attain, but never attained by directly planning or searching for it. And it is the same with the attainment of beauty in sculpture ; the end is only reached by having some definite and tangible object in view, while the mere search for beauty only leads to imitation and trite conventionality. But let the immediate purpose of our work be the desire simply to tell a story and adapt it to the place that the work is to fill, then, in this happy filling-up of space, the element of beauty will possibly be there without our striving especially for it; at any rate, the work will be stamped with our own individuality, and that is alwa}7 s an element of interest. Not only is it pernicious to the originality of the worker himself to be perpetually seeking only for the beautiful, but it derives the work of an element, the value of which, it is true, is more appreciated by future races than at the time of execution. I refer to what I have already alluded to as the archeological side of art. How much have we not learnt of previous inhabitants of the world simply by the knowledge gleaned from their decorative sculpture. Besides wTell known instances, such as the Egyptian reliefs, which give us the whole range of the nation’s pursuits, take the case of the early and little-known race of the Hittites. What is known of their previous history and the knowledge of their farspreading dominion have been derived chiefly from the study of their sculptural reliefs. The presence of the mural crown and the double-headed eagle, in association with a certain ever-recurring decorative pattern, and the top-heeled boot, the high-peaked turban, the short highgirded sword, etc., these and other features all point, when found on slabs scattered over Asia Minor and elsewhere, to the presence of that early race. Again, much remains yet to learn concerning the Mexicans, when the curious hieroglyphics have been deciphered. It is certain that this interest at least will be wanting to future antiquaries if it is found that our works refer to a mythology foreign to our country, to heroes and gods not believed in by our race, and merely copied because they were nude. “What’s Hecuba to him or he to Hecuba?” may well then be their cry. If we cannot invest our works with any lofty ideas, we can at least be true to the conclitons of the time; and this we should much more readily be if sculpture were the result of a demand from the public instead of what it so often is—the outcome of a chance action seen by the sculptor in a model in his studio, to which work he afterwards appends some learned Greek name. While speaking of the danger of disconnecting sculpture from architecture, I should like to refer to two tendencies of the present day. One affects the art itself, and is, it appears to me, as pernicious to its free development as the old-fashioned desire to produce only something beautiful, and that is the influence upon sculpture of the sister art of painting, which necessarily follows from the importance given to the yearly exhibitions, especially at the Royal Academy, in which the preponderance of painters to sculptors is as nine to one. Truthfully modelled surfaces and the literal rendering of nature naturally have more weight with a painter than with a sculptor, for, in painting, imitation of nature cannot be carried to too great an excess, and the most thoroughly realistic work will still bear the impress of art on its canvas ; but it is- not so with sculpture, for a plaster cast from life will give the exact imitation without any art at all. The result of this painter influence leads often to the neglect of design, composition and all thought of suitability to any given place. The other evil to which sculpture is always liable, if disconnected with architecture, is to become the property of the few, instead of belonging to the nation as a whole. In treating of the art from a decorative point, I have purposely kept my mind on the architectural side oi sculpture as the most important form of decoration, but I would wish it understood that I apply the term decorative sculpture to the covering of any surface that needs decoration, be it what it may, from the w r alls of palaces and municipal buildings to fire-dogs, knockers, clocks, lamps, mantelpieces, jewelry, etc. Of course, these latter can never attain to the importance of architectural sculpture, for the reason above mentioned, that they must, for the most part, belong to the individual and not to the nation ; but otherwise they merit as much thought and care as surfaces that are more pretentious. In this paper I cannot do more than allude to them, but the mere mention of the above list shows the enormous field open to the sculptor, and the very wide range of his art as a decorative one. Neither do I think it necessary to draw any fine line between useful and purely ornamental articles. The aesthetic enjoyment of a fine knocker is, it is true, not in rapping with it, but the excellence of the artistic design and execution need not interfere with it as a useful article. I have often wondered by the way, who buys those marvelously carved meerschaum pipes that one sees exposed in tobacconists’ windows, and still more who smokes them This is one of those instances, I think, when we may explain with the poet that “beauty unadorned is adorned the most.” I must confess I can give no reason, save as Shylock puts it, “A lodged hate and a certain loathing” I have to the “adorned” article in question. The difficulty that arises with regard to making jewelry really artistic and worth the sculptor’s attention is caused mainly by the fiend fashion ; for it is impossible to justify fine work on an article that is decreed to be out of date a few months after it is made. The round brooch has to give way to the long, the broad bracelet to the fine and thin, quite independent of the workmanship and beauty that one or the other may possess. Yet great sculptors and painters in the past learnt their craft and gained most of their valuable experience in the goldsmith’s workshops, and our artists might do so again if this paralyzing influence were once removed. [Here followed an exhibition of lantern slides, showing reliefs from Nineveh, examples of Assyrian, Greek and Roman sculpture, together with illustrations of the work of some modern French and English sculptors; after which the speaker concluded :] To sum up the few ideas I have ventured to express, I maintain first of all that sculpture must in the main be decorative, allied chiefly to architecture, and speaking to us from its walls. When thus linked with architecture I would have it free within these limits to develop the individuality of the artistsand the characteristics of the time. I should wish it to be as true to latter-day life as possible, and thus be in touch with the age. If the artist has imagination, and can see through the surface of life into the hidden mystery of things, let him by all means represent it; if not, let him portray life as he sees it, and we will hope that the necessities of the conditions under which 242 The southern architect.