The Decoration of Houses

by Edith Wharton; Ogden Codman

There is no absolute perfection, there is no communicable ideal; but much that is empiric, much that is confused and extravagant, will give way before the application of principles based on common sense and regulated by the laws of harmony and proportion.

INDEX

• Adam, ceiling ornaments of, [93]
• Andirons, [84]
• Appliques, in hall and staircase, [119]
• Araldi's ceiling in the convent of St. Paul, Parma, [97]
• Architrave of door, see [Doorway];
  • of mantel-piece, [82]
• Arm-chair, modern, [128]
• Armoires, old French and Italian, [117]
• Ashby, Castle, Inigo Jones's stairs in, [111]
• Aviler, d', his description of dining-room fountain, [158]

• Ball-room, [137];
  • in Italy, [138];
  • Louis XIV, [139];
  • lighting of, [140];
  • chairs, [140]
• Barry, Madame du, dining-room of, [156]
• Bath-room, [172];
  • in Pitti Palace, [172]
• Bedroom, development of, [162];
  • Renaissance, [162];
  • Louis XIV, [162];
  • XVIII-century, [163];
  • cotton hangings in, [164];
  • suite, plan of, [169];
  • children's, [182]
• Bedstead, history of, [163]
• Belvédère, at Versailles, frescoes in, [42]
• Bérain, ceiling arabesques of, [98]
• Bergère, origin of, [7];
  • design of, [128]
• Bernini, his staircase in the Vatican, [108]
• Bindings, decorative value of, [146]
• Blinds, [73]
• Blois, spiral stairs in court-yard of château, [109];
  • cabinet of Catherine de' Medici, [123]
• Blondel, on doors, [58];
  • on fireplaces, [74]
• Book-cases, medieval, [145];
  • in Catherine de' Medici's cabinet, [145];
  • in France in the XVII century, [146];
  • built into the wall, [147];
  • in England, [149];
  • modern, [148]
• Books in the middle ages, [145];
  • in the Renaissance, [146]
• Bosse, Abraham, engravings of Louis XIII interiors, [69];
  • examples of state bedrooms, [123]
• Boudoir, [130];
  • modern decoration of, [170]
• Bramante, his use of the mezzanin floor, [5]
• Breakfast-room, [160]
• Bric-à-brac, definition of, [184];
  • knowledge of, [187];
  • superiority of old over new, [190]
• Burckhardt, on medieval house-planning, [107], note
• Byfield, G., his stairs at Hurlingham, [111]

• Cabinet, Italian origin of, [123];
  • used in French Renaissance houses, [123];
  • of Catherine de' Medici, book-cases in, [145]
• Campbell's Vitruvius Britannicus, example of Palladian manner, [4];
  • of English house-planning, [135]
• Carpets, in general color-scheme, [29];
  • choice of, [100];
  • Savonnerie, [100];
  • designs of, [101];
  • stair-carpets, [102], [118];
  • hall-carpets, [118]
• Caserta, staircase in royal palace, [108]
• Casino del Grotto, near Mantua, frescoes in, [42];
  • ceilings in, [98]
• Casts in vestibule, [105];
  • in hall, [118];
  • in school-room, [178]
• Ceilings, [89];
  • timbered, [90];
  • in France and England, [91];
  • Elizabethan, [92];
  • Louis XIII, [92];
  • Louis XV, [92];
  • Louis XVI, [93];
  • Adam, [93], [96];
  • objections to wooden, [94];
  • modern treatment of, [95];
  • frescoed, [97]
• Chambord, staircase at, [109]
• Chambre de parade, [123]
• Chandeliers, [140], [159]
• Chanteloup, library of, [149]
• Chantilly, stair-rail at, [113]
• Chevening, Inigo Jones's stairs at, [111]
• Cheverny, fireplace at, [74]
• Chinese art, influence of, on stuff patterns, [166]
• Chippendale's designs for grates, [81]
• "Colonial" style, the, [81]
• Color, use of, in decoration, [28];
  • predominance of one color in each room, [28];
  • color-schemes, [29]
• Cornices, interior, Durand on, [94]
• Cortile, Italian, modern adaptation of, [117]
• Coutant d'Ivry's stair-rail in the Palais Royal, [113]
• Curtains, mediæval and Renaissance, [69];
  • in XVII and XVIII centuries, [70];
  • muslin, [72]

• Dado, the, [37];
  • sometimes omitted in lobbies and corridors, [38]
• Decoration and furniture, harmony between, [13];
  • individuality in decoration, [17];
  • graduated scheme of, [24]
• "Den," furniture of, [152];
  • decoration of, [153]
• Dining-chairs, mediæval, [156];
  • XVII century, [159];
  • XVIII century, [159]
• Dining-room, origin of, [155];
  • in France, [154];
  • in England, [155];
  • furniture of, [156];
  • French, XVIII century, [157];
  • fountains in, [158];
  • decoration of modern, [160];
  • lighting of, [160];
  • state, [160];
  • heating of, [161]
• Dining-table, mediæval, [156];
  • modern, [161]
• Donowell, J., his stairs at West Wycombe, [111]
• Doors, [48];
  • sliding, origin of, [49];
  • double, [49];
  • mediæval, [51];
  • in palace of Urbino, [52];
  • in Italy, [52]-54;
  • locks and hinges, [55];
  • in the Hôtels de Rohan, de Soubise, and de Toulouse, [56];
  • glass doors, [57];
  • treatment in England, [57];
  • mahogany, [58];
  • panelling, principles of, [59];
  • veneering, [61];
  • concealed doors, [61];
  • entrance-door, [103]
• Doorway, proper dimensions of, [51], [60];
  • treatment of, in Italy, [52];
  • in France, [55];
  • in England, [57]
• Drawing-room, in modern town houses, [20];
  • evolution of, in England, [122];
  • in France, [122];
  • origin of modern, [124];
  • treatment of, in England and America, [124];
  • furniture of, [127]
• Dressing-room, [171]
• Duchesse, [130]
• Durand, J. L. N., on originality in architecture, [10];
  • on interior cornices, [94]

• Easton Neston, use of panel-pictures at, [46]
• Entrance, treatment of, [103];
  • entrance-door, [103]

• Fenders, [85]
• Fire-backs, [80]
• Fire-boards, [86]
• Fireplaces, [74];
  • mediæval, construction of, [75];
  • in Italy, [75];
  • in France, [76];
  • lining of, [80];
  • American, [81];
  • accessories of, [84]
• Fire-screens, [86]
• Floors, [89];
  • of brick or stone, [99];
  • marble and mosaic, in Italy, [99];
  • parquet, [99];
  • of vestibule, [104];
  • of ball-room, [140]
• Fontana, his staircase in the royal palace, Naples, [108]
• Fountains in dining-rooms, [158]
• Fresco-painting, in wall-decoration, [41];
  • examples of, in Italy and France, [42];
  • in ceiling-decoration, [97];
  • in Italy, [97];
  • in France, [98];
  • in Italian gala rooms, [139]
• Furniture, in the middle ages, [7];
  • furniture and decoration, harmony between, [25];
  • modern English and American, [26];
• XVIII century, in France and England, [27];
  • in vestibule, [105];
  • in hall, [117];
  • in salon de compagnie, [125];
  • in drawing-room, [127], [128];
  • English, XVIII century, [129];
  • in dining-room, [156];
  • in bedroom, [171];
  • in school-room, [180]

• Gabriel, influence of, on ornamental detail, [56];
  • on ceilings, [93];
  • on stair-rails, [114]
• Gala rooms, [134];
  • uses of, [135];
  • in Italy, [136]
• Gallery, [137]
• Genoa, royal palace, doors in, [54]
• Gibbons, Grinling, carvings for panel-pictures, [46]
• Gilding, deterioration of, [192]
• Giulio Romano's frescoes in the Palazzo del T, [136]
• Grand'salle, mediæval, [110]
• Grates, [81]
• Gwilt, his definition of staircase, [106]