Two Noteworthy Chambers
The steeple-topped andirons in the simple fireplace, the painted mirror, and the old brass candlesticks of one chamber are most appropriately chosen. The Field bed has a canopy of white with ball fringe which is an exact replica of the old-time draping. Rag mats have been used for the floor; they are not the common braided ones but woven rugs which are more suitable. Alcoved recesses are shown on either side of the fireplace; in one of them a six-legged, high chest of drawers with china steps, designed about 1720, shows drop handles, and is ornamented with rare old family china. On the opposite side is a wing or Martha Washington chair of the Sheraton type. The bureau, 1815, is a fine example of the period, while the swell-front, Hepplewhite bureau with the oval, pressed-brass handles and the painted mirror above are in conformity with the general scheme. A banister-backed chair with a rush bottom stands at one side of the bed.
Very unusual is the Colonial wall-paper which is found in a second chamber, while eighteenth-century andirons are used in the fireplace which is still of the original size and which shows a plain Colonial mantel. In this chamber, as in the other, there is a very plain wainscot of boards placed horizontally. An Empire bed which has wonderfully beautiful carving is shown in this room, and also a very unusual chair known as a comb-back rocker and dating about 1750. The rugs here are of the Arts and Crafts style, while the bureau and writing-table have cabriole legs and secret drawers, the central one with rising sun or fan carving.
Every piece in this house is genuine, for they all are heirlooms or pieces that have been carefully chosen, since the owner is an expert in determining period and correct types. It is a well-known fact that to-day one has to be a careful student of furniture not to be deceived. The popularity of the Colonial period, more especially since the vogue of the modified Colonial house, has led many a fakir to reproduce the lines of the genuine antique. Skilful workmen are employed to manufacture these pieces, and they are able, by imitating worm-holes, dentation, and other distinguishing marks, to put on the market pieces whose genuineness even the antique dealer is puzzled to decide.
All through the country the value of antiques is becoming better and better known, so that it is far more difficult to obtain bargains than it was even five years ago. To-day, so great has grown the demand, people who before were unaware of the worth of their heirlooms have been led to overestimate their value and they now ask fabulous sums for pieces hitherto neglected and ignored.
CHAPTER XXII
THE HOWLAND S. CHANDLER HOUSE
When your house is remodeled, be careful what kind of paint you use for both outside and inside finish. A variation from the right tone will mar the whole effect. So much depends on this that one should not copy from houses of to-day but turn back to the style of a century ago, so that in this particular, at least, the house shall correspond with the old Colonial idea.