The Golden State: Where & How to Live, Secure, Visit, Enjoy and Thrive in California
Furniture Finishing
The proper placing of the design is of course of great importance, since too small a decoration will be lost and too large a one will be out of proportion. Moreover it must be properly framed and set at a correct distance from the frame. If the shape of the panel or top is irregular and a small design is desired, it is customary to place it in a frame of its own. This may be a paint-striped circle, square, oblong or rectangle, which serves to emphasize it and apparently increase its size.
With painted furniture the coloring and design is usually bolder than with veneer background which has a decorative value of its own. Too strong a coloring or too bold a pattern would rob the wood markings of the attention they should share. An entire painted background, on the other hand, is too plain to stand by itself, and therefore demands something like hand- painting instead of taking it merely as a decorative auxiliary.
SUITABLE SUBJECTS
By way of subject floral groups practically monopolize the modern hand-painted choice of design. These may be sprays, running vine effects (for long surfaces), flower-filled baskets and urns ranging from nature's own ideas to severely conventionalized classic effects. Many of these may be secured from old chintzes, wallpaper, fabrics and still subjects in water or oil paintings. Polychrome work on legs, aprons, carvings, mouldings, etc., while hand-painted, does not fall in the same class and may be executed by ordinary finishing room help. On very large pieces it is often used in conjunction with the pictorial type in such a wav as to harmonize closelv with, it.
Period themes and colorings may be grouped roughly as follows: Gothic—heraldic devices in scarlet, blue, chocolate, green and gold bronze. Tudor—vermillion and green profile medallions and the conventionalized rose. Queen Anne—dull blues, reds and greens with gold bronze in oriental designs. Adam, Hepple-white, Sheraton—oyster white or light gray over black or light green over satinwood in classic medallions, plaques and Italian arabesques. Empire—Greek and Roman emblems in black and gold over gray, green or brown backgrounds on top rails and slats of chairs. Early Colonial—Flowers and fruits, scrolls and wavy lines in black, dark gray, blue and red on neutral painted or natural walnut and pine.
LAYING OUT AND FILLING IN
The execution of a pictorial design is a process requiring artistic training, but up to the period of actual filling in with color, may possess a routine character. The experienced few can paint the subject free-hand from the beginning, but others would have difficulty in holding the design to exactly the same proportions and details on any considerable run of furniture unless the design is a very small, conventional one.
