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Furnishing Your Home
by Andrew Caxton
Choosing up the hardwood floor or the home decorating plan or
idea that better fits in with Empire furniture can be a little
bit difficult. There are some very good books of designs to
base your decor idea. You can then get from them interesting
complements and ornaments for all the corners of your house, of
course based on the colonial style. One the most famous books at
the date was the - Illustrated history of furniture, by
Frederick Litchfield. You can read some tips from that book
along the following paragraphs. We want to encourage the
readers to follow its ideas because they can help you to find
your own style.
Materials And Ornaments For Careful Finishes
On secretaries and tables, a common ornament of this
description of furniture, is a column of mahogany, with a
capital and base of bronze (either gilt, part gilt, or green),
in the form of the head of a sphinx with the foot of an animal;
console tables are supported by sphinxes and griffins; and
candelabra and wall brackets for candles have winged figures of
females, stiff in modeling and constrained in attitude, but
almost invariably of good material with careful finish.
The bas-reliefs in metal which ornament the panels of the
friezes of cabinets, or the marble bases of clocks, are either
reproductions of mythological subjects from old Italian gems
and seals, or represent the battles of the Emperor, in which
Napoleon is portrayed as a Roman general. There was plenty of
room to replace so much that had disappeared during the
Revolution, and a vast quantity of decorative furniture was
made during the few years which elapsed before the disaster of
Waterloo caused the disappearance of a power which had been
almost meteoric in its career.
What Books To Consult
The best authority on Empire Furniture is the book of designs,
published in 1809 by the architects Percier and Fontaine, which
is the more valuable as a work of reference, from the fact that
every design represented was actually carried out, and is not a
mere exercise of fancy, as is the case with many such books. In
the preface the authors modestly state that they are entirely
indebted to the antique for the reproduction of the different
ornaments; and the originals, from which some of the designs
were taken,are still preserved in a fragmentary form in the
Museum of the Vatican.
Classic Designs And Ideas
An arm chair and a stool, together with that of the tripod
table which are favorable examples of the richly-mounted and
more decorative furniture of this style. While they are not
free from the stiffness and constraint which are inseparable
from classic designs as applied to furniture, the rich color of
the mahogany, the high finish and good gilding of the bronze
mounts, and the costly silk with which they are covered, render
them attractive and give them a value of their own. By reading
the books proposed above you definitely can break the look of
the interior design of your house, and will learn how to
include empire furniture into home decorating ideas and plans.
Andrew Caxton runs the online magazine on
home decorating and design http://www.home-decorating-reviews.com.
Your guide on home
decorating and how to choose from hundreds of decor ideas and
tips. Andrew's site will inspire you to capture the look you
want. Find reviews about flooring, area rugs, blinds, railings,
furniture and much more.
WANT TO KNOW MORE FIREPLACE OPTIONS??? Visit
our fireplace resource for more tips on choosing a fireplace
for your home. Visit our site now!!!
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