A MODERN NOTE

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 249, 11 January 1928, Page 6

A MODERN NOTE

UPHOLSTERY TO HARMONISE It is nearly two years since, a new style in British furniture was evolved. Since that time a great deal has been written about the modernist note in bedroom suites and general cabinetwork, but no mention has been made of an entirely new development in upholstered easy chairs and settees, for a very good reason. So much attention Is paid in these days to the furnishing of the bedroom that, when the new style in furniture was born, the first thought of the designers was to produce modernist bedroom suites. Dining-room and lounge furniture followed, but it was not until comparatively recently that a few manufacturers turned their attention to the production of upholstery to harmonise with the new style in cabinet-work. This delay was almost tragic. Those who have been attracted by the modern note in furniture, ar.d have furnished a room or a whole house in this style, have been compelled to include in their schemes the old-style in upholstered chair and settee, and in some instances a wholly incongruous effect has been obtained. One can imagine the result of a combination in the same room of a modern bedroom suite, with severe

straight lines elliptical curves and beautiful veneer work—and an easy chair of the Thomas Chippendale style. The new type of upholstery that has made its timely appearance to save our modern homes from ridicule is clearly illustrated in the accompanying photograph. The arms are in the shape of an arc, and they follow exactly the form of the modern designs in other types of furniture. It will he seen that the designers do not rely on pattern for their effect; plain colours are used, and a novel modern touch is given to the piece by edging of a contrasting colour. The result is bold, striking but not top startling. Beautiful line and perfect proportion have not been sacrificed on the altar of novelty, and comfort is more than maintained.

The two essentials in good upholstered furniture are beauty and com-

fort. Some of the modernist designs achieve the former and neglect the latter. In such chairs as that illustrated, however, spiral springing, deeply sprung cushions, and a back so slanted that it is scientifically restful, combine to give the greatest possible ease.

This new note, is not entirely confined to the “stuffover” type of upholstery, like the chair illustrated. In the show-wood style the frames of the chair which are visible are veneered with amboyna wood, zebrano wood, macassar ebony, and other modern coloured decorative woods used in the latest bedroom suites and din-ing-room furniture. Inlays of coloured woods and bandings are also used to create harmony with other pieces in the same room. _ The weavers of furnishing fabrics have played a great part in the success of this new type of upholstery. Many chairs, unlike the one illustrated, rely for their novelty on the brilliant colours and bold design of the materials used for covering them. < In this connection and chintzes, tapestries and printed .silks, have been produced to harmonise with the new style in furnishing, and it is possible to see in the shops to-day upholstered furniture covered with materials that depict flowers, birds and landscape in geometrical and almost futuristic design, not too striking to be startling and terrifying, but sufficiently modern in conception to harmonise with the form and symmetry of the frames.

Those who have adopted the new style in furnishing have experienced the same difficulty in connection with these furnishing fabrics. They realised that the materials harmonised with the trend in cabinet-work, but there were no chairs or settees designed which would conform with the fabrics. Thus we have seen such incongruities, as Chippendale arid even Jacobean chains covered in modern designs of tapestry and chintz! No such difficulty now exists. With the evolution of an entirely new design in upholstered easy chairs and settees these modern furnishing fabrics oome into their own and, combined with the square blocklike chairs or those bold semi-circles for arms and backs, a new era inuupholstery begins, synchronising and harmonising with the new trend %in cabinet furniture.