PERIOD OF TRANSITION

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 729, 31 July 1929, Page 14

PERIOD OF TRANSITION

MODERN FURNITURE DESIGNING LONDON JIBS AT PARISIAN STYLES WHILE Loudon looks with interest, but with a hint of distrust, on furnishings and interior decoration which, for want of a more descriptive name, are called “modern,” Paris accepts them wholeheartedly. There every detail of equipment can be seen in contemporary design to be set against the styles of bygone periods and judged like them—and this judgment is increasingly hi favour of providing modern settings for people of modern times.

The living-room (writes Ruth Dean in “Homes and Gardens”) has taken the place of the draw-ing room, and instead of painted and gilt chairs, decorated with garlands of flowers, one finds comfortable armchairs, a low divan instead of the upright settee, with tables and bookshelves adapted to today’s needs. In this setting one can live, not with formal politeness or the constraint of "good manners," but with the practical end that everyone shall be comfortable and feel at home and at ease. Economising Space One of the principal preoccupations of the designer of modern furniture is to make the most of the confined spaces that are characteristic of the modern house or fiat. The monumental wardrobe, the large sideboard, the double bed are impossible in such a setting—smaller pieces have their serviceability doubled by some ingenious contrivance. A wardrobe often conceals a full-length mirror insid ■ its doors, and has shelves which can he shifted at will to the depth which suits the owner, while those xiieces which would of old have been provided with open shelves have sliding panels of plate glass which allow their contents to be seen, yet protect them from the dust which so soon proclaims its presence on polished wood. Another labour-savin*- device is a writing table with a sliding panel that pulls out on one side from beneath its top. Similarly, the ends of the divan may provide shelves for a few books, convenient to hand when and where they are required. The low coffee table may have embodied with it a standard lamp that looks like the lauthorn at the prow of a ship. The dressing table has a full-length central mirror with low pedestals on either side fitted with convenient drawers and shelves, their tops protected by plate glass. Then there are bookcases which, when closed, look like cabinets, but. on being opened, disclose a double range of bookshelves —one on the door that opens, and one facing this within. Outward Appearance And what of the outward appearance of this convenient furniture? Nothing very revolutionary is necessarily indicated by the term “modern style.” The decorative part which is played by the combination of colour in fine woods—the “figure” of pollard oak. burr walnut, amboyna or those colonial woods which have hitherto been little known in Europe, with the colour contrasts this obtained, make it possible to dispense with carved panels or metal mounts. Handles that differ from accepted models are one of the distinguishing details of much modern furniture. Instead of the knob we find a vertical bar, sometimes in wood, sometimes in metal, or even glass, a curved line of metal horizontally or vertically, according to the need, very pleasant to take hold of, and decorative. too. 1 Handles of ivory, square in shape, are

another feature of which the modern designer makes frequent use. The Carpet—New Style Used with pieces like those described above, the carpet never entirely covers the floor. A large square of thick pile, or oval and circular carpets hi point noue are carried out in colours which, as a rule, harmonise with the woods composing the furniture. The designs are bold in scale, but seldom carried out in strong or vivid colours. Browns, fawns, oatmeal, grey, with a touch of vivid scarlet or dark crimson, are the dominant shades in chair covers and curtain materials, wove in those mixtures of jute or artificial silk which, not having too smooth a texture, seem best suited to accompany or clothe the armchair, the divan, or the cushion. Velvets and velveteens generally display that shaggy appearance which fur rugs, fur sofa cushions (worked in a mosaic effect of light and darkcoloured skins) give in the modern setting. And fawn-covered plusli, marked with a watered effect that has none of the smoothness of pile associated with the old types of furnishing velvets, is generally favoured. A Charming Contrast In these interiors, with their rectangular forms, severely simple lines and absence of raised ornament, the fine flowing curves of great potteryjars, bowls of tinted glass, table lamps formed from an immense globe of silvered glass, and circular cushions, have the charm of strong contrast.. On the mantelpiece or on the top of chest and table the complication of half a dozen small ornaments would he ineffective aud out of place. A bowl filled with moulded fruit in cream-coloured crackled ware, flanked by a glass bottle in a rich shade of garnet, are strong enough to stand in opposition to bronze birds or oxidised metal goblets. A Time of Transition It is not only today that the battlo between old and new ideas in interior decoration has had to be waged. Every new form has had to fight for its life, and the only ones which will survive are those that really embody some fundamental change in our way of living. Changes in social life, new discoveries and inventions evolve conveniences aud comforts which were not within the compass of former generations. Lifts, electric light, fitted lavatory basins and baths are modifying the planning and building of houses; and the importation of new woods, plywoods -and veneers is altering the outward appearance of our furniture just as surely as in the days wheD cane for the high-backed Stuart chair I was first brought to Europe, aud its I comfort aud resilience triumphed over ; the redoubtable hardness of the oak ; seat. The present is undoubtedly an- : other time of transition in furniture i design aud the decorative arts, and : the new work which is noiv being pre- ; duced has much genuine merit to : commend it.