BRASS FASHION REVIVES

Radio Record, Volume X, Issue 7, 28 August 1936, Page 54

BRASS

FASHION

REVIVES

(By

EDNVA

LIVERSED GL.)

FASHION is always borrowing ideas from the past-witness .. leg-of-mutton sleeves and poke bonnets!. Our up-to-the-minute ideas for home de-' coration, too-those screens covered with old flower prints, for instanceare only a return to the day before yesterday. A few. years ago, there was a craze for period furniture, particularly of the heavy Jacobean style. Gate-leg tables were popular then, not glass-topped ones with an operating theatre air! Now that the first excitement over the modern movement has died down, people have rediscovered the Regency period with its subtle refinements on earlier styles, Good-mannered, light and graceful, Regency furniture has a charm all its

own, But the wise ones are those who do

not let any period dominate their decorative sclemes. In one room I know, there are modern arm-chairs, a Regency table, and a Sheraton book-case-in fact, a medley of periods, yet all at one with each other. ‘Another revival is the brass table. "At one time, silyer went on the ‘side‘board, china in a cabinet, and brass pieces were displayed on a small table. If you wish, you can make your brass table a display of a small collection of a particular: kind of brass. Some people collect snice boxes. These

bright old pieces have a draw-ing-room elegance and might have come straight out of a Jane Austen interior. Dutch snuff boxes-see the bottom left-hand _ pictureform another brass table collection. . Intricately engraved with quaint pictures, these fascinating pieces make a brave show. ' ' Box is a misnomer. It conjures up something uncompromisingly square, But these caskets, to give spice boxes a —

more fitting name, are of any shape that the inventive Eastern minds of their makers were pleased to followslim cylinders, bulbous, flat octagonals and ovals. The tones of their brass range from the browny gun-metal kind to clearest yellow. Nearly all have air-tight lids. ; In the picture at the top of the page you see a mixed collection of curios-a brass lizard, jackals, and apostle spoons, with a beautiful old foot-warmer as a centre piece. Bright ‘contributions to any lounge or drawing room, it is simple to keep these happy things at theiy brightest and best. They quickly respond to the kind treatment of a :modern liquid metal polish. Brasso is excellent, bringing up a glorious shine quickly and easily. But there is no need to confine all your brass to the brass table-nothing -else compares with either copper or brass when it comes to the gentle art of making houses into homes. For every room and corner in the house, these bright metals can furnish some appropriate piece. A .gong to set sunny reflections dancing down a dim hall. Slim, graceful candlesticks to lend dignity and grace to a diningroom mantelpiece. A fiery copper measure .: to make summer’s flowers seem even more beautiful: ’ Many old- pieces have survived to make gay the homes of to-day, These genuine antiques are surprisingly low in price, and reproduction pieces are even more moderate. You will find a glorious selection of both old and new designs at most furnishing shops-sun-shine’ unlimited!