Plinth

“ It is a monolith of rose-coloured marble, square in plan, consisting of a pedestal with cornice, plinth and base, supporting a crowning part rising on the same plan, terminating in an architectural feature which has now disappeared. On the principal façade the top piece bears a circular wreath enclosing two portrait busts, in relief, that of the man only being completed, the features of the woman are not chiselled. The plinth has a garland suspended from the cornice, below which the surface is divided vertically for two inscriptions; that of the man only is filled up. ”

“ The brickwork is so much worn away, that the measures of the arches are not easily ascertainable, but those of the plinth on which they 38 stand, which is nearly uninjured, may be obtained accurately. ”

“ It is to be found besides the text given above, as far as I am aware, only two drawings of the Uffizi Collection, where in one instance, it indicates the abacus of a Doric capital.]
765.
STEPS OF URRBINO. The plinth must be as broad as the thickness of the wall against which the plinth is built. [Footnote: See Pl. CX No. 3. The hasty sketch on the right hand side illustrates the unsatisfactory effect produced when the plinth is narrower than the wall.]
766.
The ancient architects ...... beginning with the Egyptians (?) ”

“ The withdrawing-room to the south of the hall is richly wainscoted in carved oak, with a recessed window containing a fixed settle and a step leading down to a genuine cosy-corner. There are some who believe our ancestors had no idea of comfort; but picture this fine old room in the winter, with blazing logs upon the fantastic fire-dogs, the warm red light playing upon the various armorial carvings of the frieze, and the quaint little oriel window half-cast in shadow. ”

“ The repairs are now nearly completed; and the interior of this chapter-house gave me the first idea, anywise adequate, of the splendor of these Gothic church edifices. The roof is sustained by one great central pillar of polished marble,—small pillars clustered about a great central column, which rises to the ceiling, and there gushes out with various beauty, that overflows all the walls; as if the fluid idea had sprung out of that fountain, and grown solid in what we see. ”

“ It is divided into ornamental panels, enclosing wreaths and festoons, and round the room is a boldly moulded and richly decorated oak frieze. In the centre of the side opposite the windows is a massive and elaborately designed oak chimney-piece, reaching up to the ceiling. The pillars, and mouldings, and panels, and, indeed, every part of this fine example of ancient Art, are elaborately carved with arabesques and foliage; the mouldings and cornices being likewise richly carved with grotesque figures and other characteristic ornaments. ”

“ Every available spot or space has some feature of beauty—coffered ceiling, embossed column, sculptured surface, carved bracket and beam, silver-capped pendant, gold-sheathed pillar-neck and beam-crossing, gilded roof-crest and terminal, painted mural space, lacquered door, recesses crowded with elaborate carvings, gates rich with sculptured diapers and arabesques and deeply chiselled panels—the catalogue is endless. ”

“ On all hands the walls, from ceiling to floor, were hidden by rich silken curtains, hanging in deep purple folds, displaying a profusion of bright hued woven patterns, both splendid and barbaric. The floor was carpeted by a soft thick rug, as brilliant as the wall drapes. The two chairs were hidden under similar drapes, the small square table covered by a mantle of deep blue and gold which fell to the floor. Beyond all of this the solitary bit of furnishing was the object on the table whose oddity caught and held his eye ”

“ As a rule such a room has one rug straight along in front of the fireplace, another straight in front of the window or windows, while the rest are placed in the same painful positions by the door and by the wall opposite the fire, in a manner which makes me long, no matter where I may be, to oust the furniture on the instant, and to put those rugs myself in the manner in which they should most certainly go. ”

“ We would call attention to the heavy moulding of ceilings, the walls painted in panels (painted panels or wall paper to represent panels, is a Victorian hallmark) , beautifully hand-carved woodwork, elaboration of design and colon carpet, woven in one piece for the room; in fact the characteristic richness of elaboration everywhere: Pictures in gilded carved frames, hung on double silk cords with tassels, heavily carved furniture made in England, showing fruits, flowers and medallion heads, and a similar elaboration and combination of flora and figures on bronze gas fixtures. ”

“ Ascending the broad flight of steps and crossing the terrace, the house door is entered. A spacious hall, paved with delicately-grained marble, its windows mellowed by the soft tints of stained glass, whose pervading hues are of rose and violet, gives entrance to reception rooms on either side. Those on the right-hand are mostly reserved for state occasions; those on the left are dedicated to common use. ”

“ On the heavily flowered wall hangs a handsome specimen of the "glass" (invariably found in England) for forecasting the weather; a "pianoforte," as piquantly old-fashioned as a cocked hat, crosses one end wall; and venerable paintings (which time has mellowed to the richness and the general color effect of an old plug of tobacco) , bright sporting prints, and antique oddities of furniture to an extent that it would require a catalogue to name, all combine to give an air of true sitting-room opulence to the chamber. ”

“ Through this railing, generally of an elegant form, is discovered a delicious vista, in which are visible, fountains, white marble colonnades, pomegranate and sweet lemon-trees, sofas and chairs (if in summer) , and two or three steps of a porcelain staircase.
You now first appreciate the utility of the more than plain exteriors of the houses of this town; and you admire an invention, which adds to the already charming objects, composing the interior of these miniature palaces, a beauty still greater than that which they actually possess, lent by the effect of contrast. ”

“ The gray wall-paper with its flecked gold flower, the curved lines of the sedately ornamental chairs and sofas, the crisp yet faded chintzes, the wedded vases on the marble mantelpiece, the books, well worn, on stands, the group of family silhouettes on the wall, the cheerful floral carpet—all made a picture curiously unlike the early nineties, and fully characteristic of the sixties. ”

“ Round this unique room runs an oak paneling of about five feet in height, surmounted by a ledge, now decorated with trails of ivy, and above the oak cupboards are panels representing a boar hunt, and worth, it is said, a fabulous sum. But the glory of the room is the mantelpiece, reaching to the roof. It was probably once an altar piece, as the centre panel represents the Crucifixion. Two busts—one of Queen Elizabeth, the other of the Earl of Leicester—frown down on you from a great height, and do not please you half as well as a bronze Venus of Milo [Pg 71] below. ”

“ A room with gilded cornices and hand-painted roof, carpets soft as cushions, furniture as chaste and refined as modern art could produce, servants in livery to wait on them, and a supper-table laid out with viands the most tempting, and wines from every part of the world. ”

“ The rugs, frieze, wainscoting or dado, furniture upholsterings and the curtain borders should be related. (See ¶ 49.)
55. If the curtains have no borders, then the curtains contrast with the wood trims.
56. Remember always cove and ceiling should be the palest tint of the side-wall color, and the rug should be of the deepest contrast to the side-wall, in harmony with the wainscoting, if there is a wainscoting. Remember, also, that the colors here prescribed are never to be of the same scale. The rug or carpet is of the deepest, and the ceiling of the palest. ”

“ The big doorway opened into a proportionately great hall hung with brown. The roof was in shadow, and the windows, partially glazed with coloured glass and partially unglazed, admitted a tempered light. The floor was made up of huge blocks of some very hard white metal, not plates nor slabs—blocks, and it was so much worn, as I judged by the going to and fro of past generations, as to be deeply channelled along the more frequented ways. ”

“ The banqueting hall of the house is situated over the gateway, and is a fine room lighted by a mullioned window, and containing some good and very ancient oak carving and panelling, and also some beautiful tapestry. Unfortunately the high pitched roof of open timber–work has been covered by a plaster ceiling. ”

“ The floor was covered with a green silken carpet, and the room had twelve high windows in golden frame-work: in each window a virgin was painted on crystal glass in the loveliest rainbow colours, with a royal crown on her head, and in each window was also another upon a different ground, but each was more beautiful than the other, so that the prince was quite dazzled. ”

“ Each story is built of strong timbers, the ceilings are adorned with paintings, and the light comes in through latticed windows. Every roof is covered by tiles of delicately painted porcelain, and the whole elegant, fairy-like structure is a wonder of architecture. ”

“ This is, in short, to say that although the plaster decoration of the “Globe Room” is fine, it is neither so intrinsically fine, nor so original above all others, that it deserves so great an honour. The really supremely fine feature of the room is the beautiful Jacobean panelling in oak, now almost coal-black with age, covering the walls from floor to ceiling, and designed and wrought in unusually thorough and bold style. ”

“ The foot falls upon the softest of carpets; quaint shadows, from stained-glass windows are flitting and dancing on the frescoed ceiling; curtains of finest brocade, enveloped in lace, fall cloud-like down the windows. The borderings are of amber-colored satin, and heavy cornices, over which eagles in gilt are perched, surmount the whole. Pictures no artist need be ashamed of decorate the walls, groups in bronze and Parian, stand on pedestals between the windows, and there is a regal air about the furniture, which is of the most elaborate workmanship. ”

“ The carpet, the curtains, the wall-paper, the chintz covers, the cold fire-place, send forth odours urgent to attract attention, as soon as the door opens. They are so seldom seen that they will be smelt. ”

“ The low-pitched, old-fashioned rooms, with the mullioned windows, the deep embrasures, the great open, stone-slabbed hearths, with their andirons and dog-grates, the walls panelled with carved linen-fold oak, darkened by age alone and polished to a dull, glossy glow by hands that would work no more. ”

“ In a great room with a beamed ceiling and oak paneled walls a painted fresco or a frieze of tapestry or some fine fabric is a very fine thing, especially if it has a lot of primitive red and blue and gold in it, but in simple rooms—beware! ”

“ Above, and set back rather from the face of the doorway, is a rose window, the very rich traceries of which are arranged in intersecting equilateral triangles; over it is a crocketed pediment, with tracery in the spandrels and on either side, and flanked by pinnacles. Every portion of the wall is panelled or carved. ”

“ Like a mural mosaic, an Eastern carpet, or the enamelled goldsmith's work of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, a truly decorative window has no affinities with a picture, a scene or landscape gazed at from an open window, where the interest concentrates itself upon a particular point, and where the illumination is not equally diffused throughout. ”

“ Opening one of these doors at the rear—the quietest part of the house—we find ourselves in a large room, the stone floor of which is covered with rich rugs, while tiles ornamented with bright pictorial designs, or mottoes, cover the walls. ”

“ From the floor of the chancel the flying ribs of the roof seem sections of delicate enameled work. The farther away one stands the more perfect the illusion becomes, to the point where the designs lose their identity. ”

“ There is no mistake about their being interior. They are like furnished vaults. The red-tiled, polished floor in the drawing-room seems cold and clammy, the carved, cold furniture stands in its tomb, the air has been darkened and starved to death, it is perished. ”

“ If one enters a room in which true proportion has been observed, where the openings, the doors, windows and fireplace, balance perfectly, where the wall spaces are well planned and the height of the ceiling is in keeping with the floor-space, one is immediately convinced that here is a beautiful and satisfactory room, before a stick of furniture has been placed in it. ”

“ Passing under the archway into the Ball Room, you step immediately on to a very beautiful parquetry floor, and get a clear view of the pretty lawn and terraces, from windows facing—windows handsomely curtained in cream and gold. Ceiling and walls alike are splendidly decorated in relief, showing musical and armorial designs; the furniture, settees, and chairs to match with those in the Throne Room. ”

“ Three or four pictures will adorn the clean white-washed walls, and two lamps, cased in silver, will be hanging from a roof in which all the naked beams are to be seen, with here and there a straggling cobweb. The floor, like that of all the rest of the rooms, will be paved with red tiles, its cleanliness depending upon the civilization of its owner. ”

“ Noble chandeliers of the most elegant design hang down the middle, the arches in the ceiling are animated with figures of nymphs and cupids, with gardens and terraces, and the portico furnishing is rich and solid, and in the most exquisite taste. ”

“ And a very dainty little room it was, with pale blue-tinted walls and light woodwork, soft mull curtains looped back with pale blue ribbons, the brass bed, satin-wood dresser, writing desk, and chairs, and the little bookcase from her playroom. ”