Only Antique Styles: Modern Styles. Until the early 19th century, Europe had venerated only antique styles, but romanticism extended public interest to medieval and Renaissance styles as well. Although, in a purist spirit, 19th century designers sometimes attempted to re-create past styles authentically, they more often practiced eclecticism. They also had to compromise in their designs for an indus¬trialized art as the processes of production be¬came mechanized.
When very expensive antique or scenic wallpaper is used, the walls should always be covered in advance with muslin, and the paper glued to the fabric. This will permit removing the paper without tearing, if occasion for this should arise. Valuable wallpaper may be sized (covered with a coating of glue or gelatin) and then shellacked with white shellac. This protects the paper from dirt, dust, and finger marks and permits gentle washing with a damp rag. Care should be taken in applying the size to prevent the colors from running, as many wallpapers are printed with water-color or tempera paints that dissolve when liquids are used. The shellacking tends to give the paper a warm yellowish tone, gives it a slightly antique appearance, causes the colors to be more brilliant, and to be blended in a more harmonious effect.See Also Select An Antique Lamp:The rugged individualist, in which classification I have done 90 per cent of my traveling, works harder at his fun but he earns a great reward for his labors. A journey earned, by personal planning, is a journey kept, as a blue-chip investment in effort. To many planners it is "worth the pain," for the ecstatic pleasure of going where you want to go, seeing and doing what you want to see and do, unhampered by Tom Bender's in¬sistence on another afternoon in Harry's Bar and Mrs. Throckmorton's pleading that you help her select an antique lamp, is so axiomatic that it need not be dwelt upon here.
America. The early Lighting fixtures of the American colonies were of the simplest type. There were few experienced designers or metalworkers who could fashion a candleholder or oil lamp into any form surpassing functional needs, but the very lack of sophistication of design contributed
to the charm of the product. Candles were homemade and were a luxury. The oil lamp burning sperm oil, lard, and grease was, from the time of the earliest settlement, a popular colonial accessory. The early Betty-lamp hanging from the mantelshelf, and tracing its ancestry back to Egypt and Rome, burned a ready flame for the Lighting of candles, fires, or smokers' pipes. The Betty-lamp was made of iron or copper, and for Table use was later supported by an arm rising from a base. Iron and brass lanterns of little elegance were also common through the early years of the 18th century, and these were often fitted with transparent horn instead of glass. The farmer's home was usually equipped with small wooden shelves, brackets, or hanging beams as candle supports and a discarded wagon wheel, hung parallel to the ceiling, served as a chandelier.
On The Other Hand See Antique Legends:In the middle, between the girl and the Minotaur, there is a shying horse, frightened, with dilated nostrils, its body torn open, and its entrails bursting out. On its back there is the body of a fatally wounded female bull-fighter, with a bare breast, while on the left a bearded Christ figure is climbing up a ladder. Antique legends, the world of bull fights and Christian associations have been combined in an allegory which successfully eludes all attempts to find a meaning.
The composition of glass consists of sand or silica, plus various bases such as soda, potash, lime, or oxide of lead.
Nearly all antique glass forms were made by blowing while the glass was hot, soft, and malleable. When blown to the required shape, each piece was placed on an iron rod called a pontil. After cooling, it was removed from the pontil, and there remained a roughness known as the pontil mar where it had rested on the rod. The age of glass may be judged by this mark; the rougher or larger the pontil mark, the older Is the piece of glass,
Glass is never perfectly transparent. It is always slightly tinted, although the tint is sometimes only visible to the expert. Colored glass is produced by the addition of a metallic oxide to its composition. Glass, when struck, should ring clearly with a long, diminishing sound. Very old glass is usually heavy and does not have a continuous ring. Antique glass is very often covered with invisible scratches.
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