FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   124   125   126   127   128   129   130   131   132   133   134   135   136   137   >>  
in high repute, and many worthy men have posed as amateurs. Indeed, there have been Royal gardeners, among the most familiar being Edward I and Queen Elizabeth. From Tudor times onward the once waste land in the immediate vicinity of castles and palaces was cultivated, and the gardens of the nobility along the Strand in London were full of beautiful stonework and statuettes. A writer in the sixteenth century, describing an English garden of his day, wrote: "Every garden of account hath its fish pond, its maze, and its sundials." Many fine old fountains or miniature fishponds remain, and sundials are among the curios associated with the outdoor life of the home. The garden houses of the eighteenth century included a bowling green or court, viewed from the terrace; and towards the end of that period many leaden figures were cast, the favourite being replicas of Roman statuary dedicated to such deities as Bacchus, Venus, Neptune, and Minerva. These lead statues have been collected by dealers during the last few years. Some of them are really very beautifully formed, although in many instances the wear and tear of a couple of centuries has covered them over with scratches and indentations. A few years ago lead statues received little consideration from their owners, and the children made them targets for stone-throwing. They are thought more of now, and at several recent sales lead statuettes and vases have sold for considerable sums. Sometimes ancient lead cisterns are seen outside old houses; many of these and even rain-water spout heads, beautifully moulded and cast, are among the household curios for which there is some call among collectors. The Mounting of Curios. A miscellaneous assortment of curios displayed without any regard to their proper setting has just the same effect as a badly framed picture, or a painting with an inappropriate frame. Sundry curios may be made to look charming when properly shown in a glass-topped table or a suitable case, their value as home ornaments being materially increased. Indeed, there are many beautiful objects which look nothing unless properly framed. The Wedgwood cameo gems so varied and so very minutely tooled require proper display; according to their colours so should they be arranged on a velvet or cloth background with an ample margin to separate them. A group of miniatures looks nothing unless in suitable setting or mount. Much of the beauty of old china is lost
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   124   125   126   127   128   129   130   131   132   133   134   135   136   137   >>  



Top keywords:
curios
 

garden

 

century

 
houses
 

setting

 

statuettes

 

statues

 

beautiful

 

proper

 

suitable


framed

 
properly
 

sundials

 
Indeed
 
beautifully
 

thought

 

collectors

 

throwing

 

targets

 

displayed


assortment

 

Curios

 

miscellaneous

 

Mounting

 

Sometimes

 
ancient
 

cisterns

 

moulded

 

recent

 

considerable


household

 

arranged

 
velvet
 

colours

 

minutely

 

varied

 

tooled

 

require

 

display

 

background


beauty
 
miniatures
 

margin

 

separate

 

inappropriate

 
painting
 

children

 
Sundry
 
picture
 

regard