ABSTRACT
This chapter takes swipes at contemporary furniture design and makes appeals for utility, simplicity and common sense in furniture design as opposed to meretricious ornament for its own sake. A great sheet of looking-glass is in itself a handsome object; and the meaning of a “frame” is to preserve the edges; it is, therefore, subsidiary – it should be broad and handsome, and be strong enough to answer its purpose. A “city madam” furnishing her splendid mansion, selects, of course, some of those vast mirrors whose frames are overlaid with scrolls and twisted horns, an extraordinary mélange of crooks and curves, which has been the traditional way of making such a mirror look magnificent. A simple following the shape of the glass, with carving on the surface, will have a richness and massiveness of effect that will eclipse innumerable square feet of twists and curves.
