78 TRADITIONAL OR PERIOD STYLES IN FURNISHINGS
SELECTING PERIOD FURNISHINGS

No one should buy furniture merely because it is antique or
looks antique. Period furnishings should be regarded as having
two distinctly different values, historic and esthetic. Furnishings,
as well as architecture, sculpture, painting, clothing, and writing,
are historical records of the ideals and practices of the people who
produced them. Especially through their furniture are we able
to picture their more intimate, daily lives. The things they created
to supply their needs portray the character of the people and the
state of civilization of their time. All authentic furnishings have
historic value.

On the other hand, the esthetic value of period furnishings de-
pends upon fine relation of parts, well-designed and suitable orna-
ment, beautiful materials, good workmanship, and appropriate
finish. There are many persons whose esthetic sense is so confused
that they regard all old styles as beautiful and all new ones as ugly.
The home maker should realize that mere authenticity is not nearly
so important as beauty, except perhaps in a museum. Discrimina-
tion is as necessary in selecting period furniture as in selecting any
other type. Veneration for the traditional styles sometimes pre-
vents the proper critical analysis of their appearance.

It is usually advisable to buy correct reproductions of period
furniture in preference to the so-called adaptations, as the original
designs are usually the better. The furniture designer of today is
not likely to feel the inspiration which prompted the designer of
the original period, and his alterations may not be in sympathy with
the original idea, for he is influenced by the possibilities of modern
manufacturing and is aware of the great variety of design that is'
usable in an eclectic era.

However, period furniture must be revised enough to be com-
fortable if it is to be enjoyed. Although the traditional styles ful-
filled perfectly the requirements of their own time, the seating
furniture in particular must be upholstered to meet our standards
of comfort. The most difficult esthetic problem for the user of
traditional furniture is to select those pieces that have been modi-
fied to fit otir present-day needs and yet have lost none of their
beauty or character,