Design and Tradition: A short account of the principles and historic development of architecture and the applied artsFenn, Amor
History
Design and Tradition: A short account of the principles and historic development of architecture and the applied arts
Fenn, Amor
Architecture; Art; Decoration and ornament; Decoration and ornament -- History
The license that is permissible in ornament, particularly of the purely
conventional type, when it may be compelled in any direction and fitted
into any space that is desirable from a decorative point of view, is not
possible where the human or animal form is concerned. This adds to the
consideration, as natural attitude and proportions are obligatory if
consistency has to be observed.
The problem in certain shaped areas affords little latitude, in
particular the triangular spandril where the invariable device of wings
or floating drapery is as insistent as the head of King Charles in the
memorial of Mr. Dick.
_Forms in the Round_
Forms in the round--such that can be seen from any point of view--need
special treatment. Height may appear normal, but the details round the
surface will be materially affected by the rotundity. Thus a vase of
varying contour might have its surface divided by a series of vertical
lines, any one of which, seen from a point of view exactly opposite,
would appear straight, whereas those approaching the profiles would
appear curved proportionately to the sectional curvature.
[Illustration: No. 220. Effect of Perspective of Vertical Division.]
Perspective also affects the vertical appearance more or less according
to the profile curvature, and in decoration, for bodies that are
bulbous in form, the foreshortening and its effect on details must be
taken into consideration so as to avoid undesirable distortion.
_Supports and Balusters_
Other forms in the round that may be considered are supports for
furniture, balusters and lamp-post standards. Furniture supports and
balusters are invariably in the form of tapered or vase-shaped shafts,
and the divisions may be in accordance with the proportions previously
suggested. Appropriate mouldings are used to decorate the shaft. When in
wood, these forms are either partly or wholly turned, and in this case
may be further decorated by carved work. In supports, the general
tendency of the details should be in the vertical direction so as to
enhance the structural suggestion.
[Illustration: No. 221. Jacobean Baluster, Carved Wood, showing Vertical
and Horizontal Contrast.]
_Standards_
In the treatment of standards it is not so necessary to emphasise the
element of support, and the diameter or lateral dimensions can vary to a
greater degree. Whether the standards are fixtures or movable, as in
interior fittings, there must be a base that will not only be adequate
but will convey the idea of stability. In the case of portable standards
the tripod form of base is possibly the most suitable, but when the
standard is small the base can be circular, square or polygonal. The
commonest form is a shaft, which is frequently tapered. This is
supported on a bulbous or vase-shaped form arising out of the base. At
the upper end of the shaft is a capital of some kind. These different
parts are held together by appropriate mouldings.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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