The Architecture of Colonial AmericaEberlein, Harold Donaldson
History
The Architecture of Colonial America
Eberlein, Harold Donaldson
Architecture -- United States; Architecture, Colonial
to be found round-headed arched doorways with double doors and the arch,
either round or flattened, appears in various forms from time to time
while the fluted or carved or turned key block, in sundry curious
varieties, appears at the centre of arches and also in other places. The
key block practically disappears in the second phase of Georgian. The
arch also loses its prominence and we find more straight lines. Indeed,
during the second or more distinctly Palladian phase of Georgian we
scarcely find the arch at all in domestic architecture except in the
middle member of the Palladian window or in the lights over house doors.
One might go on almost indefinitely tabulating characteristic details
that belong essentially to the first Georgian phase but enough has been
said to direct attention to the general aspect and to enable an
observant person to differentiate it from the others.
Of the second Georgian phase in New England we could not desire a better
or more thoroughly typical example than the Lee house in Marblehead,
erected in 1768. It is the embodiment of robust and yet agreeably
proportioned classicality. The mouldings and cornices have lost the
ponderosity of proportion that was observable in many of the houses of
earlier type. The placing of ornamental detail is far more carefully
considered and governed with a reasonable restraint. Interesting as
some of the earlier examples of door treatment were for their very
exuberance of fancy and their vigour, they were, nevertheless, a trifle
awkward when compared with a well designed and better balanced doorway
of a subsequent date. When acanthus leaves, rosettes or other decorative
_motifs_ are introduced, it is in a thoroughly well mannered way that
leaves nothing to be desired regarding proportion or propriety of
placing. The spiral baluster spindles on the staircase of the Lee house
are exceptionally fine and worthily represent the style of baluster
turning and carving that belongs especially to this middle period.
In the banquet hall the overmantel presents an unusually fine specimen
of the wood-carver’s art. The great panel, with dog-ear corners and
Flemish scroll supports, is flanked by two pendants of fruit, flowers
and leaves carved with all the delicacy and intricate finish of the
school of Grinling Gibbon. It is more elaborate, of course, than most of
the interior carving found in the second Georgian phase but it is
typical in that it is better disciplined than the earlier efforts in the
same direction which were often inclined to be crude. The interior
cornices are more refined in detail and not so bold in contour as
formerly. The egg and dart _motif_ becomes common and other ornamental
details are used in an understanding way and in their conventional
forms, whereas at an earlier period they were not always historically
correct, though often ingenious, nor were they invariably well placed.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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