The Louis XIV. fashions are, again, wholly distinct; the mixture of Boule work and pietra dura with pure classic types or Gothic work would be a revolting medley, and this is what an eclectic room should not be. Louis XIV. fashions, however, go with Oriental work when well mixed, as the connoisseurs of his day knew how to mix them, 'magots a gros ventre de la tournure la plus neuve et la plus bouffonne,' say contemporaries, on every table and console, and lacquer cabinets on all sides. The gallant and mirthful designs of French porcelain agree with the general mood of haughty frivolity belonging to that time, and to no other. But porcelain should never be placed thoughtlessly in a hostile milieu. The rude surroundings of a rough or an indigent period do not correspond with those of an era of excessive luxury, however interesting both may be in their several styles. Modern Boule and pietra dura should only be mixed with the antique to point a wholesome moral; the style at its very best escaped vulgarity and frippery by its superb workmanship and laborious finish - the modern does not escape: it always betrays itself by its scamped, coarse inlaying, and hastily-cast, not hand-worked, mounts. The difference is clear on comparison.

On the other hand, eclecticism may go to greater lengths than this.

In either of the two first quoted eclectic rooms Sevres china would be completely out of place, for this belongs to a period outside the Renascence, while in the eighteenth-century room it is in perfect good taste. A room so eclectic as to admit Sevres may admit Minton, and such a room must not allow any one period to give it a cachet. It must associate objects avowedly because they are beautiful, never because they are consistent; and every modern object must be borne out by others of similar date to prevent any invidious comparisons. The room may then be made a capital background for the inhabitants; it should indeed aim at being nothing but a background. Then nothing will be inconsistent, not even big mirrors. A seventeenth-century screen may be used to isolate an Imperial Roman bust, a Sevres tazza may rest upon a modern Turkish cloth, an early Moorish secretaire may support an Indian box, Berlin and Worcester pots may mix discreetly with Flemish grey, Chinese hangings and Gothic tapestry, modern English curtains may hang beside the old bullion and velvet of a century ago, and sixteenth-century marble and oak may stand on nineteenth-century rush matting, and what a comfort it is if it may!