The Importance of Artificial Light as a Part of a Scheme of Interior Decoration - A Brief History - Period Styles - Arrangement - Colors and Materials of Shades.

Candles

In artistic effect the artificial lighting of our homes has also kept step with the ups and downs in the history of furniture. In the eighteenth century and before, in that period of furniture making which has rightly been named the "golden age," candles were the only means of illumination. The homes of that time were beautiful with their exquisite furniture placed in surroundings of the same general style, and lighted at night by candles which are without doubt the most charming and poetic of all forms of lighting. In these houses of our forefathers there was in each large room usually one chandelier of exceptional beauty designed to hold a double row of candles distributed in groups, suspending myriads of crystal pendants which caught the light and reflected it into the darkest corner. The eye, however, was never held by it, for around the room, in well-considered places, were brackets holding other candles, and on the mantelpiece and tables were also numerous candelabra and candlesticks. In this way there was a general distribution of illuminating mediums which even in their utility formed harmonious and component parts of the * room, essential to the scheme of decoration and adding symmetry and balance to the whole arrangement. At the same time each fixture gave individual pleasure as a work of artistic design.

Oil Lamps

The next phase in the history of our lighting medium was the introduction of the oil lamps. Sometimes these lamps were beautiful and sometimes they were not, but the chief interest in them was not in their design but in their utility. They gave so much better light than candles, it was so much easier to read or to sew by their light, that they were used with thankfulness as a great comfort. The very fact that they were considered objects of use rather than objects of ornament was conducive to a certain amount of beauty, however. The lines of utility are usually simple and show the structural form, and this in itself is a long step toward the beautiful. Any object which is severely plain, having no decoration at all, is more harmonious than the same object ornamented in such a way as to conceal its real use. The first oil lamps were without shades, but reading lamps with plain white opaque or green shades were soon introduced and generally used. At night, when one of these reading lamps was placed upon the table it spread a circle of light and warmth, a glow of cozy friendliness which was akin to the spirit of the open hearth fire and rivaled in its charm the more aesthetic appeal of the former candlelight.

Gas

People were so interested at this time in the comfort and efficiency of light that they did not seem to realize the value of the lamp as conducive to the homelike atmosphere, and so welcomed with great joy the introduction of gas as a lighting medium. Lamps were banished and were replaced by blazing gas jets, suspended by brass chandeliers from the center of the ceiling in each room. The light given by this means was usually very poor, and exceedingly hard to read or sew by, but it was a great labor-saving device and improvement, and no house of any importance was considered up to date without a gas lighting system. Candles were almost completely discarded by this time and lamps were found only in the poorest homes in the city or in the country where gas was not available. Even on the farms the craze for gas became so great that acetylene plants were introduced, which, though often dangerous and inefficient, did seem to be an improvement over oil lamps.