ation everywhere: Pictures in gilded carved
frames, hung on double silk cords with tassels, heavily carved
furniture made in England, showing fruits, flowers and medallion
heads, and a similar elaboration and combination of flora and
figures on bronze gas fixtures.

Heavy curtains of satin damask hung at the windows, held back by
great cords and tassels, from enormous brass cornices in the form
of gigantic flowers.

Also of the period is an immense glass case of stuffed birds,
standing in the corner of the large dining-room. This interior
was at the height of its glory at the time of the Civil War, and
one is told of wonderful parties when the uniforms of the
Northern officers decorated the stately rooms and large shaded
gardens adjoining the house.

As things go in New York it may be but a matter of months before
this picturesque landmark is swept away by relentless Progress.

[Illustration: _Part of a Victorian Parlour in One of the Few
Remaining New York Victorian Mansions_]

CHAPTER XXIV

THE VICTORIAN PERIOD

Gradually architecture and interior decoration drew apart, becoming
two distinct professions, until during the Victorian era the two were
unrelated with the result that the period of Victorian furniture is
one of the worst on record.

There were two reasons for this divorce of the arts, which for
centuries had been one in origin and spirit; first, the application of
steam to machinery (1815) leading to machine-made furniture, and
second, the invention of wall-paper which gradually took the place of
wood panelling and shut off the architects from all jurisdiction over
the decoration of the home.

With the advent of machine-made furniture came cheap imitations of
antiques and the rapid decadence of this art. Hand-made reproductions
are quite another thing. Sir Richard Wallace (of the Wallace
Collection, London) is said to have given $40,000 for a reproduction
of the _bureau du Louvre_.

Fortunately, of late years a tide has set in which favours simple,
well made furniture, designed with fine lines and having special
reference to the purposes for which each piece is intended, and to-day
our houses can be beautiful even if only very simple and inexpensive
furniture is used.

In the Victorian prime, even the carved furniture, so much of which
was made in England both for that country and the United States (see
Plate X