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THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
A large part of the furniture made under di-
THE ADAM STYLE OF DECORATION FOR PIANOS. rection
of the Adams was of mahogany and later
satinwood was much used for inlay work. Low
relief, sometimes of composition, was used as was
also braes ornaments and paintings by famous
The various French styles in decorative art would profit the piano case designer and the artists, to relieve the blankness of panels.
Those manufacturers who have been producing
have had their turn for a number of years in manufacturer of special pianos to keep in touch
American homes, possibly that treating of the with the work of these artists and produce in- pianos in Colonial design have perhaps uncon-
Empire period having been the most popular. struments that will fit into decorative schemes, sciously followed closely the Adam style of dec-
Now, however, English decoration, or, to be ex- in this style, as its use is certain to grow in favor, oration, for the Colonial is due more to the in-
fluence of that style than to any other. As a
plicit, the Adams style, holds sway to a remark- particularly for interior furnishings.
style it tends to relieve massiveness of appear-
ance by delicacy of ornamentation, and is there-
fore capable of relieving the air of heaviness of-
ten attached to a piano and causing it to conform
with the daintier details of an apartment.
Decorative works treating of the art in Eng-
land during the latter half of the eighteenth cen-
tury will be found to give explicit information
regarding the Adam brothers and their efforts
toward higher idealism decoration. So strong
was their influence that the later styles of the
Louis and even the Empire embody many fea-
tures originated by them, although Robert Adam
died in 1792, twelve years before Napoleon be-
came Emperor. We are indebted to the Decora-
tive Furnisher, New York, for the illustrations.
Practical Piano Men and Designers Can Glean Some Very Interesting Points from the Illus-
trations Shown Herewith and Which May be Adapted With Good Purpose to the Improve-
ment of Piano Case Architecture—Noted for Beauty and Simplicity.
BRINGS SUIT FOR $10,000 DAMAGES.
(Special to The Kevlew.)
Indianapolis, Ind., July 2, 1906.
Because she fell through an open door into
the elevator shaft of the Wulschner-Stewart Mu-
sic Co.'s store, Mrs. Sarah L. Morris declares
that she suffered permanent injuries to her back
and spinal column, for which she asks the Su-
perior Court to award her $10,000 damages
against the music house. She alleges in her
complaint filed last week that the accident oc-
curred October 12, 1904, while she was in the
store to make some purchases. It is stated that
she walked into a darkened portion of the sec-
ond floor room by direction of one of the com-
pany's employes and through the open door to
the elevator shaft.
A complaint is also filed by her husband, Mil-
ton A. Morris, based on the same accident, in
which he alleges that medical attendance and
nursing for Mrs. Morris have cost him $700. and
that he has been deprived of her society and
services. He demands judgment for $2,000.
AN ENGLISH VIEW OF THINGS.
(Special to The Review.)
Washington, D. C, July 2, 1906.
Consul Marshal Halstead, of Birmingham,
writes that in British mercantile and engineer-
ing circles they are sometimes mildly sarcastic
about the ease with which catalogues can be ob-
tained from American manufacturers, disclosing
designs and even giving best discounts. The
consul continues: "A friend of mine here, who
does an international business, in a conversation
the other day expressed surprise that an Ameri-
can manufacturer should send catalogues and
quote prices to a person writing from what was
obviously a private house, stating f hat a particu-
lar case had just come under his notice in which
the applicant was a designer in an English con-
cern making articles in competition with the
American firm. He gave me the name of the
firm, and I may say that I know that it has
profited much in the past by making copies of
American articles. My friend pointed out that
frequently in his business he had legitimately to
obtain illustrations and prices from manufactur-
ers in England, and that his application, where
it happens to be a first instance, is always an-
The Adam style is a derivative of the classic, swered by a personal call from one of the Eng-
able degree, for even when French influence was
at its height the styles were confined to in- as was also the Empire of later date, but the lish concern's travelers, the object being "to size
teriors, while only recently two houses have been work tended toward simplicity and refinement, him up" before quoting prices or letting him
built entirely after dwellings erected by the and was not of the bold and often egotistic order have a catalogue. He says he knows that if he
of the latter style. In their designs the Adam wrote on a private letter head or from a pri-
Adam brothers themselves.
Robert and James Adam were purely designers, brothers used to considerable extent the urn, the vate address to an English firm that not the
not cabinet makers and practical decorators, as laurel leaf, the riband and garland, as well as slightest notice would be taken of the applica-
were many of the other English style founders, the arabesque, the acanthus leaf and the ovai tion, and he added that he regarded the English
and the most attractive feature of their work paterae, which were also used by other decorators. treatment of a matter of this kind as business,
was in the harmony of details, even the door These features will be recognized in specimens and while publicity has many advantages, he
locks being designed in accordance with the gen- of the Adam brothers work, which we reproduce cannot believe it is good business to assist com-
eral treatment. It may be readily seen why it herewith, and are perfectly adaptable to pianos. petition."
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