CHAPTER V.
FIRE AND WATER
ERHAPS the part of any room
which is most often taken out of, or
put beyond the decorative hands of
its owner, is the fireplace. And
yet, though it is one of the most
salient features in any English dwelling, it is,
nine cases out of ten, the most repulsively
ugly. When one thinks either of the imitation
marble mantelpiece, or its cotton velvet and of
false-lace-bedizened shelves, the artistic soul cannot
refrain from a shudder. The best which can be
hoped from an ordinary modern builder is that
he will put in harmless grates and mantelpieces,
and abstain from showy designs. The fireplace
in either bedroom or boudoir should not be too
large, nor yet small enough to give an air of
stinginess, out of proportion to everything else.
Here are two (Figs. 11 and 14). The design of
