SHIP DECORATION

Evening Post, Volume CIX, Issue 74, 28 March 1930, Page 4

SHIP DECORATION

THE MODERNIST STYLE

USE OF KAE-E WOODS

The problems of ship furnislnng--and decoration are very similar those which present themselves in the equipment of a large hotel. ' They are, however, very much more acute, and their solution calls for the careful weighingup of several conflicting factors. It was the tendency a very short timo ago to emulate the hotel furnisher by making the public rooms and suites of a liner as luxurious and as palatial as possible (writes Leslie Lewis' in. the "Shipping World"). But qtte'jt(eeqmes weary of the stately pomp of a~inagnificent hotel. This factor, however, is not of such importance to the hotelier ns it is to the steamship company, since the population of a hotel is continually in a state of flux, whereas a liner-may carry its guests for anything fromvfive days to five weeks. '*<-■' COMBINATION PERIOD FURNISHING-. It is therefore necessary to give to the liner's^artiiients a more homely (though still luxurious):; -atmosphereone in which it is.possiblejtalivo for a considerable tim'o^wjthour becoming weary of the general scheme .of furnishing and deco*Ki»K Thle-taj-been done in several ways;-but by far the most interesting has been ..the clever mingling of two or /.three different period styles. The old plan-was to furnish one apartment throughout iv one style—Tudor, Que'en^uuc, or Adam. This made for a set and formal appearance which created monotony m the minds of the liner's guests. Now, however, shipping companies adopt as many aa five different period styles in One apartment. This was particularly noticeable, for instance, in the first-class smoke room of the P. and 0. turbo-elec-tric liner Viceroy of India, the furnishing and decoration 'of which was influenced by Queen Anne, Louis XVI., .and Hepplewhite, as well as certain .architectural features reminiscent pfrthe Greek and Pompeian periods. ■ 1-j , : ; . Such an admixture of periods rMB,t: oe: planned with the utmost care and discrimination. Certain of the ' classic styles would clash abominably with oile another; otherß, on the other hand, blend admirably, and it will be found, as a generalrule, that periods which-im-mediately precede or succeed onS other are those which canibe cotnbjiied to the best advantage. The rsas6n;foi' this, of course, is that no style- of-fur-niture or decoration was ever conceived on the inspiration of the moitneiit,: but was formed by the adoptioßf^and,,a3aptation of features of the ,isss£gtjrhich, went before. u'o3~£' INTERNATIONAL ST^DBB. Then, there is to be cortsid'eYed the cosmopolitan nature of a ship's passenger list. If a. ship's' passenger list consisted o£ or. entirely,-O.C Americans, jofie: would feel safe iUf.^i&WWs«iib&;;apar-^§nts, } n > say, Ctiipjiendalo.-! orv;American Colonial style. r^J>ut ihje; passenger list-will almost cii.t4Jß]y,J!Wnprisev.tUß. citizens pf ten or tw,elye,vn,at|PPS'. . With, this fact' in vie^f, tfi^shjp furnisher or the furnishing superintendent ",of ..jj," shipping company has borrowed from' the period styles of countries other than his own. He has gone to Italy, to Germany, to France, and eveu as far away as Japan for his ijispiiation,~and.jno:i.as_mmglod •with skill, good taste, and discernment, features of tho furnishing styles «f these different countries in one apartment. Here we have a scheme which prevents .mpnotony..,attd,is..^Mbfl..same time cal'ctffalS^;s^wp"iKsT"a;-.lt6mely character . : (and it must not be thought that "hofeely" implies poverty or lack of luxury^trj every passenger.

THB MODERNIST MODE,

The modernist movement in furniture and decoration, which is the most important development that has taken place in home or ship equipment .during the last century, satisfies both .t.h'6 needs that have been set out. .^he movement, which has created."?* style of furniture and deeoratioiii-sthat it is believed will eventually .^fank with the great period styles of£ tho past, has spread from Germans^ and France to practically every country in the world. It is an international'style that has received different interpretations indifferent countries, but;|jyhich retains" the basic principles of design and colour. It is only natural t%t the modernist style should be adopted in ship •'urnishing, and one of the first successes was the He de France. The new P. and 0. liners have adopted a restrained modern style which is wholly effective. The Bremen and the Kungsholm are more recent examples of the adoption of this Bew style. One of the most interesting features of the 20th century mode has beenjthe introduction of new and in some ?in-: stances hitherto unknown woods for ship furnishing and decoration. Among these now woods is macassar ebony, which with other woods was used for the very effective panelling of the firstelass smoke room in the Bremen. This wood is very dark in colour but has a lighter, boldly marked grain. Other woods which have recently been introduced into ship equipments are amboyna, reddish .brown with a large variety of figurings, sometimes strongly streaked, ands-with very v,beautiful burrs and knotepjpadpuk, a Site,dark rich wood, hard, cl^e-g^ained, and wth good figure; thuya),-..ye110wI;;;i?hestnnt':in colour, with a <very smallypattenxed and curly figure; and zebrano,' oif'a biscnit shade with dark, boldly defined stripes. At least five descriptions of walnut are also used in some of the latest ship's iurnishings. CUBISM AND AFTERWARDS; There are two features of the new style which call for special reference. .When the movement first started it waß really based upon the work of Picasso, who is credited with the invention of cubism. The furniture, therefore, took npon itself straight. Klines and sharp angles. Even now one hears the opinion expressed that the modern style is composed entirely of straight lines. But that is not so, for the style has be.en considerably modified during the last "three or four years, and we now seertlifr^itttroduction of enrves and straight lines used in conjunction with ene 'another, and in this way adding greatly to the beautiful appearance and to', the realisation of comfort in chairs and other furniture. The other feature has been the introHnetion of lower furniture. This movement really originated in England, and it is interesting to see how closely Germany has copied this idea. At a recent exhibition of chairs in Stuttgart the Only low chairs, were of f .Engffsh7make, and the Germans^/expressed themselves as being considerably impresged with this development.' The 'sequeiyls perhaps to be seen in'the mo^t recent'«f the German liners,, muchi'iji wfrijse ffeniture and equipment is, built/on very low lines—and is'a'll the Hior^comfortttble, practicable, and beautiful for that reason. The nse of cane furniture on board Eners cannot be described as a new tendency. But one sees an increasing use of this material, not only for deck nse, and for winter gardens, but for ttany of t^|"public apartments. Restaurants, t'^a-rtoms, and nurseries particularly haye adopted cane wholeheartedly. advantages, among-which' must be mentioned its lightness (and therefore its ease of ttobility), its stability when of the pest qnality, its safety in anything ap-

proaching rough weather (and this applies particularly to the nurseries which are such an important feature of all modern liners, if the adults are to enjoy the voyage in peace and comfort), and, lastly, the way in which this furniture can be sprayed with a special solution which make* it impervious to sea spray and rain. These are a few of the new tendencies iv the furnishing and decoration of the modern liner, and they are tendencies which, if adopted with discrimination between 'that which may be a permanency and that which may be a passing whim of fashion, are, calculated to improve immeasurably the accommodation of passenger-carrying ships.