No_6_September_and_October__1950 — Page 45

INTERIOR DECORATION

The art of interior decoration js one of

immense importance to the building industry. The qualifications of the interior decorator must be of a wide and varied nature. First and foremost, he must be an artist with a taste for colour and arrangement, a sense of proportion, and a feeling for atmosphere. He must also be a practical person with a practical training. He must know a great deal about fabrics. about timbers, about paint, about glass and about a hundred and one odd materials which go into the building of a house and with which he can work to beautify and embellish the home.

Interior decoration work, as a specialised enterprise, has not made much headway in Hong Kong. The reasons for this may be found partly in the severity of the climate, particularly during the damp season, which has a deteriorating effect on so many materials, and partly to the reluctance of our local residents to invest more in their buildings than is absolutely necessary. Then, too, the creation of a demand depends upon example and emulation, and, since so few homes in the Colony have had the benefit of planned artistic treatment, there has been no encouragement for the individual to improve on the commonplace dullness that is the ordinary accepted standard for Hong Kong.

We, however, feel that there is a definite undercurrent of dissatisfaction in this state of affairs amongst Hong Kong's householders and that the desire for brightening and beautify- ing the home is as strong here as anywhere else. In order to assist and encourage this feeling we plan to tap every avail- able source of information on the subject in the Colony, and In a series of articles intend to make this information available to our readers.

Rattan furniture is particularly suited to the climate and conditions found in Hong Kong and lends itself to some very attractive decorative effects that can be used both for the interior of the house and for outdoor furnishing of terraces and verandahs.

Rattan is grown in tropical countries, in the East Indies, in Malaya, and in the Philippine Islands. It belongs to the species of a climbing palm, genus calamas. It has no joints, is solid, strong and flexible. It is not cultivated, but thrives naturally in the jungles. In natural growth, it has a beautiful colour of vivid green with snake design in different shades of reddish brown. Unfortunately this colouring cannot be pre- served after the plant is cut and dried, as it loses its beautiful tints during the processing it undergoes to prepare it for domestic use.

Rattan must not be confused with bamboo, as bamboo is a gigantic hollow reed with solid joints, and cracks and splinters when being worked owing to its lack of flexibility.

In the past few decades the rattan industry has made great progress. With modern design and finish, rattan is adaptable for furniture making because of its lightweight, its suppleness, its hardness and its porosity. Its palm fibres give rattan a greater tensile strength than any hardwood.

For use in the better grade of furniture, rattan is peeled of its natural covering, cut to required lengths and sandpapered. After the sandpapering process, it is ready for bending and shaping into the many articles which can be made from it. To facilitate bending, it is heated by means of a blow torch. Standard profiles are used on which to curve the rattan, which can be bent into surprisingly small arcs, but usually not less than 4′′ radius.

After moulding into required shape, the rattan is tied with rattan "split", which is made by cutting the rattan core by hand. Before tying, the "split" is thoroughly wetted as when it dries it shrinks and binds the various sections with a firm strong grip. Nails are used for reinforcing the joints and for holding the various sections together before binding.

After the article is completed, it is given a final sand- papering and is then finished in lacquer.

As has already been mentioned, rattan can be used to make up a surprising variety of articles. Furniture for prac- tically every room in the house is made from it, but it is particularly effective for lounge suites. Rattan furniture combines well with other materials in a decorative scheme; for example, it makes an unusual combination with wrought iron lamp stands, it is particularly effective with potted greenery which emphasizes its jungle origin.

We illustrate above a very delightful grouping in which artificial light and cut flowers are used with rattan in a very picturesque combination.

In Hong Kong rattan furniture is made by John T. Marsh & Co., under the trade name of "Tropicaire". Mrs. Marsh is a well-known interior decorator and artist, who will be con- tributing a regular series of articles to this magazine. If any of our readers are interested either in obtaining information, or assistance in their interior decoration problems, we invite them to write to us and Mrs. Marsh will be glad to reply to their enquiries.

Plumbing Installation for Electra House

By

LEE YU KEE

37, Des Voeux Road Central

43

Telephone No. 23033

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