Plate XXXIII. Rectangular Apartments with Curved Ends and Screens

Plate XXXIII. — The design of rectangular apartments is often varied by the introduction of semi-circular and segmental ends, while columns supporting nothing more than their entablatures sometimes figure in the form of screens to preserve the original shape of the rectangle. In No. I the vaulted ceiling expresses the plan, and with the columnar screens introduces an imaginative element. In No. II the omission of the columns and the introduction of windows in one of the circular ends produces a useful plan for small reception rooms with flat ceilings. The plan given in No. III follows that of No. I in general idea, the columnar screens being identical, but the ends being segmental are more economical of space. It is, however, none the less effective, and its frequent use with top or side lighting for the dining-rooms of town houses during the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries proves the esteem in which this type of interior was held. No. IV shows a rectangular apartment with segmental ends and windows in one side. The design is simple, the only features being the niches in the thickness of the walls: the motive can be completed with either a flat or a segmental ceiling. Nos. V and VI combine the leading features of the foregoing and should properly terminate the vista through a suite of rooms. All these plans offer suggestions for reception-rooms regardless of dimensions.