I was just
leaving for Europe, so I hurried on to the manufacturers of these
wonderful stoves and found, after much difficulty, a model that seemed
practicable, and not too huge in proportion. The model, unfortunately,
was white with gilded garlands, far too French and magnificent for our
sun-room. I persuaded them to make two of the stoves for me in green
Majolica, with garlands of soft-toned flowers, and finally we achieved
just the stoves for the room.
But my troubles were not over: When the stoves reached New York, we
tried to take them up to the roof, and found them too large for the
stairs. We couldn't have them lifted up by pulleys, because the glass
walls of the roof garden and the fretwork at the top of the roof made it
impossible for the men to get "purchase" for their pulleys. Finally we
persuaded a gentleman who lived next door to let us take them over the
roof of his house, and the deed was accomplished. The stoves were equal
to the occasion. They heated the roof garden perfectly, and were of
great decorative value.
Encouraged by this success I purchased another porcelain stove, this
time a cream-colored porcelain one, and used it in a hallway in an
uptown house. It was the one thing needed to give the hall great
distinction. Since then I have used a number of these stoves, and I
wonder why our American manufacturers do not make them.
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