GLASS

Cut glass is another of the can-do-withouts, except, perhaps, the
carafe, now used instead of the old-fashioned water pitcher, at $3,
$3.50, etc.; cruets for vinegar and oil, simply cut and in good style,
for as low as $1.50 each; and the finger bowls, one for each person.
The last, of thin crystal and perfectly plain save for a sunburst of
cutting underneath, are $3 a dozen, with others more elaborate, and
costly in proportion. Tumblers, thin, dainty, and delightful, cut a
little at the bottom, are $1.50 a dozen, and far pleasanter to drink
from than their elaborately cut and artistic brethren. Occasionally a
pretty little olive dish can be picked up for as low as $1.50 or $2,
but rather perfect and inoffensive plainness than imitation cut, cheap,
crude, and clumsy. The American cut glass is considered the choicest.
Side by side with it, and preferred by many as being less ostentatious,
is the beautiful Bohemian glass, with its exquisite traceries in gold
and delicate colors. Only in this glass is color permissible, and then
principally in receptacles for flowers. There is reason to believe
that it was from a Bohemian glass plate the King of Hearts stole the
tarts on a certain memorable occasion, and if so, one can readily
understand why the temptation was so irresistible to him.

[Illustration: A collection of eighteenth-century cut glass.]



ARRANGEMENT