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J I . WHISTLER'S PEACOCK ROOM
i ' : It Ha. Boon Moved from the Late F. R. Leyland's
Hou.o and I. Exhibited in a London Gallery '
i 1 . pa + rs. .
i i
ii i From time to time many people have
\ wondered ! what would he the ultlmato
I fate of Whistler's "Peacock Room , "
1 one of the best known and least
known of his worls. Everybody has
heard of It , but few have seen It. Its
present fate Is to be In the mnrket.
The "Peacock Room" was , of course ,
designed for , anti to some extent in
spite of , the Into Frederick Richard
14eylund. It developed out of the din-
Ing room In his house In Prince's
Onte.
A large part of this house had been
decorated by Norman Shaw , with time I
assistance of another architect , named
.leclyll , and of Murray Marls The
dining room . was entirely Jecl'II's
work
He designed a wooden ceiling , with
pendent lamps , and on time walls an
elaborate shelving for the display of
Mr. Leyland's fine collection of ori-
ental china. This shelving was carried -
rled out In walnut wood , and the pan-
els were fitted with brown Spanish ,
y
when they next met. Much gossip '
may be read about the matter In the I
Whistler books I
It Is certain that there were dis-
agreements. It Is certain that as a
consequence of these Whistler Intro-
duced , Into his decoration a symbolic
reproSentnUon of the Almighty Dol- I
lar , for there it is to be seen to-day :
All tile decorations seem to have
been carried out by Whistler with only .
Iy one assistant , and to have been
completed In little more than six
months-a remarkable achievement.
The brown leather became a deep ,
rich , greenish blue-the peacock blue.
The red flowers faded quite away.
Woodwork was lacquemkd Flat
spaces were gilded.
Gold got Into the hair of the busy
decorators. Gold covered their taces.
Paint dropped into their e 'es. But
on they worked , Whistler now bent
upon the floor , now on a scaffolding ,
now ill a hammock slung from the
roof , and using sometimes a brush
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FAMOUS PANEL OF THE QUARRELSOME PEACOCKS.
It refers to the quarrel between W hliltler and F. R. Leyland. The circu-
lar spots of sliver and gold symbolize the Almighty DelI r. Whistler also
designed the sldehoard.
leather decorated with small flowers.
The leather alone cost 1QOO.
When Mr. Leyland bought Whist-
ler's "La Princes du Pays de la
Porcelaine , " which occupied a position
of honor in the memorial exhibition
at Boston , he placed It in a recess
above the mantelpiece of his dining
room ; and here , so Whistler though ,
the surroundings were not quite suitable .
able to the picturo.
The leather was too dark and the
flowers were too red. The interfered
with the delicacy of his own tints.
They were as vulgar fellows in a gracious .
cious presence.
So , with the owner's consent , the
artist set about lightening the one
and reducing the other with touches
of yellow , but at fint only in a tenta-
the way. Apparently It was during
the owner' absence from home that a
, complete scheme of decoration presented .
sented Itself to the mind of the artist
and characteristically enough he did
not leek the owner's consent before '
begtning the new 'ork.
Nearly thirty years have gone by
since It 8U happened. Artist and
owner are dead , and It Is difficult to
know j\ls\ \ \ what each said to the other
. .
- " .1 : ' _ . . . 111 > lISJt1l' * " . II IlW iI'IM.r 1 > > <
fastened to the end of a fishing rod.
Confronting the "PrlnceRse. " above
a sideboard which Whistler probably
designed himself , and spreading near-
ly across the end of the room , came .
the superb panel of the two quarrel-
some peacocks-gold and silver on
'blue. Three splendid peacock designs .
signs were placed upon the closed
wIndow snuUers. Upon all the wall
spread harmonics of gold and bluo.
I
Originally well proportioned , and !
suitably fitted with woodwork , the
room became one of the most beautiful -
ful rooms in the world. Possibly it Is
the most beautiful room In the world.
At any rate , It Is unIque. And In
this unique state the "Prlncesse" Jived
till Mr. Leyland died. She brought
C 4C'l at his sale in 1892. Then she
discovered , A'merica.
The room , however , kept on staying
just where it was , and only recently
did it occur to somebody that it mIght
be possible to detach the decorations
tram the actual structure of the walls.
Expert examination made this po.ei-
blUty a certainty , and the "Peacock
Room" was lJ1trusted to Messrs. Er-
nest Brown and Phillips , of the Leicester -
ter gapeies , Leicester square , for dis-
iaa.4arsb ! . . airlk Nt. . . _ , . . . . . . . . . . . . . . _ Mot. _ 'l'O N. " . e
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pmml. 'i'hey sold It to Messrs. Obach
at 168 New Bond street.
Every panel , every scrap of leather ,
every stick of wood was carefully detached .
tl.ched , wrapped up and numbered In
Its due relation to the whole. And to-
day , for the first time , any member
of the general public who possesses
half a crown and the improbable desire .
sire to spend it on aesthetics may behold .
hold the "Peacoc } Room , " skillfully
reconstructed , In Messrs. Obnch's gal-
leries. All relative arrangements
have been carried out with taste and
I judgment , and the exhibition will remain -
main open for not less than a month
and probably longer.
The place of the "Prlncesse du Pays
do la Porcelalne" Is at present occupied .
pled -by a mirror. If this room could
bo secured for America , and if the
"Princesso" could bo restored to her
throne room designed hy n great artist -
1st In defiance of aU social conventions -
tlons , for the sale purpose of display-
ing her beauty , future generations
would bo grateful.-Ncw York Sun.
Women as Witnesses.
The curious case heard before
Judge Smyly last week , in which two
mldcllo.aged women of evident intel-
licence swore to two directly opposite
stories , suggests the question whether
; .omen make reliable witnesses The
Into Lord Chief Justice Russell le-
clared once that where no 'questlol1 of
prejudice was concerned a woman's
evidence was more valuable than a
wan's. f There is no doubt that in
noticing small matters of detail wom-
en are much quicker than men and
have a much better memory , but they
are strongly apt to be Influenced by
pr < ! judlce. DurIng the trial of Can-
ham Reed , the South End murderer ,
one of the witnesses , an old woman
of more than sixty , swore to time Iden-
tity of the prisoner , although she admitted -
mitted that she had only seen him
once In her Ufe-six months previous
-when he passed her hurriedly on
a country road at 10 o'clock on a November -
vember evening. She declared that
she recognized him by the flash of his
eye. Such minute evIdence as this
no man living would venture to give ,
even in a civil action , much less when
a human being's Ufo was at stake.- I
TatIer , London , Eng
He Wanted the Classics.
Apropos of Col. Edwin Emerson ,
Jr , war correspondent In Japan ,
whose erroneously reported death in
Manchuria was one of the topics of
conversation last week , he is a much
younger man than his title of colonel
would suggest. A Baltimore lady recalls -
calls being the guest of his father ,
Prof. Emerson , in Munich , Bavaria ,
when the still youthful scribe was an
infant of six summers Prof. Edwin
Emerson and his Maryland guest .
were starting for nn afternoon tea
when Edwin , Jr. , was discovered sit-
ting disconsolately on the fioor.
"Why , what Is the matter , my
son ? " quoth the professor.
"I want something to read , " la-
mented the infant.
" " ' . "Hnve
"To rend ? said hIs fRthf'r.
not you your 'Mother Goose , ' or 'Jacl
and the BeRnstock , ' or 'Grimm's
' " I .
Fairy Tales' ?
"I want something Classical , " said
the six-year-old in scornful tones , and
his yearnings were satisfied. Propped
on three cushions and a dictionary
ho was wheeled before the library table .
ble and a huge volume of German poetry .
etry opened to his inquiring mlnd.-
Baltimore Sun.
Danish Greenland Expedition.
'A message to an English science
journal from Copenhagen states that
the DanIsh scientific expedition to
Greenland has arrived In the Danish
colony of West Greenland , and reports
that the Gjoea expedition , whlt.h started .
ed In August last year , was found at
Dalrymple Rock. All the members of
both expeditions arc well.
Doubles Gold Output.
The Bold yield of New South Wales
during May amounted to 20,275 ounces ,
valued at 981,630 , as compared with
10,852 ounces , valued at , ' 1 9L60p , Ill ,
the correspo l'ng month of last year.
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GRASS .
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BY \
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BYRON WILLIAM"
a
Utopia.
A field of clover
Red blooms all ovor- ,
I know that scent ! ,
The bee the rover ,
lIe loves this clover ,
And Is content ! _
I love the clover ,
With blooms all over , t
As does the bee !
nut I , a rover , \ . ' ; .
Am fur from clover , _
Upon the ! ! cal ! . . , . '
, y . h 1 , ' I
Alt . bee I In clover , ' - < ; : ' : " . . . -
You're ten time , m ' ) M , =
! > over : (
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- \ \ 1than I ! z f ,
You f-Ing In clovcr- 'Hi" " . ' . , ,
I fret . 11 rover ' ' } _
AnlI yearn : and sIgh I , , , : r. : . z .
. . .
Oh field at clover ' :
With blooms all over , " .
I Ewear-nt Rca- \ . .
'Vhn ! I. the rover , " , ' "
Have been all over , : .
I'll come to thee ' ! '
Ah , field of clover , - = ,
I'll roll all over d , ' \ '
Amid thy bloom ! . , ' _ I
No more 11. rover , ,
.1'11 live In clover
And sweet perfume !
Somehow the news of approaching
nuptials always brings a glow to the -
heart. Marriage , we are told , 10 a
holy and a ticklish state of servitude , .
but the continued practice of marriage -
riage leads to the conclusion that few
have compunctions against their un- -
holiness and nIl decide they will stand
for the tickling if they "holier their
heads off , " as the uncouth slanglst
says. The poet Insists that marriages
are made In heaven , but according to
un Iowa exchange , they are made in
a livery 'rig , The editor of the Hickory .
ory Hollow Bee says : "George Samp- (
son has been seen with a livery rig ' J jl
big enough for two , driving toward j
Scollsblulr. Another wedding looked
"
for.
It makes one homesick to read . . the III I
country papers in June. By this ve- I
hlcle of news nt this time we learn '
that "the excitement incidental to :
high school commencement Is past"'I
and that now "the Tribune expects to , ;
see our citizens take more interest in
village Improvements. " Ah , days of
Cocagne ! when "gradnatln' had the
whole town by the ears ! And that
fateful night , how we settled the momentous .
mentous questions 0'1 : the world ! But
come to think about It , they didn't
stay settled ! fI f
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In Sunday school we were taught - .
that it pays to get religion before the . .
cyclone strikes. Perils lie all about , I
us , and every day's delay jeopardizes i
our chances for passing under the
\
wire while St. Peter is still in the . . ,
judges' stand. Incidents illustrating
narrow escapes of men that have tar- '
ried by the wayside to scoff , arc '
legion , but ono of exceptional interest
comes from the west where a Colorado -
ti
rado editor soya : "A brick tell from
a scatroJol on the Simpson building , , .
Snturday. Col. Hank Brown was in
its line of descent. The brick landed
on Col. Hank's head and he saw the
entire starry firmament In all its
splendor. The brick was broken and
a severe cut on the topknot was left
Hank as a souvenir. " ,
Success and . 1i . : I
Success was an earnest boy
With dinner pall and spade :
'Whlre . Luck hung about the town
Where bottle pool was played !
Success waR at work each day
From daylight until dark !
But Luck with one eye alert
Lolled 'round the city park !
Ah , me ! this was long ago ;
A score or years or more-
Success ? Oh he'll working , _ yet !
And Luck ? Hard luck ! He's sore !
It frequently happens that the fellow .
low who took so much delight In rook-
fag the boat , refuses absolutely to
rock the cradle. J
If the czar's troops at , Port Arthur
have . .the.-smalJpox , why don't they
break out ! Ouch ! Lemme alon !
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