The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1886-08-04

Art in barroom decoration is something
new. There have always been noteworthy
bars in New York, but, as in the case of the
once famous "Cobweb Hallp in Duane
street, these places were only noted for the
excellence of the liquors that were served Ia
their customers. Not only was there no at
tempt at decoration either in cabinet work
or pictures, but 4" Cobweb Halln took lis
name from the fact that the accumulate
cobwebs of years were all carefully preserv.
ed. Gradually, however, the old order 4
undecorated barrooms passed away, and the
new fashion of cafes turned into picture
galleries, and buffet parlors fitted up with
architectural sumptuousness and artistic
excellence, took its place. From the deal
board bars of places like Cobweb Hall the
first transition was to bars of black walnut
and mahogany or white marble, and then
came the latest phase of barroom decora.
ton, as seen at the Hoffman House and
other smaller but not less snowy and, in one
case at least, more artistic specimens of bar
room art.
Prints in barrooms have always been in
vogue in New York. The resorts of sport
ing men displayed Autographs of famous
racers and alleged engravings of favorite
pugilists. Saloons in the neighborhood OF
thcaters stuck up portraits of popular actors
and actresses and old play bills Places
without any distinctive character were filled
with caricatures of the miseries of human
life, especially those that were brought
about by excessive drink. Occasionally a
really good engraving or painting was found
on barroom wall. 1t was not until Mr..
Edward S. Stokes set up Bougereau's great
work in the barroom of the Hoffman House
that it became plain that it was worth while
to buy pictures of acknowledged merit for
barroom decoration. That painting has al
ready paid for itself Mt the bar to which it
constantly attracts strangers from every
part of the country. Ladies 60 to see it rs
they would go to see the Sistine Madonna
were it to be set up in the Cathedral in Fifth
avenue and it is almost impossible to pass
through the Hoffman House cafe at any
time, either day or night, without finding
persons inspecting it whose manner and
comments show that they are viewing it for
the first time. Considered merely rs an
advertisement it has been great success,
and that success has made Saloon picture
necessary to every barroom that aims at
artistic completeness. Since the Hoffman
House barroom gave the impetus. decorated
barrooms have begun to increase SO rapidly
in this city that soon the French Salon will
be unable to meet the demand, and, will
ingly or nnwillingly, New York liquor
dealers will be compelled to look to native
artists for their pictures.
AT the corner of Thirty-frst street and
Broadway is barroom that is different in
every respect from every other in New York
in an architectural sense. 1t is very snowy,
and to person unused to estimating the
expense of such work it looks as if it must
have cost a mint of money. Perhaps it
did; it certainly cost more than ever was
spent before in New York or anywhere else
IN fitting up barroon Of ai~sl rizo. frias
room is deep, but narrow. By n skillful
arrangement of mirrors, however, it is made
to appear three times its actual size. These
mirrors are SO maryelously perfect that two
of them are often mistaken by visitors for
! open doors leading into other apartments
exactly similar to the barroom itself, and it
sometimes happens that strangers only find
put their mistake by being brought into
contact with the glass in trying to pass into
tho next room. The screen also is an ar,
rangement of mirrors set in apparently solid
brass frames, and made like the screen be-
hind which Lady Teazle conceals herself in
the play. Apart from the mirrors, glass
enters very largely into the architectural de-
sign of this barroom. Even the top of the
bar is thick plate glass. The floor consists
of 6x6 tiles of alternate brass and copper,
and the walls are heavy Lincrusta Walton.
There is small wine room, with only room
for bottle of wine when two men occupy
it. At the back is cosy drinking parlor
where the tired patron may enjoy his ease Of
his inn while he imbibes. Even as speci-
men of barroom art this place is too bizarre
for the artistic temperament, but it is all
the more swell +" for that reason, and so
must be accepted as good example of bar
room decoration.
Exactly the opposite of this upper Broad
way barroom is one in the same great thor
oughfare just below Wall street. 1t is not
only expensive in the way it is fitted up,
but severely artistic. AS it is the latest, 80
it must be conceded to be the best specimen
- I.o,.oo,, orohitaof,ra in, ha ,,,otro,,nI;a
It is possible to pass the place many times
without suspecting that it is what it is. The
exterior is very plain and unpretentious
But once the threshold is passed its beauties
begin to reveal themselves. The thing Of
which the floor is composed is Of rose Bauno
marble, specially imported from Germany
and the first ever used for such purpose
in this country. This marble is very beau
tiful and it is also used for the tops of the
Bullets. The cabinet work throughout, in
Guiding the cigar stand, the screen, the
Bullets and the bar, is of the white mahog-
any Of South America. 1t is quarter cut,
that is, cut so as to show the grain, and
finished in the most exquisite manner. The
ceiling, which is otherwise plain, is cut
into panels of the same wood. The designs,
sven to the minute of the electric light
burners, the hooks in the walls and the
brass mountings that hold the bar rail, were
specially designed and modelled, and are in
the style of Louis XVI. Simple elegance is
the rule throughout, and even the frieze, in
designing which most artists would have
givenpay to their own fancy, is simply
decorated in ivory white and gold of the
same period. The screen, which consists Of
swinging gates, is something entirely new
OF it kind, the spindle work panels being oil
set In brass frames. Around the bar runs
heavy rail of real Mexican onyx, held by
solid brass mountings, and the fireplace OPP
posite the bar is composed of white mahog-
any, Mexican onyx, and old brass. The
frame of the fireplace proper and the and
irons alone cost over $500. The cost of the
cabinet work alone was not less than &c.,
QUO. 1t is claimed for this barroom that il
Is the only ono ever attempted to be fitted uT
in f1Traiy at, l.,