The Washington herald., 1913-06-19
Court Gossip of Interesting
Epents on Two Continents

ragtime In England for the dear old.
fashioned lullaby of our childhood days:
Broke the bottle filed with milk
You're feeling bad. that makes you mad
Then the baby starts to weep
How viii you get her to sleepf
You hum and Groom oId-fashoned tune;
Just then thought seems to strike you,
You know what the baby wants
She has the ngtime craze too.
Opinions may differ as to the late
Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema's talent as
painter. but his genius as a collector
OF beautlful art objects must be admit
ted. The lordly mansion which he had
built for himself in ST. Johns Wood
contains multitude Of treasures which
he amassed and which now are to bs
sold under the hammer in the magnif-
cent studio that in itself is one of the
most remarkable interiors ever created
by an artist. Its contents include the
famous autograph" grand piano, which
was made thirty-five years ago from de-
signs made by the late painter himself
me case is Of oak, inlaid with ebony,
ivory, mother OF pearl, and tortoiseshell.
The ends have a silver bas relief panel.
representing the head of Orpheus and his
Tyre floating on the waves Most of the
Famous singers and musicians of the last
tnlrty years visited Sir Lawrence's
house and they all left a memento of
their visit in the shape OF an autograph.
inside the cover OF the piano-forte are
panels or parchment, and these are in
scrioed with many names great in the
world of music.
Sir Lawrence designed much of the fur
niture In the house. There are in the
studio two couches which are fashioned
after Roman models, and which vera
painted by the artist in many of his pic
lures They have two different sides, one
in carved cedar. and the other in syca-
more, inlaid with mother OF pearl. For
the late Mr.. Marquand's Greek music
room in New York, Sir Lawrence de-
signed settee OF semi-circular form
shaped to fit the apse at one side Of the
ROOM This was reproduced as a past
of the artists studio. It is made OF
coromandel ebony, cedar. and other fine
woods. and decorated with scroll designs
having inlaid carved ivory and mother Of
pearl The terminals represent swans
heads with carbuncle eyes
II the painter had a preference for one
form of artistic craftsmanship over an
other, il is shown in his voluminous col
lection OF japanese lacquer work. bronzes,
porcelain. and pottery, and ivory carving.
There Is a six-fold temple screen of the
fourteenth century. painted to represent
Budda and the twenty-seven singers and
dancers Of Heaven. There are many pic
lures, among them, the last which SIR
Lawrence painted, entitled, Preparations
in the Coliseum"
But those which will undoubtedly at
tract most attention are the forty-five
panels which adorn the hall Each OF
these is the work Of an artist of repute,
and a personal friend OF the late painter
for the panels were all painted as a
token OF affection. With one exception,
they are thirty-two inches in height but
they vary in width from three inches to
ten inches, and great ingenuity was
shown by the artists in filling their aIlot-
ted spaces. Some of the pictures are
owing to reproduction. already famous.
notably Lord Leighton's The Bath of
Psyche" the original OF the picture in
the Tate Gallery. and Marcus Stones In
the Garden" Among the other artists
represented in this unique gallery are:
MacWhirter, ]. NJ. Swan, Sir Alfred
East. Briton-Riviere, John Collier, Erne st
Waterlow, Alfred Parsons. H. Stacey
Marks, Herbert Schmaiz, Val Prinsep.
Henry Moore, Sir Edward J. Poyntel,
John S. Sargent. Frank Dicksee, and
George Boughton. FLANEUR.