Evening star., 1927-04-24
I|TAN|A'S PALACE
. OPENS TOMORROW
b.
Home for Fairy Queen Rep
resents 23 Years Work
Il. by British Artist.

''Titanias Palace, peopled with the
fairy queen herself and all her court,
and containing rooms outfitted with
fsny furnishings copied from rare
treasures of art, win be on exhibition
at Hecht's department store tomor-
row and remain there until May 4.
!, Appropriately, the fairy palace. said
to represent % years of labor on the
mart of it's creator, Maj. Sir Neville
Wilkinson, will be exhibited for the
benefit of the Children's Hospital.
Inspired by Little Girl.
Il The story of the building of the
palace. which has aided many worthy
projects, usually for the sake OF
children since fairyland is a part of
childhood, is the story of man who
listened with sympathetic ear to the
accounts of his little S-year-old girl,
who believed in fairies.
Sir Neville, Ulster king of arms and
principal herald of ali Ireland,
painter collector, carpenter and
architect, was working at his easel
one day during the Summer of 1906,
drawing the trunk of an old sycamore.
His daughter, who was playing about,
suddenly ran to him saying she had
seen a fairy disappear in the moss
which covered the roots of the tree.
She thought it sad that the fairies
only had an old tree to live in, so Sir
Neville decided to build palace for
Titania, queen of the fairies, befltting
her rank.
Most Valuable Model Building.
He set James Hicks of Dublin to
work building the exterior walls and
he himself commenced painting tap
estries and frescoes, mosaics and pic
lures, and collecting miniature fur
niture and art pieces for the palace.
It took Sir Neville % years to build
the fairy palace. 1t is said to be the
most valuable model building in the
world and covers an area of only 63
square feet. 1t stands q inches high.
1t has 16 rooms and is built around
a central court yard. The walls are
removable so that all of the rooms
may be seen from the outside.
Art treasures and furniture of diff
ferent periods dating from early
Egyptian to the present day, fill the
palace. There are said to be more
than 1000 movable pieces in the build
ing. each article of the finest work
manship.
One of the carpets, no larger than
a mans shoe, was copied from a rare
prayer rug in the British Museum. In
one of the bedrooms is a tiny bureau
with four drawers which can be hid
den behind postage stamp.
Fountain I'm Courtyard.
In the courtyard is a fountain, in
which tiny electric bulbs sparkle. Just
inside the main entrance is a cannon
about half as long as your little
finger. and a Spanish Armada chest
and a row of polished spears against
a marble wall.
The chapel has a pure white marble
floor and bronze Biblical groups. The
ceiling is of mosaic and is one of Sir
Nevilles best works. A secret panel
on one side of the chapel leads to the
queens boudoir. In this room is
tiny grand piano and Louis XIV
bureau and an ivory spinning wheel.
Little canoes in tortoiseshell frames
decorate the walls.
In the dining room is a walnut table
two inches high. made from the wood
of a clock 200 years old. Dainty
dishes Of Bristol glass are set on
doilies Of lace from Jerusalem.
Throne is Ebony.
The throneroom is one of the most
elaborate rooms in the palace. The
dais is OF mother-ofspearf and the
peacock throne Of Fairyland is ebony
and ivory and tortoiseshell inlay.
The palace viii be on exhibition in
Washington on the third floor of
Hecht's department store from tomor-
row until May z. A charge of SO cents
will be made, the proceeds to go to the
Children's Hospital. Children may see
the palace Saturday morning for 25
CENTS The ualace will be set on a
high table so that the visitors may
look into all the rooms.
The executive committee in charge
of the exhibition includes Mrs.
Thomas Bell Sweeney, Mrs. c. c.
Glover, jr., and Mrs. G. G. Parker, jr.,
co-chairmen; Mrs. Frederick III.
Brooke, Mrs. Cary T. Grayson, Mrs.
James W. Wadsworth, jr.; Mrs. Louis
Lehr, Mrs. Frank b. Moves, Mrs.
Irwin Laughlin and Mrs. Charles s.
Dewey.