Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-01-11

"V HE Biltmore House, little known out
side the family circle and friends
who have been guests, is the famous
country estate of the late George w.
Vanderbilt, near Asheville, N. C. It
contains a collection of objects of art impossi-
bic of duplication.
There is the delicately inlaid chess table that
Napoleon carried with him to st. Helena the
drawer of which made to hold the white
and red ivory chessmen. After the death of
the Little Corporal in exile, his Corsican physi-
clan, DR.. Antonmarchi, removed the stilled
heart and placed it in this same drawer in the
desperate effort to smuggle it back to France.
Beholding the mute evidence of this failure
I'm the still visible bloodstains on this remark
able piece of furniture, one cannot keep back q
pang of regret the Illustration of an act Of
devotion born through love Of country.
Francis of France during the early part of
the sixteenth century ordered five Gobelin
tapestries to be woven depicting the story of
Vulcan and the love of Venus and Mars, these
TO be from cloth of gold, with the predominating
colors blue and rose. The Book of Exodus says
'Thsy did beat the gold into thin plates and
cut it into wires, to work it in the blue and in
the purple. OF such materials were
these tapestries made, and history says that the
identical five pieces adorned the tent of Francis
at the meeting of himself and Henry VIII of
England when those two naughty monarchs met
on the Field of Cloth of Gold in 1920 to ar
range treaty of alliance between their coun-
tries against Germany. What a magnificent
sight that field must have been to have earned
that symbolic name from the gorgeous decora-
tons of the royal tentsl
Today the tapestries of Francis are on the
walls of the banquet hall in Biltmore House.
itself room of kingly air and proportions with
its impressive length Of II feet
In a nearby hall, contrasting the imperial
6appingS but still linked to France there is q
crimson robe embroidered in gold and silver
with the motto of Cardinal Richelieu. This
once formed part of the ceremonial dress of
that cardinal of France who attained consider
able standing in court through attracting the
attention of Marie de Medici mother of the
young King Louis XIII. Remaining there
throughout the entire reign of his royal master,
the ecclesiastic shaped much of the history of
France during that quarter of a century.
Reminding one of the past of Germany there
Is series Of rare prints housed in room espe-
claIy for that purpose. Chief of these is the
engraving by Albrecht Durer completed in 1915
that depicts the history and main events in the
HE OF Macmillan the Great the Emperor of
Germany who laid the foundation for the ex-
tensive territory inherited by his grandson,
Charles w.
On large table under the group of Durers
are two Chinese vessels Of the Chow Dynasty
800 BIC.
II HE ceiling of this print room is unique, being
an expression of sentiment for Commodore
Vanderbilt, the founder of the family 1t is
composed of the tapestries once used on the
ferryboatS Of the commodore draped here in a
billowy effect
Adjoining the ceiling of the library is a mural
by Tiepolo, done in allegorical life size figures
marvelously colored and preserved, that was
procured from old Italian castle upon the
promise that the name of the seller never be
dtvulged-a secret, incidentally that died with
Mr.. Vanderbilt An italian tapestry of the late
seventeenth century hangs over the carved
black marble fireplace, feet wide by feet
high. which is in keeping with the proportions
Of this chamber, 70 by a. with a 39-foot stud
Running entirely around the room of paneled
and carved native walnut is gallery of wrought
iron and brass, making the upper tiers of books
accessible, which passes behind the stone CHM
ney set out for the purpose. On the grand
piano are two white and gold vases of Capo di
Monte and nearby are three Chinese goldfish
bowls of the Ming Dynasty each large enough
TO have held one Of Ali Babas thieves
To the lover Of literature, to any bibliophile.
the selected collection Of books proves most
tantalizng, for 1t is gathering of about 10000
volumes-books new and books very. very old,
bound in veIlum and fooled leather editions
that cover almost any subject: time tinted
tones Of wonderful engravings patiently iIlum-