REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1920. 39 



veniences for administration, for serious studj^ and for popular in- 

 struction. The entire a^-ailable floor space of the main and basement 

 stories aggregates some 55,000 square feet, about equally divided 

 between the two floors. A sub-basement provides space for the 

 appliances connected with the heating, lighting, and ventilation of 

 the building, but steam and electric current will be supplied from the 

 central plant of tlie Museum. 



During the past year this building has been brought nearl}" to 

 completion, despite delays now characteristic of the building busi- 

 ness. The chief items unfinished by the contractor at the close of 

 the year were the glazing of the ceiling lights in several of the 

 galleries (due to excessive breakage of imported glass), the reflector 

 lighting above the ceiling lights, the installation of register faces, 

 and the completion of the painting of the gallerj^ walls. The central 

 court has-been carefully laid out wdth walks, gardens and fountain. 

 The temporary fence has been removed from about the building, 

 and arrangements made with the Officer in Charge of Public Build- 

 ings and Grounds for laying out the driveways to the building and 

 otherwise improving the grounds immediately surrounding it. 



While the exact number of specimens in the Freer Collections will 

 not be known until actualh' delivered to the Institution, in 1918 they 

 exceeded 6,000, of which something over 1,000 were American and 

 of these four-fifths were the Avork of Whistler, including his famous 

 Peacock Room. The Oriental collection, some 5,000 items, consisted 

 of Cliinese and Japanese paintings on screens, panels, kakemono, 

 makimono, and albums; of pottery, chiefly from Japan, Korea, China. 

 Mesopotamia, Persia, and Egypt; of Egyptian glass; and of figures, 

 statuettes, sculptures, mirrors, boxes, etc., in bronze, stone, wood, 

 lacquer, etc. The collections also contain some important ancient 

 Biblical manuscripts obtained in Egypt. 



About the middle of the year the Peacock Room, that celebrated 

 decoration executed by Whistler as a setting for his painting " La 

 Princesse ", Avas transferred from the residence of Mr. Freer in 

 Detroit and set up complete in a room specially designed for its 

 reception at the southeastern corner of the building. By the close 

 oi the year the executors of Mr. Freer's estate had begun to ship to 

 Washington other portions of the Freer Collections. These will be 

 stored in the various storage quarters in the building until the struc- 

 ture is entirely completed and the installation of the collections can 

 be undertaken. 



It will be recalled that the Freer Gallery is designed to accommo- 

 date only the Freer Collections, and to provide for the study and 

 appreciation of their varied contents, which supph' a vast amount 

 of material for research work by specialists. Its conipletion, though 

 insuring an incalculable gain for the Museum and the public, will 



