REPORT OP NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1914. 25 



The direct lighting is wholly from the west, where the outer wall 

 is pierced with five large windows, provided with heavy curtains to 

 protect the delicately tinted fabrics against fading. The walls and 

 ceiling are uniformly of an old ivory tint, and the only decoration 

 on the former, hung high above the cases, is the celebrated painting 

 by Henry Sandham, entitled "The March of Time," representing a 

 review of the Grand Army of the Republic in Boston Common, in 

 which the faces are mostly portraits of prominent officers and women 

 of the Civil War. 



The furnishings of the range are varied though not inharmonious. 

 The White House costumes are in large rectangular cases, with ebon- 

 ized frames and polished hardwood floors, which generally measure 

 5 by 8 feet square and 8 feet high. Each contains a single figure, 

 except one in which two have been installed. The 14 cases now pro- 

 vided are in two rows, 8^ feet apart, the intervening space serving 

 as the main thoroughfare through the range from north to south. 

 Filling each of the broad interspaces between the piers on the three 

 inner walls, except at the three openings, is a standard alcove case, 

 which in appearance and purpose is the equivalent of a wall case. 

 In front of the piers, with one exception, are placed smaller cases, 

 six of the single lay figure pattern and three of about the same 

 height but somewhat wider. The entire space below the windows 

 on the west wall is occupied by a single sloping table case with an 

 upright back fitted with shelves. The remaining space, that between 

 the above-mentioned case and the nearest row of Wliite House figure 

 cases, is used for a series of six American cases arranged crosswise. 

 These consist each of two sections of the floor type of sloping top, 

 placed back to back, with a small rectangular upright case between 

 and above them. 



Lay figures, as before explained, have been emplo3^ed only for the 

 Wliite House costimies; and after several attempts to avoid the ap- 

 pearance of the commercial manikin so often seen in store windows, 

 recourse was had with entire success to the methods employed in 

 producing the ethnological groups in the Museum. This meant a 

 greater expenditure of time and labor than had been intended and 

 a considerable delay in beginning the installation, but the results 

 have more than justified this course, the presentation of this part 

 of the collection being exceedingly dignified and wholly commend- 

 able. The heads, shoulders, arms and hands — the only exposed 

 parts — are in plaster, the remainder of the construction being of 

 wood and metal. The work is sculptural, but the delicate ivory tint 

 given the plaster removes all sense of coldness and produces a har- 

 mony with the drapery that results in a remarkably pleasing effective- 

 ness. A portraiture of any of the faces has not been attempted; 



