The Artistic Home of the Mask and Wig Club 
have been replaced by Mr. H. C. Mercer’s 
tiles. High-up windows, of leaded bull’s- 
eyes, light the room by day, while huge 
antlers of noble stags, the skulls attached, 
form unique electroliers for artificial illu¬ 
mination. The furnishings of the grill room 
carry out the Tyrolese intention ol the archi¬ 
tecture. 1'here are heavy oaken tables and 
chairs, and long wooden benches painted and 
stained to accord with the woodwork, and 
wide seats, cushioned with red leather, line 
the walls beneath the windows. The color 
throughout is extremely soft and old in its 
effect. A piano, the upright case designed 
by Mr. Eyre to harmonize with the rude 
character of the other furniture, was added 
to the properties of the Club as a memorial 
to Francis Penn Steel, Jr., in 1898. This 
stands in the grill room. Two masks, set in 
circles, ornament the front at each side of the 
music rack, which is lighted by two groups of 
incandescent lamps, the bulbs shaped like 
candles, fastened to the case. At each end 
of the top of the piano is a seated female 
figure about fifteen inches in height carved by 
Emanuel Maene. These are Gothic in sug¬ 
gestion, enveloped in folds of drapery and 
softly colored in reds and browns, somewhat 
after the fashion of 
the Tanagra figurines. 
One figure holds a 
book across h e r 
knees, the other fin¬ 
gers the strings of a 
guitar. The coloring 
was done by Mr. John 
Lambert and Mr. 
Eyre himself. 
An up-to-date gas 
range with a deep, 
picturesque hood for 
carrying off the fumes 
from the cooking, has 
been placed in the 
center of the south 
wall opposite the fire¬ 
place. Here are also 
the plate racks, filled 
with attractive blue 
and white crockery, 
the row of shining 
copper utensils and 
the sink with running 
water. The wall above the sink is lined with 
several dozen antique Dutch tiles in blue and 
white. Apropos of the color scheme, it is 
interesting to note that even the stone water- 
filter has, like the wood, gone through the 
process of staining and rubbing down to the 
desirable shabbiness. 
In the grill room are the main portions 
of the original decorations done by Maxfield 
Parrish in 1894, when he was a student 
at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine 
Arts. 'These are of special interest as being 
practically the first commercial output of a 
man now at the pinnacle of professional suc¬ 
cess. The mural decorations show all the 
spirit of a con amore performance, and indeed 
the remuneration was trifling in respect of 
the merit of the work. 
'The principal decoration is a three-panel 
piece showing “Old King Cole” in the height 
of his merriment attended by his pipe-bearer, 
his cook with a huge bowl borne aloft and 
his fiddlers three, who outdo one another in 
servile attention to the luxurious whims of 
their monarch lolling at ease upon his throne 
and beaming with smug satisfaction in en¬ 
joyment of his creature comforts. 'The 
original water-color sketch is in the posses¬ 
sion of the Pennsyl¬ 
vania Academy of 
the Fine Arts, pur¬ 
chased from one of 
its annual exhibitions. 
A wainscoting of 
tongued and grooved 
boards runs about the 
walls of the grill room 
to a height of about 
six feet from the fioor 
and is surmounted by 
a narrow shelf, be¬ 
neath which are two 
rows of deep wooden 
pegs whereon hang 
the steins of the 
thirsty Club mem¬ 
bers. 'There are per¬ 
haps a hundred of 
these pegs, which 
serve to introduce the 
most unique feature 
of the decoration. Be¬ 
side each peg Mr. 
A CORNER OF AN ALCOVE IN THE GRILL ROOM 
