I he Ornamentation of the New Subway Stations 
THE EAST WALL AT THE I4TH STREET STATION 
the enclosing masonry ot 
the Subway recedes and 
gives place on the east side 
of the station to the broad 
outer platforms, the walls 
are decorated with a beau¬ 
tiful gray frieze of Grueby 
faience, containing shields 
of the same material bear¬ 
ing the figures of the street. 
Below the frieze the wall is 
laid off into panels by means 
of ceramic mosaic,and sym¬ 
metrically placed in one of 
these is the name-panel, the 
best thus far completed in 
mosaic in the whole 
Subway, for it is digni¬ 
fied and suitably archi¬ 
tectural in feeling for 
the intimate connec¬ 
tion it holds with the 
architectural surround¬ 
ings. Moreover its 
simple parts lead the 
eye nowhere but to the 
all-important letters 
within it. 
On the opposite side 
of the station is the 
rich Grueby medal¬ 
lion, illustrated on this 
page, and there are nu¬ 
merous smaller panels 
showing the figure 14 
on the walls about the 
A MEDALLION AT I4TH STREET 
Executed by The Grueby Faience Co. 
station entrance. The 
figures in the latter are 
the color of cream 
upon a dark blue 
ground; then comes a 
narrow bright green 
band and the panel is 
finished by a label 
moulding of the same 
color as the figures. 
The background of all 
this enrichment is the 
white “glass tile” 
which is common to all 
stations, and nearly 
corresponding in color 
to the white plaster ceiling, 
it will reflect, it is claimed, 
a large amount of the light 
which strikes its smooth 
glossy surface. 
The “island platforms” 
offer a new problem for 
the station signs. These 
are without masonry into 
which a name may be built 
in the manner accom¬ 
plished elsewhere; nor is 
there even a railing upon 
which letters may be fast¬ 
ened, as at the Elevated 
Stations. Therefore a de¬ 
vice must be hung from 
DECORATION OF THE ANGULAR WALL AT I 8tH STREET 
