ART & ARCHITECTURE

The Detmer Panel located at the top of the stairs that lead to the Children's Room.  This hand carved oak panel comes from the living room of the Tarrytwon home of the late Julian F. Detmer. His home was known as Edgemont, and was located on 40 acres of land along Benedict Avenue between Prospect and Martling Avenues.  The residence was modeled after a Normandy Chateau and contained 22 rooms.

Mr. Detmer came to Tarrytown in 1900 from Chicago where he was known as "the woolen king".  He had an intense interest in horticulture which led hime to establish a nursery around his Tarrytown home.  It was noted for its remarkable collection of trees and plants from many parts of the world.  Detmer died in November 1958, and the house was vacant for some years thereafter.  Early on the morning of September 17 1971, the home was partially destroyed by fire.  Later,  when it was razed to make way for the Edgemont condominiums, this section of the panelled living room was removed.  Through the efforts of James Beach, then President of the Warner Library Board of Trustees, the library obtained the panel.  It has been in its current location at the top of the stairs since the completion of a new wing in the library in 1979.

Detmer's panelled living room was a copy of the "State Room" in the "Old Palace" lcoated at Bromley-By-Brow.  This building, erected in 1606, probably served as a hunting lodge for King James I of England who reigned from 1603 to 1625.  When the "Old Palace" was demolished in 1894, the "State Room" panelling along with the plaster ceiling was moved to its present location in the Victoria and Albert Musuem.

The overmantel panel has in its center the royal arms of King James I.  The central shield is divided into quarters, representing the four countries ruled by him.  The left upper and right lower quadrants are further quartered and contain two sections each of three lions couchant and three fleur-de-lis representing the arms of England and France.  The right upper quadrant contains the arms of Scotland -- a lion rampant gardant.  The left lower quadrant contains the arms of Ireland -- a harp.  The shield in encircled by a garter inscribed Honi soit qui mal y pense-- Evil to him who evil thinks, the motto of the Royal Order of the Garter.  The shield and garter are "supported" on the one side by a crowned lion and on the other by a collared and chained unicorn representing respectively England and Scotland.  Below the shield is the motto Dieu et mon driot --God and my right, referring to the king's supposed God given power to reign.

Above the shield and garter is a helmet to which is fastened by a wreath of stylized ribbons, the royal crown.  Mounted on the crown is the crest of the royal family, a lion passant guardant.

The entire Detmer panel matches the description of the original handbook of the Victoria & Albert Museum except for one curious difference.  It has as its crest a sheep instead of the royal lion. Is it possible that, being known as the "woolen king", Detmer chose to place his personal crest, a sheep, on this coat of arms?

The Bronze Door  In 1927, Mr. and Mr. Worcester Warner made a substantial gift to the Village of Tarrytown to finance construction of what became the Warner Library.  During a trip to Italy that same year, the couple learned from an antique dealer in Florence about several items from the estate of a wealthy Forentine whose mansion was being dismantled.  The Warners were particularly interested in an unusual late 19th Century bronze sculpted panel. After inspecting the panel, Mr. Warner concluded that "its artistic merit" was of the highest order," and that it would make a fitting ornament for the front door fo the new library in Tarrytown.

The panel's intricate sculpture depicts in deep relief the legend of The Coronation of Venice (for whom the city is named) as Queen of the Adriatic. The female figure, seated on a canopied throne, is being approached by Poseidon carrying his trident and attended by sea nymphs bearing the proffered crown.

Mr. Warner bought the bronze panel for $30,000 and had it shipped to New York.  But because of its immense size (8' X 4') and weight (1,000lbs), the mounting presented a difficult challenge.  Mr. Warner undertook the task himself, drawing on the engineering skills that had made him a renowned builder of astronomical telescopes.

Mr. Warner's design proved so successful that when the new library opened on February 22, 1929, he proudly showed visitors that the massive door could be pushed open with the strength of one finger.  It still can.