The Japanese Salon, Villa Hügel, Hietzing, Vienna

This salon exhibits a riot of Chinese/Japanese motifs. The walls are hung with wallpaper panels decorated with leaves, birds and large ceramic figures. A lantern, suspended from a palmette canopy centered in the ceiling, is designed in a large circular fish scale pattern. The black japannned and cane furniture is typical of the Victorian period. The floor covering appears to simulate tatami matting. Two large seated statues in costume flank French doors on the right. A mysterious seated figure in the left foreground holds a mask to his face with one hand; an unidentified object, perhaps also a mask, is in the other hand.