Tea at Trianon: Elsie de Wolfe

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

She has been called the inventor of interior design.

Her philosophy: "On a cushion which accompanies me everywhere is my philosophy: 'Never complain. Never explain.' Nothing ages a woman like worry or bad temper. . . . Make-up is an art that every woman must learn for herself. There is one element which must always go into it. Plenty of time."

More quotes:

"Be pretty if you can, be witty if you must, but be gracious if it kills you."

"It is the personality of the mistress that the home expresses. Men are forever guests in our homes, no matter how much happiness they may find there."

"I believe in plenty of optimism and white paint."

"Simplicity, suitability and proportion."

"The cardinal virtue of all beauty is restraint."

"I am going in now for interior decoration. By that I mean supplying objets d'art and giving advice regarding the decoration of their houses to wealthy persons who do not have the time, inclination, nor culture to do such work for themselves. It is nothing new. Women have done the same thing before."

"I am going to make everything around me beautiful. That will be my life."

Dymphna said...: I love Elsie DeWolf. Her book is a hoot.; January 10, 2011 at 9:42:00 AM EST
elena maria vidal said...: I'll bet it is.; January 10, 2011 at 9:45:00 AM EST
Julygirl said...: I totally agree with her. Amen. What is missing in our current culture is culture.; January 10, 2011 at 12:58:00 PM EST
May said...: "It is the personality of the mistress that the home expresses. Men are forever guests in our homes, no matter how much happiness they may find there."

Brilliant!; January 10, 2011 at 1:47:00 PM EST