Tea at Trianon: The Poetry of Passementerie

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

Thursday, December 1, 2016

The Poetry of Passementerie

From Victoria:

Scalamandré’s timeless trims, tassels, and tiebacks weave a legacy whose fine silk thread runs through the world’s most famous and fabulous homes. From frilly French fringes to bold beaded braids, we revel in the romance and see history in the making, one stitch at a time. Scalamandré’s history is as rich and intricate as a floral-shaped curtain tieback. The company has been making luxury trims, fabrics, and wallpapers for designers, preservationists, and architects ever since its founder, Franco Scalamandré, set up shop in this block-long factory in 1929. The family-owned company, with factories around the globe, also makes vintage reproductions for virtually every historic house in America, including the White House. (Read more.)