Tea at Trianon: Tradition with a Twist

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

Sunday, December 4, 2016

Tradition with a Twist

From Southern Lady:

For Eric, it’s the smallest touches—the jewelry, if you like—that help to elevate a space to its full splendor. “The longer I work, the more enamored I get with details,” Eric says. “There’s a discovery that’s involved in a room every time [you see it]—things that are very subtle, but they tell the story. And that’s where the authenticity comes into a room, where the friends of the home-owner really feel comfortable because it’s a true representation of their friend’s personality.”

Eric’s associate, Christine Barker, is a key part of pulling all those details together, from culling fabric options to helping draft floor plans. “She’s a good sounding board, and she brings a younger eye,” he says. Like Eric, Christine loves the South, and she shares his appreciation for the warmth and comfort that define the region’s homes. “Southern style kind of has a softness to it, but lots of color and lots of pattern and texture,” she says. (Read more.)