Tea at Trianon: Artisan Easter Eggs

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, March 31, 2024

Artisan Easter Eggs

From Victoria:

A symbol of new life in many cultures throughout the world, the egg has been incorporated into springtime traditions for thousands of years. Decorating these beloved emblems is a cherished custom associated with childhood, but this rite of Easter can continue on with elegant adornments that capture the beauty and wonder of this season of awakening. Nestled gently into a rustic twig nest, suspended from a willowy bouquet of freshly cut branches, or arranged in similarly festive displays, a bevy of thoughtfully hand-decorated eggs celebrates spring. Along with offering an interlude of crafting, creating these keepsakes with papier-mâché eggs instead of a farm-fresh variety provides a means to preserve the splendor of a landscape in bloom. (Read more.)