Tea at Trianon: Eastern Eden

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, October 25, 2020

Eastern Eden

From La Dolce Vita:

We worked with George from The ABL Group who did a wonderful job on the construction portion of our room. The design is centered around the “Eastern Eden” wallpaper by Iksel. I had the ceiling lacquered in a barely there shade of pink (Sherwin Williams Venus Pink) to add an element of surprise. The host and hostess Loop chairs (from Bungalow 5) are an homage to Frances Elkins and are upholstered in the Miles Redd for Schumacher Cubist fabric. The side chairs are French antique 19th century Louis XVI upholstered in a Schumacher velvet on loan from designer Amy Kartheiser (SOLD) while the beautiful mahogany flame dining table (SOLD)is from Anna’s Mostly Mahogany. The beautiful chandelier is the The Sarafina Chandelier in white tole by Coleen and Company. The “Keno” jute rug (SOLD) by Patterson Flynn Martin grounds the room and adds a dose of texture. (Read more.)