Tea at Trianon: Why the English Country Kitchen Endures

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

Saturday, May 13, 2023

Why the English Country Kitchen Endures

From Architectural Digest:

Like a supporting character in a Julian Fellowes period drama—with a timeless sense of style, old-world sensibility, and quintessential British charm—the English country kitchen has captured the hearts of interior designers and homeowners alike. Whether it’s owed to a central “downstairs” role in a popular series like Downton Abbey or simply a natural move away from sleek contemporary kitchens, the stalwart of old-school interiors has been cropping up with relative frequency in homes on both sides of the pond.
Unlike bleak trend-based kitchen design that might include all-white cabinetry, coordinating subway tile backsplashes, and a suite of stainless-steel appliances, the comforting hallmarks of an English country kitchen are rooted in necessity and tradition rather than pure aesthetics. In a seeming return to domesticity, a hearth-like range, generously sized center island, built-in cabinetry, cheery paint colors, minimal decoration, and a mix of natural materials—wood, stone, brick, and patinated metals—evoke a necessary sense of timelessness that people are craving today. The utilitarian design has become an embodiment of a simpler way of life, with an emphasis on warmth and practicality—even in a home as wonderfully audacious as Lily Allen and David Harbour’s Brooklyn townhouse, where AD100 designer Billy Cotton devised his own take on the genre. (Read more.)