![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Feb. 7th, 2005 05:44 pmSaturday, ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
minnaleigh and I went to the Hillwood Museum and Gardens in DC. It was originally the mansion of Marjorie Merriweather Post, who was the C.W. Post heiress and co-founder of General Foods, and was also a major art collector. The museum displays nothing but her furnishings and collections - a lot of 17th- and 18th-century French things, much of which wasn't to my taste, and an outstanding collection of Russian art and religious artifacts.
Mrs. Post was the wife of the U.S. Ambassador to the Soviet Union in the 1930s, and as such she was in a great position to take advantage of the Soviet looting of Eastern Orthodox religious treasures: elaborate ikons, finely wrought silver communion chalices, censers, vestments, even part of an altar. The museum did their best to treat the religious materials respectfully - although most of the art in the house was displayed as Post had displayed it, as part of the home decor, the curators turned the old servants' dining room into a much more gallery-like space for the display of the major religious pieces. Better than seeing a Communion chalice on an end table, I suppose, but the circumstances under which the religious art was acquired still made me a little uncomfortable. Not that most museum pieces probably have a nobler provenance.
I particularly enjoyed seeing the collection of Faberge eggs and tiny carved Faberge animals; the large collection of tiny and elaborately beautiful personal items - seals, snuffboxes, even a stamp holder; the ikons, most of which seemed to show St. George and the dragon; the stunning wood inlay work everywhere in the mansion - floors, furniture, decorative pieces; the 30-foot marble tabletop inlaid with a complex flower pattern done in semi-precious stones; the exquisite Wedgwood bedroom, with delicate blue-and-white reliefs decorating the furniture, ceiling, and fireplace; the dacha in the garden with a row of little metal birds perched on its roof.
Obviously, the gardens weren't much to look at in February. We caught an intriguing glimpse down into the Japanese garden, which was closed for the season, and saw enough of the French formal gardens to gather that they're astonishingly pretty in the spring and summer. We agreed that we'll have to go back when there are actually leaves on the trees.
But of course, we weren't really there for the museum or the gardens. We were there for afternoon tea, and the museum merely provided a before-and-after-tea diversion. Sadly, there we were a bit disappointed. The tea itself was excellent - I had a lovely smoky Darjeeling - but the menu didn't reach the heights that we rather expect. Instead of a broad assortment of tiny sandwiches and sweets, all cut into clever shapes or elegantly garnished, we got two little triangles of the same sandwich (chicken salad), a couple of small scones, a storebought (!) cookie, and a lot of fruit. Everything tasted good, and there was clotted cream for the scones, butminnaleigh and I have very high standards for afternoon tea - which weren't satisfied.
When we go back to tour the gardens, I believe we'll bring our own food in a picnic basket.
minnaleigh and I went to the Hillwood Museum and Gardens in DC. It was originally the mansion of Marjorie Merriweather Post, who was the C.W. Post heiress and co-founder of General Foods, and was also a major art collector. The museum displays nothing but her furnishings and collections - a lot of 17th- and 18th-century French things, much of which wasn't to my taste, and an outstanding collection of Russian art and religious artifacts.Mrs. Post was the wife of the U.S. Ambassador to the Soviet Union in the 1930s, and as such she was in a great position to take advantage of the Soviet looting of Eastern Orthodox religious treasures: elaborate ikons, finely wrought silver communion chalices, censers, vestments, even part of an altar. The museum did their best to treat the religious materials respectfully - although most of the art in the house was displayed as Post had displayed it, as part of the home decor, the curators turned the old servants' dining room into a much more gallery-like space for the display of the major religious pieces. Better than seeing a Communion chalice on an end table, I suppose, but the circumstances under which the religious art was acquired still made me a little uncomfortable. Not that most museum pieces probably have a nobler provenance.
I particularly enjoyed seeing the collection of Faberge eggs and tiny carved Faberge animals; the large collection of tiny and elaborately beautiful personal items - seals, snuffboxes, even a stamp holder; the ikons, most of which seemed to show St. George and the dragon; the stunning wood inlay work everywhere in the mansion - floors, furniture, decorative pieces; the 30-foot marble tabletop inlaid with a complex flower pattern done in semi-precious stones; the exquisite Wedgwood bedroom, with delicate blue-and-white reliefs decorating the furniture, ceiling, and fireplace; the dacha in the garden with a row of little metal birds perched on its roof.
Obviously, the gardens weren't much to look at in February. We caught an intriguing glimpse down into the Japanese garden, which was closed for the season, and saw enough of the French formal gardens to gather that they're astonishingly pretty in the spring and summer. We agreed that we'll have to go back when there are actually leaves on the trees.
But of course, we weren't really there for the museum or the gardens. We were there for afternoon tea, and the museum merely provided a before-and-after-tea diversion. Sadly, there we were a bit disappointed. The tea itself was excellent - I had a lovely smoky Darjeeling - but the menu didn't reach the heights that we rather expect. Instead of a broad assortment of tiny sandwiches and sweets, all cut into clever shapes or elegantly garnished, we got two little triangles of the same sandwich (chicken salad), a couple of small scones, a storebought (!) cookie, and a lot of fruit. Everything tasted good, and there was clotted cream for the scones, but
minnaleigh and I have very high standards for afternoon tea - which weren't satisfied.When we go back to tour the gardens, I believe we'll bring our own food in a picnic basket.
