(no subject)

[rivka]

Saturday, 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.

Comments

[ailbhe]

Your icon makes me happy and I can't identify why.

[writingortyping.livejournal.com]

I've always wanted to try high tea at Strathmore, but it's apparently only open at odd times midweek, and a friend called to see about getting reservations and they're booked for MONTHS.

One of the highlights of my last trip to London (with Mom in '02) was a high tea at Brown's Hotel. A friend knew the manager and got us hooked up!

AFTERNOON tea!

[dakiwiboid.livejournal.com]

High tea is a very middle-class meal, served at home. It's just early supper, stew or soup or regular sandwiches or whatever, served with cups of tea. The fancy tea is called afternoon tea. I know the "high" component sounds fancier, for some reason, but it's simply wrong.

[marykaykare.livejournal.com]

Yeah. Mostly what people really mean when they say high tea is a cream tea, but I fear this is a losing battle. American cultural imperialism in the worst possible way.

MKK

I'm even a benighted Midwesterner!

[dakiwiboid.livejournal.com]

However, I grew up on British kidlit, so I developed an inner nanny, and always knew better.

[marykaykare.livejournal.com]

A collection of Faberge eggs came to SF a few years back. Seeing them all gathered together like that was mind boggling. Most are really too ornate for my taste though I like the lily of the valley one.

It seems like an interesting place to visit; I'll have bookmark the website for my travel folder. Thanks!

MKK

[tikva.livejournal.com]

I've had and enjoyed afternoon tea at the Hay-Adams, the Watergate, and the Ritz, but the absolute best high tea around the area is the one at the Four Seasons in Georgetown. Worth every penny. Don't miss it.

[ororo.livejournal.com]

Oo! That sounds like fun!

[phantom_wolfboy]

It sounds kinda like if she hadn't taken the religious stuff the Soviets would probably have destroyed it. One could argue that she is keeping the stuff in existence rather than that she had stolen it from its proper owners, as is so often the case in museums.

[kazoogrrl.livejournal.com]

You should check out the Thir-tea First Street Tea Room (hot sweet potato biscuits, mmm). A friend had her weddign shower there - fabulous food and great service (veggie friendly, too). Also, I took my mom to the Petticoat Tea Room, very nice though also very . . . pink.

http://www.teamap.com/tearooms/thir_tea_first_street_cafe!___tea_room_1072.html

[rivka.livejournal.com]

And you should try Finnertea's, just off the Avenue in Hampden. Yum.

[elusis.livejournal.com]

Oh, oh, oh, suddenly I very much want afternoon tea... I'm thining of being in the Orangerie in London. [sigh]

[oursin.livejournal.com]

I believe we'll bring our own food in a picnic basket.

I'll bet Fortnum and Mason would do mail-order - check out their hampers.

[papersky.livejournal.com]

I used to have one of those. It was a picnic basket for years and then it was a cat basket.

Zorinth isn't well, and what he demanded for breakfast yesterday was Importance of Being Earnest sandwiches -- meaning in tiny triangles and with the crusts cut off.

[rivka.livejournal.com]

Silly oursin, Fortnum and Mason hampers are something that characters in books have. Real people couldn't order them.

[papersky.livejournal.com]

I never had that thought about museums, even having seen the Elgin marbles, until I went to some in North America and saw things that had been l/o/o/t/e/d/ taken from my culture -- gothic cathedral stuff that in Europe would be in context rather than in a museum, and which made me suddenly aware that all this stuff had come from somewhere, and that somewhere wasn't necessarily an archaeological dig.

Not a comfortable feeling.

[rivka.livejournal.com]

The other thing that's really tripped that feeling for me in the past is displays of dead bodies - mummies (although mummy cases feel okay; it's just the bodies), and the Bog Man in the British Museum.