Saturday, December 27, 2014

Aloha to the Winterthur Museum and Yuletide Decorations (part 1)

 

My mother and I visited the Winterthur Museum in Delaware. Here are a few more pictures from the Downton Abbey Costume Exhibit ...


... including the famous bell system.


Love Cora's attitude!


From the Winterthur website (link),

Almost 60 years ago, collector and horticulturist Henry Francis du Pont (1880–1969) opened his childhood home, Winterthur, to the public. Today, Winterthur (pronounced “winter-tour”) is the premier museum of American decorative arts, with an unparalleled collection of nearly 90,000 objects made or used in America between about 1640 and 1860. The collection is displayed in the magnificent 175-room house, much as it was when the du Pont family lived here, as well as in permanent and changing exhibition galleries.


Winterthur is set amidst a 1,000-acre preserve of rolling meadows and woodlands. Designed by du Pont, its 60-acre naturalistic garden is among America’s best, with magnificent specimen plantings and massed displays of color. Graduate programs and a preeminent research library make Winterthur an important center for the study of American art and culture. 


We entered the family home to view the Yuletide decorations and fabulous antiques.  


I want a chair like this for my gloves and purse!


Here's the servants' breakfast room.  Notice the bakelite radio (light colored) on the buffet.


The dining room was filled with Americana ...


... including six tankards made by Paul Revere.


Guests retired to the Chinese room for after dinner music.  Du Pont found rare Chinese wallpaper in Paris, still rolled up, and brought it back to Winterthur.


The wallpaper was exquisite ...


... along with the floral arrangements to represent Du Pont's horticulture skills.

Do you have any floral arranges (live or dried) in your home?  One randomly selected commenter from this week's blogs wins a book choice from my convention stash.   Comments are open through Saturday, January 3, 10 pm in Baltimore.  I'll post the winner on Sunday, January 4, at SOS Aloha.

Mahalo,

Kim in Baltimore
Aloha Spirit in Charm City

Winterthur Yuletide

5 comments:

  1. no flowers in my home... but I should get some :) Thanks so much for the fun post!

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  2. sometimes some live ones

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  3. not right now - tho I often get sent some fresh flowers on my birthday.
    I've always wanted to go to Winterthur, but whenever we're in that area, we're on our way to someplace else - have to make a specific plan to go sometime!

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  4. We don't having the right lighting for real flowers/plants, so I have lots of baskets & wall hangings of greenery.

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  5. I have a beautiful rose arrangement that is very lifelike. And I have another that I put up at Christmas time.

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