Infamous kleptomaniac, or greatly misunderstood collector. Discuss.
-
-
I have it on good authority that shopkeepers, especially antique dealers and such, were not overly keen to have HSH and later HM enter their premises, as her eye usually alighted on some desirable, mainly small but not inexpensive, item which would give one such great pleasure - but one couldn't possibly hope . . . Needless to say many such items were deeply honoured to be allowed to resume life - elsewhere.My life, each morning when I dress, is four and twenty hours less. (J Richardson) -
Not just shopkeepers. Any unfortunate person she decided to stay with would, if they were sensible, hide any treasured object away. If she admired something, it was expected that it would duly arrive at the Palace.
However, Wikipedia says that she
" paid above-market estimates when purchasing jewels from the estate of Dowager Empress Marie of Russia and paid almost three times the estimate when buying the family's Cambridge Emeralds from Lady Kilmorey, the mistress of her late brother Prince Francis."
and
"Her extensive knowledge of, and research into, the Royal Collection helped in identifying artefacts and artwork that had gone astray over the years. The Royal Family had lent out many objects over previous generations. Once she had identified unreturned items through old inventories, she would write to the holders, requesting that they be returned."Comment
-
"Vsevelode [wind merchant] has had a and SOS from Badminton for more hock; Queen Mary, it seems, drinks a half-bottle every night with her dinner, and has done so all her life: sometimes at luncheon too. And the stock of hock is running low in this country. I hear she still keeps up some state at Badminton where her tireless energy quite exhausts her long-suffering but devoted entourage ..." ('Chips' Channon)Comment
-
Comment
-
... what a waist!Comment
-
Is that a feather-duster the attractive young lady is carrying ... ?
Yes, these were the days when women knew their place , Mr Grew ...
Comment
-
Gosh! What a splendid portrait.
"Queen Mary glittered with five diamond necklaces about her neck. She was in blue with literally mountains of diamonds. Pamela Berry whispered to me - 'She has bagged all the best'. ('Chips' Channon, 1939)Comment
-
Photoshop? Nothing new under the sun.Originally posted by vinteuil View Post
My life, each morning when I dress, is four and twenty hours less. (J Richardson)Comment
-
She (HM) was also working at her "one great hobby" of reorganising the Royal collections and the furniture in the Royal residences, and of retrieving portraits, plate, pieces of furniture, miniatures and relics which had, in earlier years, been dispersed and which she now re-integrated into the collections at Windsor Castle. . . On her husband's accession to the throne in 1910, the Queen had at once set herself this task of conservation. Now, in a post-war epoch of flux and doubt and dissolution, it seemed to her more than ever imperative to garner and preserve every tangible remnant of the history of British Royalty. . . With her phenomenal memory there went a very shrewd eye . . . She had now thoroughly learned to appreciate the beautiful as well as the curious and the rare. In conversation at this time she would always attribute her love of fine objects to her father the Duke of Teck; "only he was poor", she would add, "and could not afford to buy."
(Queen Mary by John Pope-Hennessy, 1959, p.525)
Collecting had now become a major preoccupation of Queen Mary's life. . . Lord Cambridge (HM's eldest brother) and his wife lived in Shropshire, but whenever he came to London his sister would hurry him off round galleries and museums. "What do you want to go & see, the Wallace Collection, or Victoria & Albert or National Portrait Gallery", she wrote to him in a typical note in February 1925. "Should any of these smile on you wld you like me to let the Director know as it is nice sometimes to have a knowledgeable person with one, & one of whom one can ask questions? Have you ever seen the Soane Museum because that is most interesting & you wld like it?" . . . On those afternoons in London when she had no official duty to perform . . . the Queen would set out with an attendant Lady to look at some gallery or museum, or to call on a dealer or an antiquaire. They would leave Buckingham Palace punctually at two-forty-five. The Queen would be back in good time to give King George V his tea.
(Queen Mary by James Pope-Hennessy, 1959, pp.525/26)My life, each morning when I dress, is four and twenty hours less. (J Richardson)Comment
-
My late father grew up on the Isle of Wight. He told me, so notorious was this lady, that as soon as her presence at Osborne House became known, all the antique shops on the island found it prudent to close down for the duration...Comment
-
That's no boa, she has. That's her swag bag! Think how many snuff boxes she could snaffle away in that.
"We then began a minute detailed examination of the house, the Queen at once revealing her very great knowledge and flair for pictures, furniture and bibelot. I found her absolutely delightful, indeed I have never liked anyone so much so quickly ... She was in ecstasies over the small black anteroom, and did not hide her delight when in it came to the Amalienburg ... She felt the walls in her black gloved fingers and she patted the stove, then examined the Dresden pieces.
We then walked up to the library, the drawing room, even to our bedroom, and climbed to the nursery, and the Queen picked up Paul (future Tory minister) and played with him. He clutched the royal nose to her amusement, and tried to tug at her earrings. She seemed delighted with my beloved baby boy, who always plays up on these occasions."
[Queen Mary taking a a tour of the home of 'Chips' Channon who with his wife Lady Iveagh had fashioned one of London's finest interior decorated homes. The year was 1936 - the year of the three kings.]Comment
-
Knowing that her favourite hat was the toque, could it be that they should be called the Teck Toque?
And if she chose a less than attractive one, would it be a Tacky Teck Toque?
Yes Doctor, I'm coming now .....
Comment
-
Was this her favourite pub?Knowing that her favourite hat was the toque, could it be that they should be called the Teck Toque?
Comment
Comment