Rienzi is the house museum and collection of European paintings and decorative arts at the MFAH. Our articles highlight elements of the collection, discuss additions and changes to the house or gardens, and review events held at Rienzi for those of you not able to be here in person. Feel free to e-mail rienziblog@mfah.org with questions, comments, and suggestions. Welcome!
Posts Tagged Collection, page 3
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27 SepTue / 2011
In preparing for English Taste, we spent considerable time at the dining tables of eighteenth-century England, but on the way stopped into the annals of twenty-first century technology.
For its very first exhibition, Rienzi is offering an audio tour by use of individual MP3 players. Visitors are invited to listen to a series of voice recordings featuring discussion on historic dining, including eighteenth-century etiquette, decorative motifs, and authentic period recipes. This is a big development...
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26 SepMon / 2011
This is our second week hosting English Taste – the grandest eighteenth-century dinner party in Houston – and now that the rush of opening has subsided, we are ready to celebrate in the appropriate fashion. If you join us at this Thursday’s punch party, you will share in a delightful cup of history, and to that end, here is a bit more on the tale of English punch:
The popularity of alcoholic punch in...
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22 SepThu / 2011
In lieu of our upcoming Punch Party (September 29th, buy your tickets now!), I am reviving some notes on a Gallery Talk I held last October, on a curious item from Rienzi’s collection – a punch pot, from 1765, by the Worcester Porcelain Manufactory[i] :
Alcoholic punch was consumed throughout the eighteenth century, however, the punch pot – a form resembling an overblown teapot – appeared in England only at about 1750, falling out of...
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07 JulThu / 2011
If you step into the Breakfast Room at Rienzi you might come across two guests of the house – Sir Francis and Lady Dashwood have been residing along the far wall for the past few months. Sir Francis and Lady Dashwood at West Wycomb Park, by Nathaniel Dance from 1776, is part of the Sarah Campbell Blaffer Collection managed by the MFAH, and is on temporary loan to Rienzi.
We are lucky to host such a prominent...
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01 JulFri / 2011
One of the challenges in designing the interior of Rienzi’s foyer has been that the room is asymmetrical, with sharp bend midway down the hall. In order to preserve the look of an eighteenth century room, we sought to create a balanced the hallway featuring furniture and paintings from the Neoclassical era.
The foyer has traditionally featured a pair of gilded pier tables, one of the best examples of Neoclassical design in Rienzi’s collection. Just as...
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22 AprFri / 2011
Of the many examples of English portraiture in Rienzi’s collection, a favorite is that of Rienzi’s youngest sitter, Esmé Stuart, 5th Duke of Lennox and 2nd Duke or Richmond—a grand title for a small boy of about 3 or 4 years old. The painting, attributed to Jan Weesop, a Flemish painter active in England around 1650, was the topic of a recent Gallery Talk in Rienzi's Ballroom.
Helga Aurisch, curator of European art at the MFAH, spoke...
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