In 2011
The Historic Odessa Foundation in Odessa, Delaware had a wonderful exhibit called
A Joyful Tasha Tudor Christmas. The curator did an excellent job of capturing the look and feel of a Tasha Tudor Christmas. The exhibit was set up in the
Wilson-Warner House (1769). In several of the photos I will point out the items that are reminiscent of Tasha's home.
The creche in the bread oven, the tin oven, stockings hung from the mantel, the tea service, spinning wheel, loom-woven coverlet, lustreware tea set, and candles. . . .
. . . .the Corgi in the basket. . . .
. . . .the bird cage, homespun curtains. . . .
Gingerbread ornaments being made for the Christmas tree, feathered owls, apron and bonnet. . . .
Minou the cat asleep on the top of the cabinet. . . .
Chickahominy, crockery, copper pots. . . .
Song birds in the cage, her drawings on the wall. . . .
. . . .antique molds. . . .
The dining room fireplace was decorated on the order of the borders Tasha painted around her drawings in her books. Above the table hangs the advent wreath made from boxwood. . . .
Even the food on the table were the type she would serve in her Canton dishes. . . .
The clothing was from Tasha's collection. . . .
One of her paintings hangs on the wall. . . .
The entrance hallway had a collection of her books. . . .
The trees on the upstairs landing were decorated with donuts just as Tasha would do for the forest animals. . . .
The first bedroom had a collection of her miniature letters for the Sparrow Post. . . .
. . . .another dress from her collection. . . .
. . . .a Sylvie Ann doll and Laura tea set. . . .
. . . .and another decorated fireplace with Christmas snappers. . . .
There was also a full-size cabinet dollhouse on the order of Tasha's. . . .
The second bedroom depicted Tasha's
The Night Before Christmas. . . .
Notice the boots coming down the chimney and the garland surrounding the fireplace. . . .
The rabbit was made by Tasha for a friend. . . .
A portrait of Tasha's brother, Frederick, painted by her mother. . . .
The Parlor contained the decorated Christmas tree. . . .
Straw stars and gingerbread ornaments. . . .
. . . .glass Kugel ornaments and paper cornucopias. . . .
. . . .Edgar Allen Crow. . . .
Happy Christmas to All and to All Goodnight!
.•*¨`*•. ☆ .•*¨`*•
Take Joy!
Dearest Cathy,
ReplyDeleteThis post is absolutely WONDERFUL!! Thank you for for sharing!! You always post such delightful things!! I shall come back to see this again! What a great job the museum did :-)
Many many Blessings and warmth, Linnie
I went on this tour before my first visit to Tasha's house. It felt like the next best thing because the rooms captured the essence of all I'd seen in the books about her. I wished the museum had thought to make a booklet available to purchase of the exhibit. I was grateful they let me take as many photos as I did!
DeleteMOST delightful! I take it these are photos you took while on the tour? Everything is candy for the eyes, and of course my eyes are especially drawn to the dollhouse cabinet. Thank you so much for another fun adventure...
ReplyDeleteYes they are Sharon. I didn't have a Blog then and I only thought to post the photos this year after finding so many Tasha Tudor kindred spirits who would be interested in them.
DeleteThis was so fun to see. And so much to take in in each picture. I wonder if the boxwood wreath was real or not. If so, boxwood has such a peculiar scent, I wonder if that was present in the room? Maybe it had conditioned! Thanks for showing all these pictures. You are a wealth of information!
ReplyDeleteYou know, Dotsie, I can't remember now. I think my visual sense was overwhelmed with everything there was to see to notice if there was a scent.
DeleteIt's so wonderful to see how the museum interperted Tasha Tudor's style. Thank you for sharing more of your adventures that involve the beloved Miss Tudor. ♥
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome!
DeleteWhat a fabulous tribute to an American artist and storyteller. I loved it all!
ReplyDeleteI agree!
DeleteHello Cathy,
ReplyDeleteI really really loved this tour, such beautiful fireplaces & paint colours.
Thank you for the beautiful photos.
Fondly Michelle
The Wilson-Warner house was built when we were still a colony of Great Britain! I love old houses--especially the big fireplaces.
DeleteSeeing Tasha's Christmas "in real life" and in color makes years of reading and poring over the mostly-pencil drawings in "Take Joy" just come to life! Thanks for posting all these. In this day and age when we think nothing of buying just about everything, Tasha made so much at home, and I think that's one of the things I respected most about her. I had a childhood friend whose mother was an English war bride and she showed us how to make those Christmas snappers, only she called them "crackers." I guess they're a big part of the traditional English Christmas [even the Royal Family finds them on their holiday lunch table]; we sure had fun making them for our friends and families in high school. It might be harder to do them now though, because we don't have five-and-dime stores around like we used to. And Woolworth-type goodies were a big part of the "crackers" we made. In our family we have been scaling back Christmas gradually over the years, as we lost my parents and now as even their grandchildren [my nieces & nephews] are growing up [everyone has graduated from high school]. But we still do our traditional sumptuous Christmas Eve meal [my assignment this year was the starter, so I'm bringing lobster bisque and homebaked cheddar "soup dippers" which are basically very thick, VERY cheesy crackers]. Only now we just buy each other bunches of small, fun practical things In the past I've done little sewing kits, movie night kits [video rental certificate, microwave popcorn and candy bars], winter car emergency kits [those folded Mylar blankets, granola bars, boxes of raisins, hand lotion, bottled water etc], cold & flu kits [lip balm, sugar-free cough drops, Kleenex, aspirin, packets of cocoa mix, Cup-a-Soup etc], No theme this year, sorry to say. I'm getting car wash tickets, gift cards for our local supermarket and I'm making - for the girls - little muslin bags with lavender to put in drawers and closets and - for the boys - glass jars full of homemade hot chocolate mix [just add boiling water]. Tis very satisfying to make presents, I must say. I can definitely see the appeal it held for Tasha. Which reminds me that I haven't dug out "Take Joy" yet this year - better get hoppin'. OK have a great week, Cathy,
ReplyDeleteJanet, I love all the ideas for Christmas gifts! I love themed anything and will write down your ideas for future gift-giving ideas. Your soup sounds wonderful, too. Have a great week, too, preparing for Christmas as you read Take Joy!
DeleteI love all these suggestions! I'm going to keep them in mind.
DeleteI guess my "theme" for giving this year is "have yourself a merry bit of winter" - Amaryllis bulb, cookies, tea, a bit of chocolate. These are things I love to have in January cold and dark.
That's a good idea, too, Elaine--a gift that people can use after Christmas. Maybe add a good book to the basket!
DeleteLovely post, Cathy; thank for the guided tour. It must have been so much fun for you to experience the exhibit. Your photographs show such lovely details.
ReplyDeleteI'd forgotten about decorating the trees with donuts for the birds. I might just do that this year!
Thank you, Elaine. I wonder if the deer will eat the donuts before the birds and squirrels get to them!
DeleteWe have a kind of dogwood that I see from the kitchen that I will use. I suspect the deer can and might stand on their hind legs to feast but then that will add to the entertainment! I hope we will have dry weather to decorate it Christmas week.
DeleteIf they do, I hope you get some photos you can post on your Blog! I call the bird feeder in my bedroom window next to my bed Poetry & Gabriel's "entertainment center." :-)
DeleteOooooooh Cathy! Thank you so much for posting these! I love this so much, they did an AMAZING job of capturing the look of a Tasha Tudor Christmas! I totally want to live in that house, hehe! I love how they had so many thoughtful touches through art, decoration, food and books that came together to make it all so "Tasha".
ReplyDeleteMe, too!
DeleteSo lovely to see Tasha's home decorated for Christmas. Sarah x
ReplyDeleteSarah, I wish it was! But it's just a museum exhibit. Wouldn't it have been great to be able to visit Tasha during the Christmas season!
Delete