52nd Annual Delaware Show

Winterthur’s Chinese Parlor epitomizes Mr. du Pont’s exceptional decorating talents (fig. 2) . Here the object of particular focus is the eighteenth-century Chinese wallpaper, notable for its condition and the quantity used in the room. Select examples of Georgian furniture are arranged in a convivial twentieth-century way that allows for modern entertainment and gives the room a contemporary freshness. The decorative scheme is derived from the colors in the wallpaper with such attention to detail that four sets of curtains were created, from yellow silk to green damask, to allow for seasonal changes. Derbyshire spar vases on the mantel, with pink and purple veining, offset the greens and blues that dominate the coloration of the paper. As a scholar-decorator, the interiors I design convey knowledge through beauty by incorporating something old and something new. I offer two examples here. The drawing room at Drumlin Hall is an explicit homage to Winterthur and the neoclassical rooms created in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries (fig. 3) . Most of the furniture is antique, save the low tables and the pair of settees, which are modern adaptations. The newness in the room comes from an unexpected color scheme—like those used at Winterthur—much different from the oft-repeated red, blue, and green common to classical rooms. And, importantly, the newness is further enhanced through the personal collection of art arranged to reflect the very good taste of our patron. Fig. 2. The Chinese Parlor at Winterthur — 21 —