There's a lot going on in my life right now! I've started as a tour guide again, this time at Hamilton Grange, Alexander Hamilton's Harlem home! That's right, I'm working in the home of one of my heroes for the National Park Service!
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| Selfie with the bae |
I've been to the Metropolitan Museum of Art (or as most New Yorkers call it, "The Met") 3 times now, and I'm quite sure I still haven't seen everything. But since my very first visit, way back in Autumn, what charmed me the most about the Met wasn't the incredible collection of paintings. It wasn't ancient artefacts or medieval armor. (Though let's be clear, I do love all of that stuff.) No, the best part of the Met is their collection of Period Rooms. It's charming to lose yourself in galleries, turn a corner, and suddenly find yourself in a room from the 1700s.
The Met has so many of these that it's altogether impossible to even remember all of them, or to rank them objectively. This is not meant to be an objective top ten list, especially since I don't even think I've found all of them yet. No, this list is decided by one person. Me. This is my list of my top ten favourite period rooms at the Met. And if many of them are contemporary to Hamilton's time? Well... that's mostly coincidental. Wink wink nudge nudge.
All photos listed are from the Met's website, which states that their photos are public domain.
10. The Astor Chinese Garden Court
This is a fun one to stumble upon. A Ming Dynasty style garden complete with a trickling fountain in the middle of the Asian art galleries. On any given time you might see old ladies sitting on the bench or art students on the tiled floor sketching. But this room is rather peaceful.
That's why I like it so much, I think. A lot of the Met can get really crowded, even loud in some areas. (Looking at you, Temple of Dendur.) This room is tucked away, hard to find, quiet. It offers an almost meditative, contemplative kind of silence. And though it doesn't look it, it's just big enough to sit and be still for awhile, just as I'm sure Ming Dynasty royalty would have done in very similar gardens.
Now it is ranked rather low on this list, mostly because it's technically a garden, not a room. Also I'm not into Asian art as much as I am other kinds of art, though I do like it quite a bit. (I just don't know as much about these cultures, and without cultural context the best I can say about the art is "it's pretty", which is a damn shame. If anyone has any book recs on Asian history, do let me know!) But it is still a hidden gem in the vast halls of the Met.
9. The Frank Lloyd Wright Room
While I do love midcentury modern decor (if I wasn't living in a Victorian house, then it'd probably be my home decor style of choice, but as it is now, it doesn't fit with my building), I'm not a huge fan of Frank Lloyd Wright. (I mean I guess he technically predates midcentury modern, but you know what I mean.) When it comes to prominent architects my tastes run towards, say, Julia Morgan. Or John Macombs Jr. Or, well, Sarah Winchester, if I'm being totally honest. (Shut up she totally counts.)
That being said, this actually is a pleasant room to be in. It's long, drawing the eye towards the end of it and past interesting details like those charming windows, which are almost Art Deco in the patterning. I actually like the square patterning on the ceiling, too. Mostly, though, in a museum with lots of old rooms, this is the only one I've found that really feels modern. So walking into it is kind of like taking a refreshing little breather before throwing yourself back into history.
8. Cubiculum from the Villa of P. Fannius Synistor
From the most modern room on this list to the most ancient one. This room is pretty small. In fact it barely even qualifies as a period room because there is no furniture in it, although I dearly wish there was. There are just the richly coloured fresco walls and the window with its bars warped by time.
No, my attachment to this room lies more in how it was preserved. This room, which functioned as a bedroom for P. Fannius Synistor (which is possibly the greatest name I have ever heard), was one of many buried in the ashes after the eruption of Vesuvius in the year 79. I've been morbidly fascinated with the eruption of Vesuvius since I first learned about it as a 7 year old ancient history freak. The fact that this room witnessed that event makes standing in the centre of it delightfully, enticingly chilling. That's why I like this room.
7. Drawing Room from the Craig House, Baltimore, Maryland
It's an early 19th century (Federal period) dining room fit for a Wonderlandian tea party, complete with pink walls. The real showstopper of the room - you can barely tell in the photo - is the fact that the chandelier is made of purple glass, giving the impression that it's made of amethysts. The white woodwork around the fireplace and the little nooks are delicately neoclassical. The whole room, by modern standards, is somewhat "girly". But neither I nor Henry Craig, who owned this room, give any fucks about your modern gender roles. This room is pretty, okay?!
6. The Swiss Room
This room is pure Baroque splendor at its best. Dark wood paneling and carving lends the room a rich feeling - it's like the atmospheric equivalent to biting into a really dense flourless triple chocolate cake. The wood is of multiple types, and the carvings show fantastic mythical beasts as well as human beings from all over the old world - including Turks and Moors.
But the real fun part of this room, the icing on our imaginary flourless triple chocolate cake, is that porcelain thing in the corner. I've never ever seen anything like that. How unique! How novel! It's apparently called a "schlössli", or a little castle, unless I'm reading the website wrong. I don't know if it was a Swiss thing or just that the guy who owned it was a rich eccentric. I don't know and I don't really care - I just like looking at it.
5. The Damascus Room
Speaking of rooms I like looking at! I don't know a lot about the history of the Islamic Golden Age, but I admire its aesthetics, and the Damascus Room is a great example of what I like about that particular aesthetic. Islamic art is, I think, one of the most beautiful styles of art. Instead of focusing on images of people and animals, it tends to focus more on stunningly ornate abstract motifs and sometimes stylised Arabic script as well. It's beautiful.
This room is a stunning example of that beauty. The woodwork has gold on it, though I don't know if that's gold paint or gold leaf. And the tiles in and around the fountain in the centre (There's a fountain inside!) are just gorgeous. I can just imagine sitting here with dark tea and baklava (or, in Syrian, baqlawah).
4. Boudoir from the Hotel de Crillon
I can't believe this room is from a hotel. It looks so much like a room from Versailles itself. The 'M-A' logo that Marie Antoinette herself used is on one of the pillows and everything. This room with its pastels, gilding, and floral patterns is the very height of rococo.
I used to love this high rococo style, with intense florals and arabesques, more than I do now. I mean I still adore it, but this used to be, like, what I wanted to live in all the time, fluffy pastel dresses and all. So though I now do prefer a slightly later Federalist style (I guess my tastes matured much like the tastes of 18th century/early 19th century citizens), this room is still special to that small part of me that hasn't completely disappeared.
I mean, it's so pretty!
3. Room from the Colden House, Coldenham, New York
Dating to the 1760s, this room is more or less contemporary with the previous one listed. But what a difference between them! It seems the differences between New York and French sensibilities were pronounced even back in the eighteenth century. This room is a bit more austere - no high rococo pastels and arabesques here!
However, that doesn't mean the room is boring, not by any means. The woodwork is painted in a muted teal that really contrasts with the bright orange of the furniture, making them really pop. Colour contrast is a really fun thing to play with in both art and interior design, and I appreciate that someone in the eighteenth century went for that in an era full of pastels. It's very clearly 18th century, but in a really fresh unique way that really makes me want to join them at whatever card game is going on there in the centre.
2. Room from the Hart House, Ipswich, Massachusetts
Or as I call it, the Puritan room. The Met doesn't list it as specifically Puritan, but it's from the Massachusetts colony and dated to the 1680s - it's Puritan. My attachment to this room is entirely subjective. It's certainly not as showy as some of the others. It's not a room you walk in and are immediately wowed by. No, my attachment to it is entirely sentimental. See, I discovered it right when Sarah and I were writing a story that involved a man with Puritan ancestors. It inspired both of us so much that the room itself ended up in the story. Here's an excerpt:
"The room was small, with a low ceiling and almost no color save for the red blanket on the bed. Artifacts from the Seventeenth Century sporadically decorated the flat surfaces in the room. Norman was surprised so many full cases and pitchers remained intact. He read the information on a few of them, but didn't understand most of the vocabulary used. He looked at one of the ornate wooden chairs.
“Her room looked almost exactly like this one.”
Norman looked up, confused for a moment before he realized why Loki had brought him here - the Puritan room. Suddenly he looked around with a lot more interest. “It did?”
“Yeah. Except out her door was a kitchen and a couple k- ...And a kid.”
Norman looked up. “John.”
“John the second.”
“Out of four? Five?”
“How should I know, kid? I’m a trickster god, not a mathematician.”
Norman chuckled, gently touching one of the bits of furniture. He wasn't sure if he was allowed. “You said ‘a couple.’ Did she have another child?”
The pause that followed was so long that Norman was sure Loki had decided not to answer. The medium knelt down to get a better look at the fireplace. Finally he spoke up. “Angelica.”
Norman looked up. “A daughter?”
“She… Didn't make it.”
“Oh…” He knew that child mortality rates hadn't been good. He supposed if the girl didn't live past a certain age, there wouldn't be much of a record of her. He tried hard not to think about Christy. Then a thought struck him that made his face clench. He brought a hand to his forehead. “She… She had to see her child’s spirit, didn't she? Leaving her body.”
“She didn't take it well, kid.”
He dropped the hand to his knee. And suddenly his chest tightened. “I have a new question.”
“Do you, now?”
Norman looked up at Loki. The god was reclining in the wooden bed with the red blanket. Norman knew chiding him wouldn't do any good. “I'm sure tons of people made tons of wishes back then. So why Mary? Why that wish?”
Loki released a sigh that seemed to carry more answers to questions Norman never asked, but in a code that Norman didn't understand. He just knew the breath seemed to stretch back in time for hundreds of years. “You aren't gonna like the answer to that question, kid. It's complicated and unpleasant.”
“Complicated and unpleasant, huh?” Norman looked up at him from his spot on the floor. “Go ahead, then.”
1. Bedroom from the Sagredo Palace
THIS ROOM. THIS ROOM YOU GUYS. Words cannot possibly describe it and the photo only barely does it justice, but I'm going to try. This room is such a showstopper. I've seen it each time I go to the Met, and every time I walk in, I am awestruck. My breath is taken away. It's so ornate, so gilded, so fantastic that it almost doesn't look real.
I can't imagine living in a palace befitting a bedroom like this, and I definitely can't imagine sleeping in this. I could stand in this room for hours and I still don't think I'd be able to take in all the little details. All the faces on all the cherubs, the beautifully carved (or is it sculpted?) flower garlands, the golden curvature of that headboard... it's a Venetian fantasy that is so fantastic, my brain just cannot wrap itself around this room.
I don't even know if it's my favourite so much as it's the room that completely shocks me into silent awe every time I see it. It's just... amazing. Nothing can ever compare.
But don't take my word for it.
If you're ever able to make it to the Met, take your time wandering around. Lose yourself in the galleries, and sooner or later you'll come across one of their many, many period rooms. You might have different favourites than I do - in fact I hope you do, because I'd love to hear what they are and why. But the truth is, they're all a treat.
And, hey, if after visiting you still haven't gotten your fill of old rooms? You can always come visit me at the Grange!
-Nym
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