Are You This Kind of Collector?

Do you have a room in your home that looks like this?

I imagine not.  But as you'll read at the end it was not unusual in the home of a nobleman in the 17th century.

What kind of collecting do you do?

When we downsized to move here I took one or two items from each of the many collections I had.

Photos from the Walters Art Museum

Faberge Exhibit at the Walters

I spent Friday morning at the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore.  This was a trip sponsored by Vantage House where we live.

One of their special exhibits is Faberge and the Russian Crafts Tradition with two of the 50 known Faberge Easter eggs owned by the Walters.  That was my first stop before I went exploring some of their other exhibits.  

First an apology - low lighting and difficulty in focusing means that some of these photos are not quite in focus.

At the start of the exhibit is this opened egg.

The egg is maybe 5 inches tall at the most so the scene inside is miniscule.

Besides the amazing carving what was astounding was that it was on mammoth ivory.

This necklace has paintings of the 4 daughters of Nicholas II and lots of diamonds.

Nearby was their photo.

Gold, diamonds, precious stones, silver and enamel were common elements in many of these pieces.

I loved this casket (box) for its many patterns.

Then there were these 4 animals carvings.

In a room by itself was this second egg.

It wasn't opened because once it contained a necklace which has been lost to history.

Many of the items in the exhibit are owned by the Walters having been collected by Henry Walters.  Others have been donated to the Walters or are on loan for this exhibit.

The Walters Art Museum

One December day Vantage House where I live took those of us who signed up to The Walters Art Museum in Baltimore.  This private museum is free!  As the brochure states its "one of only a few museums in the world to present a panorama of art from the third millennium BC to the early 20th century.  The thousands of treasures range from mummies to arms and armor, from old master paintings to Art Nouveau jewelry."

The docent who met us gave us a one hour overview tour starting with this exhibit.  The focus of this was to show that the Dark Ages weren't that dark.  Besides things to look at the exhibit space was filled with sounds and scents of the time period.

This vase, carved from one piece of agate is probably the most priceless item in the museum according to the docent who heard this from the former director.

This altar piece still had a scent of incense when it was installed.  I was troubled by the amount of items from churches.  I had to wonder who sold these items to Mr. Walters?  Is the church still standing minus its priceless treasures?

Other galleries contain the art collections of the original collector and his son.

Yes, the painting below is the Mona Lisa, but not the one from the Louvre.  This was painted by someone in da Vinci employe.

Lots to see and not enough time to do so.  Another trip will have to be scheduled.