Good morning, friends!
I am here to let you know that should you tire of being bombarded with sales emails today, you’re more than welcome over here. Take a little refreshment at LONDNR, a palate cleanser if you will, which we’re serving up in the form of our latest piece investigating the link between dressing up and drinking tea. Penned by LONDNR’s two editorial assistants, you can now also get an exclusive peak at their writing process HERE. Otherwise, settle in for the ride.
What the Frock? Demysteafying the Tea Gown
Our days are increasingly framed around beverages. We aspire to include some filtered water, but typically the working hours are bookended by tea and lager. We’ll leave you to figure out which we start the day with… and what we use for our curtain call. And though necking jars is a perfectly British habit, today we’ll be talking about the humble cuppa. Of course, it wasn’t always such a quotidian item, back in the day tea was an exercise in etiquette. So why the fuss? And was it really all corsets and crinoline?
When it first arrived in England, in the mid-1600s, tea was so pricey that only the wealthiest households could afford to stock it. Stored in a wooden caddy, often decoratively inlaid with mother of pearl and carved out of rare woods, this unique objet d’art kept tea leaves fresh. The popularity of tea soon got to the government’s ears. Never ones to miss an opportunity for lining their own pockets, by the 18th century they were taxing tea heavily, resulting in a series of tea thefts. Prosperous families began locking their caddies to prevent maids from sneaking off with the goods and caffeinating themselves into heart-attacks.
Nowadays, things are a little more civilised. You don’t have to lose your life in the gallows for sipping some of the soft stuff… KEEP READING
This week for our London guide, Christopher recommends:
The Silver Vaults: a dazzling display, fit for humans and magpies alike
“Historically, London has always been a city of thieves. If it’s not your phone nicked on Russell Square, then your sad ham and cheese sarnie will be snatched by a seagull. So goes the myth of the silver-nicking magpie. No wonder we’ve turned to hiding our goods beneath the ground. Nestled beneath the streets of Chancery Lane lies the subterranean proof… a stronghold of silver of which no magpie will ever get a glint...” READ THE REST
Nicole Eisenman: What Happened, at Whitechapel Gallery
“Both the late artist Pablo Picasso and late fashion designer Alexander McQueen both declared words to the effect of ‘you’ve got to learn the rules [of your medium] in order to break with them’.
This kind of insight, derived from their intelligence, combined with other attributes such as fervour, courage and proliferation are why those men will forever be immortalised as geniuses. Painting has suffered greatly since the death of Francis Bacon; the last, widely-accepted true genius of the medium, but Nicole Eisenman seems to have discovered and picked out from a patch of neglected grass, that proverbial baton...” READ THE REST
Read more reviews of exhibitions, restaurants, bars, theatre shows, and little-known city sights on THE WEEKLY MUSE.