Flower Arranging the Winterthur Way

During his lifetime at Winterthur, Henry Francis du Pont used flower arrangements to bring the color and spirit of his beautiful, naturalistic garden indoors. The bold and colorful specimens in bloom at any given time, arranged in the specially constructed "flower-fixing" room with adjacent walk-in cooler, determined the daily table service in du Pont's dining room. In a memorandum to the executors of his estate, H. F. du Pont noted that after he was gone, he wanted "the spirit of the house maintained as if someone were living in it . . . with flowers kept in certain vases in certain rooms." From seasonal bouquets in the Marlboro Room to oriental-style arrangements in the Chinese Parlor, Flower Arranging the Winterthur Way lavishly illustrates the aesthetics of decorating with flowers in the Winterthur house. Author Alberta A. Melloy, head flower arranger at the museum from 1983 to 1990, has provided advice on all the basics: conditioning of material, design principles, and"how-to" suggestions for creating fresh arrangements as well as the famous Winterthur Yuletide dried-flower tree. Complete with a lively introduction detailing the du Pont family's lifelong interest in flowers, and an easy-to-use glossary, this book offers an insider's perspective on the relationship between craft and history at the nation's premier decorative arts museum.