Notes on London

Southland Times, Issue 21894, 21 December 1932, Page 5

Notes on London

(From Our Correspondent.) Mayfair, October. Primroses For India. The type of artificial flowers fashioned of metal and plaster, painted to defy the ravages of the weather and planted in concrete “earth,” that Mrs Pitman has made for the Queen, the Princess Royal, and the Duchess of York, are now to “grow” in India. Lady Willingdon has asked Mrs Pitman to make her two big English alabaster bowls of these flowers for the dining car of the Viceregal train. Yellow is the note of the dining-car decoration—as also of the bedroom of Lady Willingdon at Delhi Palace—and a touch of eternal spring will be brought to India by yellow primroses, primulas, and pansies. Another bowl will be filled with orange and yellow azaleas. Novel Wall Decoration. By dint of entirely sacrificing his summer holiday, working steadily from June till October, Mr John Churchill, nephew of Winston Churchill, has now completed painting the celebrity picture gallery around the walls of Mr “Chips” Channon’s dining-room in Gloucester-place. On the fourth wall the place of honour is taken by a bust, in Roman marble, of Mr Channon himself over a black marble mantelpiece set almost flush with the wall. On one side is a group of well-known people, of which the youngest must be Lady Dufferin’s baby daughter, held in the arms of her mother. Among the others in this group of guests, who are supposed to be participating in a Renaissance version of a cocktail party, are the Duchess of Westminster and a greyhound, Lady Gwendolen Churchill, the aunt of the artist, Lord Gerald Wellesley, Lady Caroline Paget, and Lord Berners, apparently blowing a flute. On the other walls further characters have been introduced, and it is interesting artistically to see that two methods of fresco painting have been employed by Mr Churchill, one a smooth “primitive” style with a wax medium, and the other a modem slapdash style done entirely in oils. Professor Piccard is seen flying above the heads of this party in his balloon, while Lady Howe and Sir Thomas Beecham are gazing at him. Printed for the Queen, Few people outside the inner Court circle realize the extent of the Queen’s collection of art treasures. She is a connoisseur and collector in every sense of the words, and with her expert knowledge has made purchases for years past. Many of her finds—some in very unexpected places—have gone to the completion of State possessions in the way of rose china and furniture. But the Queen has also her own private collection—everyone knows, for instance of her fondness for miniature “pieces” for flower pictures, historic embroideries, and, indeed, many other treasures. It is this private collection that has now been recorded in the form of a book. The volume, I gather, contains a short description of each objet d’art, written by an expert, and, of course, approved by her Majesty. It runs into several hundred pages, and six copies, bound in red morocco, have been printed for the Queen.

Picturesque Balls. Entertaining, once a matter arranged entirely by the hostess and members of her own family and staff, will be the subject this autumn of businesslike meetings of a large number of hostesses. Private parties are so few that women are putting all their efforts into ensuring the success of communal entertaining, which will mostly take the form of charity balls. Well-known women have as many as thirty committee meetings to attend in the next ten weeks—an average of three a week. Here are some of the plans of these entertaining experts for the autumn and winter months: A ball of different coloured dances. This is the Radiant Ball which Lady Cromer and 100 other hostesses are planning for Nov. 29 at the Dorchester. It will start with a gold dance, and there will be a blue, red, green, and other coloured dances, the effects all being produced by floodlightning. One of the most outstanding balls of the year will be the Anglo-German ball, planned for the season of peace— December. It will be the first ball of the kind to be given in London since 1914. Hostesses are choosing this method of driving away a lingering shadow from the dark days of eighteen years ago. The idea was tried out tentatively last year at a small dance given by the Anglo-German Club, I am told, and it is said to have proved such a success that it is felt that the moment has come for the first Anglo-German Ball since the war.

Nearly forty of the most attractive young girls of the day are to take part in the twenty minutes’ vignettes of Seasons from 1750-1820 at The Ball of the Season on November 8. Lady Dal-rymple-Champneys has just come back from Vienna and Budapest full of ideas for the ball, at which it is hoped to show an old-time Christmas in a country house and a season at Bath. The costumes are being copied from the London Museum.