"Chinamania: Whistler and the Victorian Craze for Blue and White," a small thematic exhibition on view at the Freer Gallery until Aug. 2011, explores the significance of Chinese export porcelain in Victorian England, where it began as an object of serious aesthetic inspiration but soon proliferated as a status symbol. more »

A new interactive White House kitchen tour recalls to mind Eleanor Roosevelt's own 'Dinnergate'. An FDR anti-epicurean affair related in Gourmet magazine revealed a cook's high-handed ways made the White House staff loathe her and it was soon apparent that apart from dessert, the meals she oversaw were going to be dreadful. more »

The plan was that once a week I would write about some aspect of nature that I saw around me. I called it Ferida’s Backyard. I figured that should make it easy. All I had to do was look out my kitchen window to find a subject. But, as happens with most things that seem simple, it soon became apparent that there was more to this than I had expected. more »

Although the dress was kept in such a low light level, the exposure to natural and bright artificial lights over many years caused irreversible deterioration of the fabric and fading of the colors. The portion of the skirt made with weighted silk became so weakened over time that it breaks nearly any time it is touched. more »