A Closer Look at Winterthur Museum

A recent rainy day brought me  inside Winterthur Museum for what is called the "Closer Look" tour. It turns out that up to 5 people can take a look at whatever your guide (ours was Barbara) feels like showing you. That explains the eclectic assortment of rooms we visited. The photo above is either called the "go big or go home" or "bordello red."  Since the room settings go up to the 1870's, it's at the top range as far as periods go. 

Another room we saw was museum founder Henry Francis duPont's bedroom (much more conservative). And he didn't lack for a fine architectural setting (he collected physical doors and millwork from old homes). With a network of friends on the lookout for homes about to be destroyed or aristocrats down on their luck, this early 20th century collector could choose from locations anywhere in the 13 original colonies. 

He could always pretend he was going shopping, creating a setting for a small part of his china collection, or an actual street scene called "Shop Lane." And note the old bricks and cobblestones in the flooring, again collected from perhaps a town planning on upgrading to blacktop? 

A room full of curious odds and ends included a miniature metal shop building and hand made oven mitts (the guide did not confirm this possible usage).  I chalked this up to a rainy day and a curious trip back into the "days of yore."