Oh for Saint Pete's Sake! Part 1 of 2

Our Florida Spring Break did not get off to an auspicious start: Southwest Airlines cancelled our Sunday evening flight more than 12 hours before the forecasted snow began to fall (but not stick). Then, they cancelled our early-Monday-morning direct flight, so we finally landed in Tampa 12 hours and a lot of aggravation later. Good thing we had planned for the first day to be nothing but lying around, visiting with family, and eating. Oh, and starting a cut-throat, week-long Joker tournament. 

Day 2 dawned cool and rainy. On the agenda was an hour-long drive across Tampa Bay to St. Petersburg, where we flip-flopped our itinerary to start with the Jean Schlumberger exhibit of jewelry and objects d'art at the Museum of Fine Arts. He was a (gay) clothing, jewelry, and art designer in the middle of the 20th century probably most famous for his three decades at Tiffany & Co. To be quite honest, I found most of the pieces gaudy, overwrought, and/or strange--his early work was heavily influenced by surrealism; see, for instance, the bebaubled ostriches below.

This necklace of diamonds, rubies, and turquoise was one of the few I felt I might have wanted to wear. A nature lover, he had an apparent affection for the asymmetrical tendrils of starfish and vines. I'm not sure where the tendence for garish colors came from; the excessive use of gems was presumably part of his Tiffany's contract.

Schlumberger formed a close patronage friendship with Rachel "Bunny" Mellon (1910-2014), second wife of Paul Mellon (1907-1999), both of whom were ridiculously wealthy from banking, thoroughbred horses, Listerine, and inherited money. Bunny appears to have spent much of her time gardening at the couples' 6 homes, vacationing in Paris and on beaches, and dropping in on Jean's atelier in New York City to design gem-encrusted things with him. (She also designed the Rose Garden at the White House and arranged flowers and landscaping for the Kennedys.) Jean painted her friendly letters (below left), which is one of the most wonderful things I have ever heard about and makes me doubt my friendship with anyone who has not sent or received such a greeting with me. (Below right: still lifes.)

The Pisces broach on the right was Bunny's favorite piece, and it makes me question her taste, mostly because of the red enamel. Nevertheless, Schlumberger's enameled bangled bracelets became popular in the 1960s after Jackie Kennedy Onassis was spotted wearing them, and I have to agree that those are classy. Below is a seashell covered in diamond algae.

The museum itself is modestly sized, but they have displayed a variety of objects from all time periods around the world. In the two hours we wandered the galleries, there were at least two school groups learning about art and history.

Above is "fairyland" Wedgewood porcelain by Daisy Makeig-Jones (1881-1945), especially popular in the 1920s.


Finally, we also looked at Glow: The Hand-Painted Photographs of E.G. Barnhill (1894-1987). He and other photographers would use a variety of paints and glazes to colorize glass and paper prints of black-and-white snapshots of Florida landscapes to sell to tourists as souvenirs. Many on display dated from 1914-1923. He closed his shop in the 1930s when tourism largely dried up during the Great Depression. Oh, and he used uranium-based pigments imported directly from Germany, but don't worry, the level of radiation is low (!). Gives a whole 'nother meaning to the exhibition title...

For lunch we stopped at the Cider Press Cafe for a delicious vegan lunch (click for my Yelp review). Then we headed back up the peninsula to the Sunken Gardens, a Florida roadside attraction since the 1920s. (Click here for wet and wild Part 2!)