Monarchies · Observations · Mores

When members of the imperial family received the Orders of Saint Andrew and Saint Catherine

In the Russian Empire, heirs to the throne received the Order of Saint Andrew the First-Called at birth, male members of the imperial family at baptism, and princes of the imperial blood on coming of age. Grand Duchesses received the Order of Saint Catherine, First Class, at baptism, and

A young woman in a yellow skirt and white wrap sits at a dressing table with a mirror, while a man in dark clothes beside her holds a sheet of paper.

NB! · Art · Moscow · Observations · Mores · Humour

A lady at her dressing table in a painting by Nicolas Lancret, early 18th century

Spent half a day with Mamma in the cosmetics halls of TsUM and am already fit to advise Madame Geoffrin on matters of beauty. Nicolas Lancret, early eighteenth century

Archive · Books · Monarchies · Mores · People

Kollontai came to a dinner with Queen Maud of Norway without gloves in 1928

The Soviet plenipotentiary Alexandra Mikhailovna Kollontai gravely offended the Queen of Norway on 7 March 1928 by turning up at a reception without gloves. She mentions this incident, and her strained relations with Nicholas II's cousin, Queen Maud of Great Britain, in her diary: "At the dinner

NB! · London · Museums · Science · Mores · People

Jeremy Bentham's Head and Body in One Display Case: He Was a Most Eccentric Man, and This Form of Repose Genuinely Suits His Free-Spirited and Original Ideas

London · Museums · Science · Mores · People

The celebrated English philosopher, thinker, sociologist, jurist and plain eccentric Jeremy Bentham bequeathed his body to be mummified

The celebrated English philosopher, thinker, sociologist, jurist and plain eccentric Jeremy Bentham bequeathed his body to be mummified. In the first place, he had been fascinated by mummification since his youth; in the second, he was an atheist; besides which, he possessed a fine sense of humour and was convinced

NB! · London · Mores · Education · People

The body of the English philosopher Jeremy Bentham (1748–1832) is kept at University College London, seated in the pose in which the scholar liked to sit

A hand opens a white door, revealing a dark red iron door with a padlock, a bolt and a ring handle.

NB! · Archive · Architecture · Mores

Iron door in a living room leads to a fireproof cabinet for valuables and documents

In one room an iron door came to light. It conceals a so-called fireproof cabinet, a little chamber where valuables, documents and money were kept: when the owners were away, and in case of fire or burglary

Aristocracy · Archive · Observations · Mores

Serf craftsmen at Khmelita supplied the whole household of the Griboyedovs

The "Economic Notes of the General Survey for Smolensk Province" of 1781 record that the inhabitants of Khmelita included:. "confectioners, distillers who make vodka of various sorts for household consumption, blacksmiths, locksmiths, joiners, cooks, weavers who make German tablecloths, painters, gilders, lacquerers, bookbinders, saddlers, cobblers, shoemakers, tailors

NB! · Architecture · Books · Heritage · Mores

Khmelita is believed to be immortalised in "Woe from Wit" as the house of Famusov

Khmelita is believed to be immortalised in "Woe from Wit" as the house of Famusov. On this staircase the master of the house received his guests, conducting them into the halls. The ground floor, meanwhile, was not meant for the gentry

NB! · Architecture · Museums · Mores

Today Khmelita Has Its Historic Interiors Restored, Furnished with Authentic Eighteenth- and Nineteenth-Century Pieces

Today Khmelita has its historic interiors restored, furnished with authentic eighteenth- and nineteenth-century pieces. This is the lady's bedroom; in the corner, a door to the water closet

A half-open white multi-paned window in a manor interior, framed by pale curtains with tassels and a green houseplant leaf.

NB! · Aristocracy · Architecture · Mores

In the 18th and 19th centuries Khmelita Estate Served Mainly as a Summer Residence

In the 18th and 19th centuries Khmelita was chiefly a summer residence: in winter, both getting there and living in so large a house was harder.

NB! · Architecture · Heritage · Mores

Neither the French nor the Germans merely spared the splendid estate: both meant to keep it for their own use

Neither the French nor the Germans merely spared the splendid estate: both meant to keep it for their own use. Murat and some member of the Wehrmacht's upper echelons wished to retain Khmelita as their own hunting lodge