Extraordinary women from three centuries are celebrated during the 2007 Yuletide event at Bayou Bend Collection and Gardens. The central figure in Yuletide´s Holiday Heroines is Houston philanthropist Miss Ima Hogg, who lived at Bayou Bend from 1928 to 1957, when she gave the estate to the museum. The exhibition will be on view from November 17 to December 30, 2007.
This year marks the 50th anniversary of her gift and her presence is felt in three of the eight rooms specially decorated for the season. Keeping her company in spirit are Dolley Madison, wife of President James Madison; Harriet Beecher Stowe, author of Uncle Tom´s Cabin; poet Phillis Wheatley, the first African-American woman to earn her living as a writer; 18th-century shopkeeper Elizabeth Murray; and Sarah Kemble Knight, who defied social norms by traveling alone in 1704.
The historical scenes recreated for Holiday Heroines, feature period furniture and props, holiday greenery, and fabulous faux food and drink. An 8 ½ -foot Christmas tree twinkling with hundreds of ornaments commands attention in Bayou Bend´s garland-trimmed grand hall. A variety of Yuletide tour options are available, including three Candlelight Open House evenings.
Now the center for the MFAH´s American decorative arts collection, Bayou Bend Collection and Gardens showcases decorative arts and paintings from the earliest colonial times through the Rococo revival in the mid-1870s. The historical vignettes created for Yuletide are set against the backdrop of the exceptional furniture, paintings, ceramics, and silver that comprise the Bayou Bend Collection, and are enhanced by the addition of period table settings, decorations, textiles, and other rarely seen furnishings from the collection.
Seasonal plantings of poinsettias and pansies accent the gardens of the 14-acre estate and, inside the home, eight detailed historical scenes incorporating period furnishings depict early American celebrations. A variety of tour options are available to the public, including the popular Candlelight Open House evenings, which many families have adopted as their own holiday tradition.
During the Candlelight Open House nights on November 23 and 30, and December 7, docents will be stationed in each room to discuss the holiday settings and the customs of the times that inspired Holiday Heroines. Period music and the soft light of candles enhance the experience.
Other visiting opportunities include a free Family Day, Seasonal Splendor, on Sunday, December 16. Guests can play children´s games, make holiday ornaments, and take self-guided tours of the decorated rooms. Local community groups will provide holiday music. (On Sunday, November 18, a free Thanksgiving-themed Bayou Bend Family Day includes tours of the Yuletide rooms.)
To get to the historic house, Yuletide visitors first enter the gardens of the 14-acre estate by crossing a footbridge over Buffalo Bayou. There, holiday landscaping includes seasonal plantings of poinsettias and pansies. Other highlights include several evergreen garden settings and displays of rare camellias in bloom.
The picture shows 'Yuletide Table at Bayou Bend Photo credit: Bruce Bennett'. -- www.mfah.org
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