Kristian Mercer

From the Serendipity Files...

On Friday, when I was browsing the Los Angeles Times, I ran across this article on historic color. (You may have to sign in to access this article; don't worry, it's free.)

I learned that the Huntington Library is currently "hosting the first exhibition to present all six of John Constable's 'great' paintings in one place." Constable has long been considered one of England's premier landscape painters, and since he lived from 1776 to 1837, the height of his popularity falls squarely during the Regency period.

Far more interesting, however, was what curator Shelley Bennett discovered. She learned that, in 1813, Constable wrote of using vibrant colors in his own home - deep rich, reds, warm greys, and so on. That was an enormous contrast to the pale blues and greens that were generally chosen for museum backgrounds.

So Bennett contacted Farrow & Ball, a firm that specializes in historically accurate colors for paint. Their conversation led her to depart from tradition and select a bold red, dating from 1818, for the exhibition rooms.

And guess what? Her shade of red exactly matches that of a jacket worn by the man portrayed in "The White Horse," a painting completed in 1819.

I have to confess, this article wrought a bit of havoc on my Regency world. Like many, I suspect, my mental image of the Regency is one of diaphanous white muslin and soft pastels. I'm not sure how I latched onto this idea - perhaps it was the result of the Jane Austen film explosion of the early 1990s. I certainly remember that the Gwyneth Paltrow version of Emma seemed to be composed almost entirely of pinks, peaches, and pale greens.

Or perhaps my vision of the Regency reflects my love of Wedgwood and the Adam school of interior design. Sadly, this is just a little too early for the period in which I'm writing. Adam's masterpieces - such as Syon House and Kedleston Hall - date from the 1760s. Their interiors certainly would have been visible during the years 1813 and 1814 (and you can still enjoy them today), but they were no longer on the cutting edge of style.

So the fact that I have decorated the interiors in my novels in pale blues, pinks, and greens now gives me pause. I can always claim that my heroine thoroughly appreciated her mother-in-law's taste, but...somehow I suspect that she would have preferred to put her own stamp on her home.

Hmmmmm. It must be time to redecorate!