My blog title is cribbed from an article by Malcolm Muggeridge in the December, 1966, issue of Playboy. For those of you who do not know me, I really did, in my salad days, read the magazine for the articles. For those of you who do know me, you will find this bit of intelligence hardly surprising.
‘Is my culture showing?’ was classic, midperiod Muggeridge- before his late in life conversion to Catholicism was his preferred topic of discussion- when well-formed, agnostic, generally contrarian opinions was what he was known for. That he was supremely well-informed on all matters was something that was hard to hide, as he could spout recondite bits of information, spun into prolix lines of reasoning that others found impossible to fault. In his vocation as journalist and professional pundit, he spent a career that spanned most of the last century pulverizing those whose opinions differed, and those who agreed with him, but did so less eloquently.
Not in the Muggeridge category by any means, but he always comes to mind when discussions about English furniture extend beyond ‘Isn’t it pretty?’ Not everyone is interested in discussions about the finer points of condition, or the thing I am guiltiest of, providing a context for 18th century English furniture within the history of material culture. While refining one’s eye for period pieces is enhanced, not doubt about it, with an understanding of why it was made and how it was intended to be used, few of our gallery visitors call on me to wax eloquent on the subject. Now I think about it, no one has, ever. Perhaps it is testimony to the general politeness and equanimity of our gallery visitors that, when they crank me up, they don’t quickly edge out the front door. Or, mercifully, it might be that Keith McCullar rapidly inserts himself into the discussion, and masterfully brings it down from the rarified into the, shall we say, intellectually accessible.