Hip Hop Tablescape and Tea with Jane Seymour

Women dominated the history of the salon at a time when society was defined and controlled by men. In the 17th and 18th century, women found they could exert a powerful influence in their realm as salonnières. A salon is a gathering of stimulating people under the roof of an inspiring host, to amuse one another and to refine their taste and increase their knowledge through conversation and readings, thus ‘Salon Society.’
Women were the center of salon life. They were responsible for selecting their guests and deciding whether the salon would be primarily social, philosophical, artistic, literary, or political. The salon was really an informal university for women where they could exchange ideas, read their own works and hear the works and ideas of other intellectuals. Many ambitious women used the salon to pursue a form of higher education. At one of the most famous literary salons in Paris gathered the original "blue-stockings" (les bas-bleus), whose nickname continued to mean "intellectual woman" for the next three hundred years.
Salons of yesteryear were spheres of civility where tea was often served along with the conversation and frivolity. Unlike the courts, there was an absence of social hierarchy; here men and women, nobility and bourgeois, socialized together. Social barriers were broken down initiating the development of the enlightenment salon.
Fast forward several hundred years and meet Tracy Stern. Today Tracy of Salontea offers prized handpicked teas from the finest estates on the planet and custom blends them with the most perfumed botanicals, herbs and spices on earth in small batches. The resulting infusions are simple luxuries in a cup. Her mantra is Enjoy Life. Drink Tea. Celebrate Often!
Tracy is one of the designers of the DIFFA Dining by Design Tour which my friend Jane Seymour helped to launch. Jane, an artist and designer, in addition to actor and philanthropist, was so excited about the project which benefits people living with HIV/AIDS and preventive education for those at risk.
The tour includes a series of sparkling parties, bringing together some of the most talented and distinguished individuals in fashion, interior design, art and architecture to create spectacular, over-the-top dining environments.

For more Tablescape Thursdays, visit http://betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com