A Cabin Class Passageway.
I am very excited to announce that I have recently acquired, by way of the June 23 Christie's auction, six important art pieces from my beloved SS United States. I got caught up in a bidding frenzy for the two lots of three each Austin Purves cast aluminum bas relief birds which adored various public areas of this amazing ship. When they arrived, I knew I had something special and in need of proper display. I had originally thought they'd end up on the wall of my SS United States guestroom, but after seeing them in person, I knew I had to find a more public display so that I could truly enjoy these works of art every day. As my partner and I discussed the various areas of my house where the birds might be most impressive, I found myself staring at my stairway wall, whereupon he commented that the birds should be flying as a flock from the "grove" of my "mother-in-law tongue" plants and up toward the ceiling. At his ingenious suggestion, we traced each bird onto craft paper, and using painter's tape, we were thus able to try various arrangements of the flock until we found just the right one (Lower L). The small bird to the far left sits upon a branch, ready to take flight, and is thus separated from the others. This was when I finally found some pictures of the birds in situ and realized that they had gravitated to the stairway because that's where they were -- for the most part -- on the ship in her heyday (upper L & R). I am so pleased to count these birds amongst my collection!
First Class Stairway.
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