“Mrs Oscar Hammerstein, who was an Australian, presented this beautiful tea set to the National Gallery of Victoria in 1961.”
—card on Famille rose tea set 2007
Dorothy Blanchard, you really do have a name—sign!
But the Vic Gallery says “Mrs Oscar Hammerstein”
presented this 1760s Orient tea china,
on each showcard as if you were your husband’s diner
You were Tasmanian—they claim just Australian
Tea-saucer flowers and tendrils swirl like columbine
A love song to equal your husband’s tenderly mine
No ordinary tea-set—nothing could be finer
Dorothy Blanchard
A musical actress, you ran namesake interior design
At 86 on Vanity Fair’s “Best Dressed” with straight spine
Two children, two marriages, witty repartee-liner
Founder of U.S. “Welcome House” Adoption, child-shiner
Daughter of Henry James, master mariner in brine
You deserve to be toasted—titled with the best of wine
Dorothy Blanchard