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ON VIEW
A.	Sword (detail)
ca. 1875; steel, glass, gold, cloth
1979.254.2	a,b
B.	Crown worn by Judge Wayne G. Borah, Rex
1946; rhinestones, glass, metal
1983.734.1
C Bracelet worn by Alice Rathbone, Queen of Carnival
1880; rhinestones, pearls, cameos, gold
1979.254.7.4
OFF-SITE SPOTLIGHT
Royal Feast
For more than two decades, THNOC has curated the Rex Room at Antoine’s Restaurant. Curator Lydia Blackmore explains the room’s recent revamp.
Dinner at Antoine’s Restaurant is a quintessential New Orleans experience. The historic restaurant is known for its white tablecloths, crusty bread, and traditional French-Creole cuisine. Like many buildings in the French Quarter, Antoine’s comprises a rabbit warren of connected rooms. Each space has a different theme, related either to the history of the building or to one of the city’s prestigious Mardi Gras krewes. Among the most lavish spaces in the restaurant is the Rex Room, just behind the main dining area. Those lucky enough to dine in the purple, green, and gold room are surrounded by relics of the King of Carnival, and the glittering crowns, scepters, ducal decorations, and gown on display are part of a long-term loan from The Historic New Orleans Collection. This past summer, THNOC refreshed the Rex Room’s Mardi Gras display, changing out items and replacing them with 80 duplicate or new pieces.
The Collection has loaned objects for display in the Rex Room for more than 20 years. The last major overhaul was in 2004, when fresh items were placed on view, including a beautiful gold gown worn by Shelby Scott Westfeldt, Queen of Carnival in 2003. The 2015 reinstallation was precipitated by Antoine’s efforts to update lighting fixtures and improve the environmental conditions for housing museum objects. During the construction, the items on display came home for evaluation. Many will remain in storage so that they can be cleaned, photographed, and documented before getting some well-deserved rest.
Souvenirs, ducal decorations, and other items that proliferate in THNOC’s extensive collection of Mardi Gras materials have been replaced with exact duplicates. In the case of the crowns, scepters, and jewelry, for which there are no exact replacements, other regalia—much of it older and more historical than the predecessors—have taken their place. The scepters and crowns are made of gilt or silver-plated metal and set with clear and colored glass stones. One scepter was replaced with an 1875 sword wielded by one
C
6
The Historic New Orleans Collection Quarterly