“Mrs Lackersteen was one of those people who go utterly to pieces when they are deprived of servants. She lived in a restless nightmare between painting and housekeeping and never worked at either. At irregular intervals she went to “school” where she produced greyish still lifes under the guidance of a master whose technique was founded on dirty brushes; for the rest, she messed about miserably at home with teapots and frying pans. The state of her studio was more than depressing to Elizabeth; it was evil, Satanic. It was a cold dusty pigsty, with piles of books and papers littered all over the floor, generations of saucepans slumbering in their grease on the rusty gas-stove, the bed never made till afternoon, and everywhere-in every possible place where they could be stepped on and knocked over-tins of paint fouled turpentine and pots half full of cold black tea.”
George Orwell, “Burmese Days”, 1935.
A Bird's Eye View of Fashion, Food, Travel, Culture, Beverage and Curiosity 