She brought more of the spicy pasta dish that Sonny had devoured on the day we met him, but he refused it with a frown that was deep and imperial.
So Australian multiculturalism is built on a deep post-imperial bedrock of political, legal and even social monoculture.
Still, the choice of rare, deep-green imperial jade "reflects our passion to make unique watches and hard-to-come-by examples that the collector can feel proud to acquire," Mr. Long said.
Deep-seated imperial doctrine aside, there is good reason for China's neighbors to be concerned about its growing military and commercial power.
Koss believes the answer may lie with the Chinese bureaucracy, which has endured trials and turmoil for 1,000 years, deep into the imperial past.
But there have been delays – the latest being an Italian quarry not delivering a consignment of deep green Verde Imperial marble.
The long south-facing wall to the back of the specimen beds is almost entirely planted with late-flowering salvias: spires of bright red, deep indigo, cobalt blue and imperial purple.
These are the themes of a show deep into its post-imperial phase.
Its failure to thrive surely reflects not just managerial mishaps but a deeper national ambivalence about imperial history.
AUCTIONS AND ANTIQUES The opulence of the imperial court, the deep religiosity of the Orthodox Church, and the stylishness of the Russian avant-garde are on display in all their glory at Sotheby's two-day sale of Russian art (April 16-17).
