Tea Party in Mytishi, Russia. Seen them in Washington?

The Tea Party gathering in Washington on Saturday, reports say, turned nasty. Rightists opposing President Obama's health reform shouted abuse and threatened passing Congressmen.

This well known Russian painting by Vassily Perov (1862), I thought, is a perfect visual expression of  what the Tea Party movement  stands for.

Picture: Having Tea in Mytishi, Near Moscow (Чаепитие в Мытищах, близ Москвы), 1862, oil on canvas, 43.5 x 47.3 cm, Tretyakov Gallery.

And read more on the samovars and the Moscow tea party for Obama here on my Russian blog