Beech
,
67.5 x 99 x 30 cm (26 9/16 x 39 x 11 13/16 in.)
Object details
Accession number
F15n5
Creators
Elsie De Wolfe
(New York, 1865 - 1950, Versailles)
-
designer
Unknown
-
manufacturer
Full title
Sofa Table
Creation Date
early 20th century
Provenance
Purchased by Isabella Stewart Gardner from Mrs. William Hooper for $20 on 20 July 1915. (for a set of two tables)
Dimensions
67.5 x 99 x 30 cm (26 9/16 x 39 x 11 13/16 in.)
Display Media
Beech
Web Commentary
Time and time again Gardner juxtaposed modern design with old masters. A good example of this practice is a beech sofa table by the legendary New York designer Elsie de Wolfe that Gardner transformed into a silk-covered altar for her sparkling tabernacle by the fourteenth-century Sienese painter Bartolomeo Bulgarini. Unlike other society grand dames, Gardner was not de Wolfe's client, but she did support female professionals, and the two New Yorkers forged a friendship based on their shared love of beauty. De Wolfe declared in a newspaper article that Gardner had no equal in America. She made a final visit to the museum near the time of Isabella's death, comparing her host's pallid appearance to "primitve pictures of saints."
Permanent Gallery Location
Early Italian Room
Bibliography
Gilbert Wendel Longstreet and Morris Carter. General Catalogue (Boston, 1935), p. 96. (as designed by Elise de Wolfe)
Rollin van N. Hadley. "Elsie de Wolfe and Isabella Stewart Gardner." Fenway Court (1981), pp. 38-41, ill.
Rights and reproductions
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Time and time again Gardner juxtaposed modern design with old masters. A good example of this practice is a beech sofa table by the legendary New York designer Elsie de Wolfe that Gardner transformed into a silk-covered altar for her sparkling tabernacle by the fourteenth-century Sienese painter Bartolomeo Bulgarini. Unlike other society grand dames, Gardner was not de Wolfe's client, but she did support female professionals, and the two New Yorkers forged a friendship based on their shared love of beauty. De Wolfe declared in a newspaper article that Gardner had no equal in America. She made a final visit to the museum near the time of Isabella's death, comparing her host's pallid appearance to "primitve pictures of saints."