Object details
Accession number
T18e5
Creators
Full title
Chateau and Garden Tapestry: Boating and Hunting Parties
Creation Date
1625-1650
Provenance
The two Flemish tapestries (museum nos. T18s5-s and T18w1-s) are said to have been purchased by Cardinal Antonio Barberini (1607-1671) from the Geubels workshop (active 1585-1629), Brussels. The two French tapestries (museum nos. T18e35-s and T18e5-s) were later commissioned by Antonio Barberini of a Parisian workshop to compliment the Flemish tapestries. Antonio Barberini bequeathed his tapestries (many installed in his Paris residence) to the Barberini family, Rome in 1671.
Possibly the series refered to as "Fountains, Gardens, and Figures" included in the 1685 inventory of Palazzo Barberini alla Quattro Fontane, Rome made following the death of Prince Maffeo Barberini (1631-1685). (for the inventory, see Bertrand, p. 91; Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Archivo Barberini, Indice II, MS 2451, fols. 9-21)
Remained with the Barberini family until the late nineteenth century.
Purchased by the tapestry collector and scholar Charles Mather Ffoulke (1841-1909), Washington, DC from the Principessa Barberini, Rome in 1889.
Purchased by Isabella Stewart Gardner from Charles Mather Ffoulke, Washington for $18,500 (for the set of four tapestries) on 16 November 1903.
Marks
Inscribed (lower cetner, outer guard; contained in a fragment of the original guard flanked by strips of modern weaving): Paris mark
Inscribed (lower right, outer guard): mark of an unidentified weaver (traditionally ascribed to the workshop of Raphael de la Planche, Paris, active 1633-1661; this mark could also be read as a variant of one of several marks used by the Flemish weaver, Philipp de Maecht, Paris and England, active 1605-1652)
Dimensions
467.4 x 350.5 cm (184 x 138 in.)
Display Media
Wool warp (8 yarns per cm); wool and silk wefts
Web Commentary
Isabella Stewart Gardner kept meticulous records of many of her acquisitions. In keeping with this legacy, object information is continually being reviewed, updated, and enriched in order to give greater access to the collection.
Permanent Gallery Location
Little Salon
Bibliography
Charles M. Ffoulke et al. The Ffoulke Collection of Tapestries (New York, 1913), pp. 26-27, 104-07, no. 3. (as woven by Raphael de la Planche, Paris, middle of the 17th century)
Morris Carter. Isabella Stewart Gardner and Fenway Court (Boston, 1925; Reprint, Boston, 1972), p. 215, ill.
Gilbert Wendel Longstreet and Morris Carter. General Catalogue (Boston, 1935), pp. 136-37. (as probably workshop of Raphael de la Planche; Paris, 17th century)
Betty Chamberlain. “Tapestry Room” in Alfred M. Frankfurter (ed). The Gardner Collection (New York, 1946), p. 35.
Jean-Paul Asselberghs. Les tapisseries flamandes aux Etats-Unis d'Amérique (Brussels, 1974), p. 13. (discusses museum nos. T18s5-s and T18w1-s)
Lisa O. Ehret. "Chateau and Garden Tapestries at Fenway Court." Fenway Court (1977), pp. 24-33, fig. 4. (as workshop of Raphael de la Planche; Paris, about fifty years after museum nos. T18s5-s and T18w1-s)
Adolph S. Cavollo. "An Introduction to the Textile Collection at Fenway Court." Fenway Court (1981), p. 8.
Adolph S. Cavallo. Textiles: Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (Boston, 1986), pp. 70-78, no. 14c. (as French, 1625-1650; as possibly workshop of Raphael de la Planche or alternatively Philippe de Maecht)
Jennifer R. Gross et al. Threads of Dissent. Exh. cat. (Boston: Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, 1999), pp. 12-13. (discusses museum no. T18s5-s)
Alan Chong et al. (eds.) Eye of the Beholder: Masterpieces from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (Boston, 2003), p. 112. (discusses museum no. T18w1-s)
Pascal-François Bertrand. Les tapisseries des Barberini et la décoration d'intérieur dans la Rome baroque (Turnhout, Belgium, 2005), pp. 91, 93, 96, fig. 151. (as workshop undetermined, 2nd quarter of the 17th century)
Rights and reproductions
The use of images, text, and all other media found on this website is limited. Please review Rights and Reproductions for details.