Object details
Object number
T27e40
Creator(s)
European
Title
Dress Fragment
Date
16th century
Medium
Silk damask
Description
Floral
Dimensions
5.1 x 5.1 cm (2 x 2 in.)
Provenance
Gift from the novelist, playwright, and poet Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832) to Charles Holte Bracebridge Esq. (b. 1799) of Atherstone Hall, Warwickshire.
Gift from Mr. Bracebridge to Mr. Horsley.
Gift from Mr. Horsley to Alfred John Rodwaye.
Gift from Alfred John Rodwaye to Isabella Stewart Gardner on 4 Feburary 1897. (as a relic of Mary, Queen of Scots)
Commentary
As the Honorary Secretary for the Order of the White Rose—an Anglo-Catholic society followed by Isabella Stewart Gardner—Alfred John Rodwaye presented her with this “relic of that most unfortunate & maligned Queen, Marie Stewart,” (also known as Mary Queen of Scots). This shred of fabric held an unusual personal appeal: Gardner was fascinated by genealogy and erroneously believed herself a descendant of the royal Stuart line.
Bibliography
Gilbert Wendel Longstreet and Morris Carter. General Catalogue (Boston: 1935), p. 250.
Dakota Jackson, "The Relics of Mary, Queen of Scots," Inside the Collection (blog), Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, 26 January 2021, https://www.gardnermuseum.org/blog/relics-mary-queen-scots
Gallery
Long Gallery
Case
Mary Queen Of Scots Case
Rights and reproductions
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