Isabella Stewart Gardner (New York, 1840 - 1924, Boston)
Check Stub for Pablo Casals's Cello, 7 November 1895
Ink on paper, 6.99 x 8.89 cm (2 3/4 x 3 1/2 in.)
This nearly square slip of aged paper is approximately 3 inches square. It is a check stub with printed and dotted lines filled in with handwritten information in ink in cursive script.
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Commentary
Isabella Stewart Gardner was famously generous with the musicians she admired. She gave Charles Martin Loeffler (1861-1935) a violin that was crafted by the renowned Stradivari family of Italy, and the composer-cellist Pablo Casals (1876-1973) retained a violincello that she presented to him in the late 19th century. Gardner was meticulous in her accounting and retained receipts of her important purchases and gifts, perhaps to document the extent of her patronage.