European
Dress Fragment, 16th century
Silk damask, 5.1 x 5.1 cm (2 x 2 in.)
This small, square dress fragment of green silk damask is well worn, warped and creased. A floral pattern is barely discernible.
Long Gallery
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.