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Tapestry
A millefleurs tapestry, Narcissus
Narcissus at the Well
Narcisse se mirant dans la fontaine
Tapestry: Narcissus
Tapestry
A millefleurs tapestry, Narcissus
Narcissus at the Well
Narcisse se mirant dans la fontaine
French, Paris
about 1500
Object Place: France or Flanders
Medium/Technique
Wool and silk tapestry
Dimensions
Overall: 282 x 311 cm (111 x 122 7/16 in.)
Credit Line
Charles Potter Kling Fund
Accession Number68.114
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsEurope, Fashion and Textiles
ClassificationsTextiles
DescriptionThis tapestry illustrates the tale of Narcissus, taken from Ovid's Metamorphoses. The story of Narcissus tells of a beautiful young man whom the gods caused to fall in love with his own reflection as punishment for his cold-hearted rejection of the love of others. Narcissus was a popular subject in the art and poetry associated with the medieval tradition of courtly love. In this tapestry, he is presented as a fashionably-dressed young man gazing at his reflection in the stone fountain set within a beautiful garden filled with birds and small animals.
ProvenanceBy 1882, Counts of Toulgoët-Treanna, Château de Rozay, Saint-Georges-sur-la-Prée (near Vierzon), France [see note 1]; about 1909/1911, or in 1924, sold by Comte Yvon le Goarze de Toulgoët-Treanna (b. 1867 - d. 1942) to Jacques Helft (dealer) and Nathan Wildenstein (dealer), Paris [see note 2]; by September 1928, Wildenstein and Company, New York [see note 3]. About 1930s, Georges Haardt (dealer; b. 1883), New York [see note 4]. Olive Cecilia Paget, Lady Baillie (b. 1899 - d. 1974), Leeds Castle, Maidenstone, Kent [see note 5]. 1968, sold by Wildenstein and Company, New York, to the MFA. (Accession Date: April 10, 1968)
NOTES:
[1] According to a copy of an inventory of the objects in the château in the curatorial file provided by Msr. François de Dreuzy of the Château de Villiers, a descendent of the family who owned the piece in the 19th century. Although undated, this inventory appears to be similar to another inventory completed on January 23 and 24, 1882 at the château.
[2] According to a letter in the curatorial file dated November 19, 1973 from Jacques Helft, Paris. the tapestry was sold about 1909-1911. The transaction is also described in Helft's memoir entitled "Vive la Chine! Mémoires d'un Antiquaire (Monaco, Editions du rocher, 1955) where Helft recalls paying Toulgoët-Treanna 1,000,000 francs for the piece.in 1924.
[3] See Ella S. Siple, "Art in America: French Gothic Tapestries of about 1500," Burlington Magazine, vol. 53, no. 306 (Sept., 1928), pp. 145-146, where it is said to have been "brought to America recently by Wildenstein and Company". Siple also affirms the Toulgoët-Treanna provenance, writing "it is said to have been for many years in the possession of Monsieur de Talgonet at the Château de Rozay near Vierzon, some sixty miles from Tours."
[4] Archives of American Art, Jacques Seligmann and Co. Papers, Series 2, Collectors Files, Box 188, folder 2: Haardt, Georges. An undated photograph of this tapestry is annotated with Haardt's name.
[5] According to curatorial recommendation dated April 10, 1968 by Adolph S. Cavallo, Curator of Textiles, on file at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Baille was born Olive Cecilia Paget in the USA in 1899, was educated in France, marrying the Hon. Charles John Frederick Winn in 1919 and divorcing in 1925. That same year, she married Arthur Wilson Filmer and the couple purchased Leeds Castle in 1926. Restoration on the castle began almost immediately and were initially carried out by designer Armand-Albert Rateau. Between 1936 and 1967, Baillie employed Stéphane Boudin to carry out further restorations.
NOTES:
[1] According to a copy of an inventory of the objects in the château in the curatorial file provided by Msr. François de Dreuzy of the Château de Villiers, a descendent of the family who owned the piece in the 19th century. Although undated, this inventory appears to be similar to another inventory completed on January 23 and 24, 1882 at the château.
[2] According to a letter in the curatorial file dated November 19, 1973 from Jacques Helft, Paris. the tapestry was sold about 1909-1911. The transaction is also described in Helft's memoir entitled "Vive la Chine! Mémoires d'un Antiquaire (Monaco, Editions du rocher, 1955) where Helft recalls paying Toulgoët-Treanna 1,000,000 francs for the piece.in 1924.
[3] See Ella S. Siple, "Art in America: French Gothic Tapestries of about 1500," Burlington Magazine, vol. 53, no. 306 (Sept., 1928), pp. 145-146, where it is said to have been "brought to America recently by Wildenstein and Company". Siple also affirms the Toulgoët-Treanna provenance, writing "it is said to have been for many years in the possession of Monsieur de Talgonet at the Château de Rozay near Vierzon, some sixty miles from Tours."
[4] Archives of American Art, Jacques Seligmann and Co. Papers, Series 2, Collectors Files, Box 188, folder 2: Haardt, Georges. An undated photograph of this tapestry is annotated with Haardt's name.
[5] According to curatorial recommendation dated April 10, 1968 by Adolph S. Cavallo, Curator of Textiles, on file at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Baille was born Olive Cecilia Paget in the USA in 1899, was educated in France, marrying the Hon. Charles John Frederick Winn in 1919 and divorcing in 1925. That same year, she married Arthur Wilson Filmer and the couple purchased Leeds Castle in 1926. Restoration on the castle began almost immediately and were initially carried out by designer Armand-Albert Rateau. Between 1936 and 1967, Baillie employed Stéphane Boudin to carry out further restorations.