Fenway Court: 1981 by Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum

Fenway Court

Fenway Court 1981

Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum

Published by rhe Trusrees of rhe Isa bella Srewarr Gardn er Muse um , l ncorporared 2 Palace Road Bosron , Massac hu se rrs Copyri g hr 1982 D es ig ned by Samerz Bl acksrone Assoc iares Type se r by Monorype Compos iri on Co. Prinred by Thom as Todd Co mpany, Prinrers Cover: de rail of a frag menrary fl oun ce or furnirure borde r, French , 1675- 1700, Point de France. Fronrispi ece : Ga rmenr fa bric, French or l rali an , 1700- 1725, s ilk damas k brocaded wirh s ilk and g ilr ya rn s.

Contents

6 An Introduction ro the Textile Collecrion at Fenway Court Adolph S. Cavallo

18 The Mosaic from Montebello near Rome: An Early Manifestation of the Seasons in Roman Imperial Art Cornelius C. Vermeule, III 26 A Greybeard Jug at Fenway Court Lucie B. Beebe 34 A Friedrich Schiller Letter ro his Publisher: A Glimpse of the Poet in Business Walter Hettche 38 Elsie de Wolfe and Isabella Stewart Gardner Rollin van N. Hadley The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Incorporated Fifty-seventh Annual Report for the Year Nineteen Hundred and Eighty One 44 Report of the President

Malcolm D. Perkins

45 Report of rhe Direcror

Rollin van N. Hadley

49 Report of the Curaror 52 Membership Events 53 Publi cations 55 Trustees and Staff

Deborah Gribbon

Isabella Scewart Ga rdner in 1888 .

An Introduction to the Textile Collection at Fenway Court

Thi s arti cle is from rhe inr rod ucr ion ro rhe carnlog ue by Mr. Cava ll o, Textiles in the lsabeffa Stewart Ga rdne r M useum , robe published in 1983.

It was inev itable that Fenway Cour t should become a repos iro ry fo r sumptuous tex tiles. No enl ig h te ned connoisseur of that time, subj ect as t hey all were ro the nineteenth-ce ntury tas te fo r hi storicism and nos talg ia of place, and least of all Isabell a Stewart Gard ner who had a keen se nse of atmosphere, approached the problem of arrang ing a ma jor art collection with the heart of a p uris t . Thei rs was not a tast e fo r encyclopedic mu se um galleri es, each caress ing its own d isc ipline, shunning the delig hts beyond t he threshold , the pari ah of a d iffe rent time or medium . Furthermore, the turn of the ce ntury was a pi votal moment in the development of apprec iati on of t extiles fo r their ow n sake. Women of fas hi on valued fi ne fabri cs: they we re still wearing ri ch brocaded silks, intricate white embroide ries, deli cate laces. As thoug h in reacti on t o the final trium ph of the Industrial Revoluti on , with its mass producti on and m arketing methods, and in sympathy with the Arts and Crafts movements that were spring ing up both here and abroad , these people regarded the ri chness of fine textiles as a metaphor for the ri chness of hum an culture and as a tribute t o the infinite potential of that fabu lous rool , the human hand. Since Mrs. G ardner began her acti vity as a collecro r in this fi eld somewhat earli er than in others, it m ay be fair ro look fo r a special motive inspiring her interest. It might have g rown out of a visit ro Paris in the summer of 1867. Mr. and Mrs . Gardner saw in the French sec ti on of the

Internat ional Expos it ion some gow ns desig ned by t he Empress's favorite d ress m aker, Charl es Frederick Worth. Ad miring these confections as arden tl y as they dese rved to be, t he Gard ners visited Worth's shop on the rue de la Paix and bought a number of ensembles. The shop was set up in such a way that patrons walked t hro ug h several rooms fi lled with superb French , Italian and Eng lis h sil ks and woolens before they reached t he roo m where gowns we re show n on live models. I t is easy ro imagine that t hi s experie nce aroused in Isabella Gard ner, proud of a figu re t hat had already excited ad m irat ion in New York and Bosron , a very pe rsonal appreciat ion of the beauty to be fou nd in we ll des ig ned and we ll -made luxu ry fab rics. Later years broug h t more visits ro Worth's shop; and it is sig n ificant t hat when Mrs. Gard ner installed the rooms at Fenway Cour t she chose ro place unde r Titian's mag n ifice nt Rape of Europa a leng th of pa le g reen and sil ver figured silk that pro bably once had se rved as part of a Worth evening gow n (fig urer). The Museum's archives contai n statements from and corresponde nce wit h some of the European and Ameri can dealers from whom Mrs. G ardner boug ht works of arr. There are also supplementary papers - shipp ing and cus toms invoi ces and related docu ments that g ive detail s about certain p ieces she

acquired. These, together with entries in her travel di ari es , tell us a g reat deal about Mrs. Gardner's acti viti es as a collector of textiles. The records indi cate that by r872 Mrs. G ardner began tO acquire textiles as works of art that could stand on their own m erit rather than as simply part of a sumptuous setting. In that year she boug ht for a very low pri ce three tapestries from Leonard and Company in New York . Mrs. G ardner continued tO acquire tapestri es during the next thirty years (fig ure 2). In 1903 she paid almos t two hundred times more than Leonard and Company 's bill for the set of fo ur enchanting Chateau and Garden tapestri es. When she boug ht the Abraham tap estries (fig ure 3) rogether with the set illustrating the Story of Cyrus the Great in 1905- 06 , Mrs . G ardner paid twice the pri ce of the garden tapestries. Fine textiles were not cheap, but that did not stop Mrs. G ardner from pay ing the same am ount fo r two textiles (a p iece of embroidery and some lace) that she paid fo r her parcel-g ilt iron doot when she visited Moise dalla Torre, one of her favorite Venetian dealers , in r899.

Fig u re 1 T he silk that hangs below The Rape of Europa in t he Titi an Room was made in Lyo ns betwee n 1885 and 1895; it is approx imately the size ( 134 x 272 cm .) and shape of the skirt of a dinner or ball gown and probably comes from a fo rmal gow n th at Charl es Frederi ck Worth made fo r Mrs. G ard ner.

Meanwhile, Mrs. G ardner was scouring the scores of dealers in Italy, France, Germ any and N ew York for fine weavings , embroideri es, laces and ves tments, first fo r her house on Beacon Stree t (fig ure 4) and later for the galleries at Fenway Court . While these pi eces attracted Mrs. G ardner's attenti on fo r their ow n sake, m any have p rove n ro have interes ting h isrori cal assoc iations, parti cu larl y with the papal court (fig ures 5-9).

Fig ure 2 The Dining Room at 15 2 Beacon Street in the 189o 's. Two Flemish tapes t ries fr om the fi rst half of the sixtee nth ce ntu ry are visible at the left : The La ndlord and the Woodcutters and The Education of the Prince of Peace . Boch tapes tri es were purchased in Paris in 1892 and now hang in the Gothic Room.

The records also indicate that Mrs. Gardner boug ht damasks and brocatelles by the meter or yard ro use as wall covering or upholstery material. T here is, for example, an invo ice dated in December, r9r4 , for twenty-two meters of red damask , thirty-two meters of one brocatelle and two hundred meters of another boug ht from the firm of Karl J. Freund of New York . Other documents prove that Mrs . Gardner sometimes boug ht seat furniture that was already upholstered ("2 poltrone in damasco verde" from Arturo Laschi , Florence, 190 5) and in other cases she boug ht the fra mes and had them upholstered wi th fa br ics of her

Fig ure 3 A bime!ech Returns Sarah to Abraham, Flemish, Brussels, 155 0- 1600, wool warps, wool and sil k wefts , 345 . 5 x 401. 5 cm. , Inv. No. T19 w56-s , Tapestry Room . One of five tapestr ies illustra t ing t he

Story of Abraham that were pu rchased from Mrs. Charl es M. Ffou lke in 1905-06 and were fo rmerl y in the Barberini Coll ect ion, Rome.

Fig ure 4 The Srudy at 152 Beacon Street in the r89o's. Liturg ica l vestments and embroidered orphreys were di spl ayed with paintings and sc ulpture. Fine damas ks and velvets were not on ly draped ove r furniture but - in the uppe r left corner- se t off by a Renai ssa nce frame.

Figure 5 D etail of figure 6, t he arm s of Giovanni Angelo Medici , Pope Pi us IV.

choice (a statement from M. J esurum of Venice, 1897, for textiles to cover twenty-one pieces of furniture plus the cost of springs and the upholsterer's labor). Other textiles in the collection came into Mrs. Gardner's possession when she traveled in the Orient . Some of these are recorded in the diary she kept during a visit to Shanghai and Cambodia in 1883, as on November 22 when "the compradore broug ht Cambodian silks and sarongs, which we boug ht," and during a visit to Japan that summer when she

Figure 6 Dossal and Canopy, Ita lian , probab ly Rome, 1559 -1565, embroidered motifs appli ed ro plain velvet or ribbed si lk , 485 x 274 cm., Inv. No. T 27e4, Long Ga ll ery. The arms of Pi us IV (G iovanni Angelo Medici, Pope from 1559 to 1565) applied to the cente r of the canopy not only help

[[

date these hangi ngs but suggest that the initials FC , used decoratively in the borde rs, may refer to Prince Fabrizio Colonna, a nephew by mar riage.

Fi g ure 7 Military Pennant, Spanish , 1592 - 160 5 , embro idered motifs app li ed tO plai n velvet, 10 9 x 142 cm ., Inv. No. T 3oe23, Gothi c Room . The armorial shi eld in the lowe r rig ht corner bears the arm s of t he Aldob randini fam ily surm ounced by the papa l tiara and the crossed keys of S. Peter. This fixes the date of the pennant to lppolit0 Ald obrand ini 's tenure as Pope Cleme nt VIII .

boug ht some brocades for herself and Maud Howe (figure ro). Visits to Egypt, J erusalem , Syria, Greece, Constantinople, China and Indonesia are m emorialized not only in t he diaries but also in the galleries and storerooms of Fenway Court where textiles m ade in these places have been preserved (fig ures II, 12).

Nowhere is Mrs. Gardner's discrimination more evident than in the collection of laces. Exercising unusual skil ls of selection, she chose from among thou-

sands upon thousands of examples available to her some two hundred pieces of lace and white openwork embroidery whose varied character, hig h quality, and broad representati on of the history of European lacemaking must exc ite the ad miration (and envy) of every textile collector and the delig ht of every visitor to the Museum (fig ures 13 -1 7 and cover).

continued page 16

Figure 8 Sleeved waistcoa t and breeches from a cou rt costume fo r a sedario, Ita li an , Rom e, r878-r895, cisele velvet , waistcoat : 95. 3 x 50.8 cm. , breeches: 86.9 x 54.6 cm . Worn with a long -sleeved coa t and proper accessories, th is

Fi g ure 9 A sedario, from P H elyot and G. Perug ini , Album ou

Collection Complete et Historique des Costumes de la Cour de Rome . .. , Paris, 1862. r3

was the presc ribed ceremonial cos tume fo r a seda rio, the man who carri ed the Pope in his chai r of state (Sedia Gestatoria) in solemn processions . The coat of arms of Vincenzo Gioacchino, Pope Leo x u ( r878- r903) is worked into t he cut-and -uncut pi le pattern of t he ve lvet.

Fi g ure JO Kimono, J apanese, 18501900 , si lk : compound tabby, 131.5 x 132.6 cm . This garmenr may have served orig inall y as a robe for an acror in a No play. Ir seems char Mrs. Gardner wore ir on occas ion; in preparing marerial for a catalog ue, a handke rchi ef emb roide red w i rh Isabella was found in rhe kimono's sleeve.

Fi g ure 11 Ce remoni al coar fo r a wom an (chi-fu -kua), C hinese, 1800- 1900, silk: cu r vo ided velve r wirh appl ied medall ions of silk sa rin , em bro idered wirh polych rom e sil k yarn s and also wir h couched g ilr ya rn s, 1 1 2 x 130 . 5 cm . This m ig h r have bee n m ade fo r rhe w ife of a noblem an or courr offi cial.

Fi g ure 12 In fo rm al coar fo r a woman , Chinese, 1850- 1900, silk : cur vo ided velve r , rn7 x 1 28. 2 cm .

Fi g ure 13 Currain , hang ing, or cover, Wes tern Europe, 1550- 165 0, darned netting, 76.2 x 195路5 cm . One of the except iona lly important and ea rl y examples in the Muse um's collec ti on of laces and lace- related embro ideri es .

Fi g ure 14 . D erail of fi g ure 13.

The textile collection at Fenway Court thus speaks of a very personal and h igh ly cultivated tas te. It is true that Mrs . Gardner received advice from many of the same people who aided her in acquiring paintings and sculpture, but there still is a consistency about the collection that exists only because one sp irit made the final decision. Adolph S. Cavallo Director, Museum of R eligious Art Cathedral of St.John the Divine New York

Figure 15 Part of a fl ounce of furniture border, French, 167 51700, Point de France, 193 x 39路 3 cm . One of the finest laces in the collect ion , this piece has actually bee n made up from more than ni nereen frag ments. It refl ec ts the taste and some of the favorite motifs of the court of Loui s x iv ; the pattern , eve n the lace itself, may have bee n commissioned by the Sun King or a member of his entourage.

Figure 16 D erail of fi g ure 15.

Fig ure 17 Lappet, Flemi sh , Binche, 1725 - 50, bobb in lace , 63.5 x 12.7 cm. The patt ern is cl osely related ro that of th e most fashion able French silks of th e peri od and is an ex traordinaril y compl ex arrangement of C and S scro lls combined with leaves and blossoms movi ng in end less counterpoint .

The Mosaic fro m Montebello near Rome: An Early Manifestation of the Seasons in Roman Imperial A rt

The large and handsome mosa ic whi ch marks the center of the courtyard at Fe nway Court has always exc ited interes t , especi ally when viewed from the loggias above. Mrs . G ardner surely intended it to be a two-dimensional, polych romat ic contrast to the white marble sc ulptures around , the fl ower-lined pathways , and , above, all the architectural detail s whi ch frame it on the four sides of the interior court (fig ure l ). While well illust rated in the g eneral books about the Museum and in a thoroug h , scholarly article by Andrew Oliver, Jr. , nearly a generation ago, a new cleaning and some new thoughts about the iconog raphy have suggested the parag raphs and illust rations included here. ' The mosaic was part of the floor pavement from the small bathing establishment of a villa near that of Aug ustus ' wife Livia at Primaporta, a few miles north of Rome. The desig n com p rises a head of the G orgon Medusa in the center (figure 2). Birds perch on basket-like vases (kraters) of foliag e at the cardinal points of a delicate system of scrolls within a heavy g uilloche and fill et rectangle. A broad area of thin scroll work lies without . The site of the mosaic's d iscovery, in March of 1892 , was, more precisely, eight miles north of Rome where

the Via T iberina joins the V ia Flami nia, A . O liver, Jr., "The Monrebell o Mosa ics," American on the property of Cav. Alessand ro J ournal of Archaeology, Piacentini. T hi s section of floo r was LXIX , 1965, 268-270. removed fro m the excavated area and Over rhe yea rs, Deborah G ribbon , Roll in van N . passed th ro ug h t he hands of t he Roman Had ley, George M . A . anti q uari an Pio Marinangeli to Mrs. H anfmann , and Andrew Gardner in 1897. O ne of the other mosa- Oliver, J r. have helped me wirh rhi s mosa ic a nd irs ics from the same building complex has mea ning. been in t he Met ropoli tan Museum of Art since 194 5, havi ng been part of the floo r 2 S. Auri ge mma , Le Terme of a house in New York for nearly fifty di Dioclezia no e ii M1mo years (fig ure 3). Its central panel features Nazionale Romano, Rome, a stand ing and a seared fi g ure in t he 1946, 82, pl. 52. Egyptian style whi ch H adrian favored on account of his t rips to the land along t he N ile. In speaking ge nerally of the Fenway Court mosaic's des ign, the delicate moti fs of scrolls and "candelabra" pointing outwards at the corners correspond to the so-called Pom pe iian late Second to Third Styles of mural pain ting and mosaicwork , that is to architect ural decorat ion in the Aug ustan and J ulio-Claud ian peri od s, pe rhaps around t he year 2 5 of the Christian Era. Mosaics comparable in organizati on of the decorative subject , sometimes in a more fl orid, pictorial st yle, have bee n fo und in excavat ions and building operations around Rome, notably a floor dug up in 19II along t he Via Emanuele Filiberto on the Esg uiline Hill and now in the Roman national collections. 2 Since, howeve r, t he bathing establishment of t he villa at Montebello seems to be dated from brick stamps to the reig n of the Roman Emperor H adrian (A . O . rr7 to 138), the mosaics oug ht to have been laid on the fl oors at this time, as Andrew Oliver, Jr. po inted out in his definiti ve publi cation . The des ign of the Montebello mosaic at Fe nway Court can therefore be considered a H ad-

Fi g ure 1 Mosa ic floor pavem ent , Rom an , reig n of H ad ri an , A.D. 117 - 13 8 , I nv. No. S5c5 , courtyard , 500. 5 x 495. 5 cm ., Isabe ll a Stewart Gard ner Museum .

Fi g ure 2 Mosa ic floor pavement, derail of figure r, head of Medusa .

rianic revival of early Julio-C laud ian compositions in several good classical styles, the head of Medusa goi ng back to Athens and the sculpcor Pheidias around 435 B .C. The four birds on their vases (krate rs) facing inwards along the sides of the g uilloche and fillet rectang le are allusions co the seasons . Counter-clockwise from nine o'clock, they are Spring (the long-billed ri ver-bird akin co a heron), Summer (t he thrush), Autumn (the partridge), and Winter (the blackbird, fig ure 4). Rom an interest in the seasonal cycle as related to the passage of life was just developing at this time, in the reig n of Hadrian, and the tentat ive suggestions in the Fenway Court mosaic fo reshadow the growi ng preoccupation with seasons in the arts . About the time the Gardner mosaic was being laid on its bedding eight mi les north of the eternal city, or perhaps a generation later under the Emperor Antoninus Pius and the Caesar Marcus Aurelius (140 co r6r), a master silversmith in western Asia Minor, at Pergamon or Ephesos , was introducing the Four Seasons as Erotes or Cupids on a now-fragmentary silver tureen in the Neil Kreitman Collect ion, Beverly Hills , California (fig ure 5). The scene of the frieze consisted of a series of Erotes; two and the rig ht wing of the third remain standing in a landscape punctuated by three styli zed olive

trees . The Eros at the left holds a bunch of grapes over the remains of a large basket or bowl in which there is hardly room for the grapes already piled up on top. This Eros also carries a pedum or Satyr's pascoral crook, reversed, in his left hand . His pose is a lang uid version of the old , hig h classical Polykleitan stance, portrayed frontally with the weight on the right foot. In the next scene, tO the right, there is almost twi ce the space between the trees . A bowl , li ke the one from which this section of frieze came, has bee n placed on a rectang ul ar bomos or altar with mouldi ngs top and botcom .

Fig ure 3 Mosaic fl oor pavement, Roma n , reig n of H adrian , A. D . 117 - 138, 300

cm., Metropolitan Museum of Arr , N ew York .

300

complete the circuit of the silver tureen's frieze. The fruits of the vine, like the contents of the vases or baskets surmounted by the birds , were dear to the hearts of Roman iconographers in a society where agriculture still played a dominant part .

Figure 4 Mosaic floo r pavemenr, derail of fi g ure 1 , blackbird .

The Eros just beyond stands with legs crossed in the pose of a Prax itelean Satyr or the Pothos ("Desi re") ofSkopas. A cloak hangs from his left shoulder and seems to be laid partly over his outstretched right arm . The object in hi s rig ht hand is difficult to decipher. It is perhaps a small cup. Between Eros and the tree is a box on which is placed a large mask in the fo rm of a head of Silenus . Beyond the base of the next tree a small panther recli nes looki ng toward the Eros and outward to the viewer. Above and to the rig ht appear the remains of the third seasonal Eros. A fourth Eros wou ld have fi lled out the cycle of the Seasons, and there were doubtless other ritual ob jects of a Dionysiac nature and presumably other figures , perhaps the god of wine himself, to

At first g lance both the MontebelloFenway Court mosaic and the fragmentary Kreitman tureen mig ht seem unrelated , but both stood on the threshold of Antiquity 's grow ing concern with ritual , reg ul atory symbolism. While the Medusa, the vines, and the architectural patterns of the mosaic can be taken as Hadriani c revivals or continuations of decorative patterns in painting, mosaic, marble carving, and silver plate in the reig n of Tiberius (14 to 37), the fo ur birds on their four basket-shaped vases are still anonymous allusions to Spring, Summer, Autumn , and Winter in the garden and, by extension, the progress of life. Edward Gibbon used the transition from H ad rian's demise to the accession of Marcus Aurelius in 161 as a point of departure for his Decline and Fall of the

Roman Empire. As Romans of learning , taste, and means , those who commissioned mosaics and silver plate, saw the fa bric of empire beg inning to crac k , however slig htly, they took refuge in artistic expressions such as these, birds and Cupids desig ned to suggest that the Roman Empire as well as life and the three-month intervals of the year had an ordained cycle of birth , growth , vigor, decay, and death. On the lid of a marble sarcophag us or coffin of about A. D . 3 00 , set into the staircase wall well above the Montebello mosaic, two sets of fo ur Erotes prance along either side of the inscripti on to the deceased (fi g ure 6). They are animated

Fig ure 5 Secrion of a turee n , G reek Imperial , second ce nrur y A . o ., si lver, 9 x 31 .8 cm ., K re itman Collecri on , Beverl y H ills.

Fig ure 6 Secti on of the lid of a sarcophag us, Roman , ca. A . O . 300, Inv. No. S23 wl, ma rble, 24 x 148. S cm ., Isabell a Stewa rt Ga rdner Muse um .

Fig ure 7 Sarcoph ag us, Roman , ca. A . D . 270, marble, 58 x 229 cm ., Muse um of Fine Arts, Bos ron . Fig ure 8 Sarcophag us, Roman , reig n ofCo nsrn nrine, ca. A . D. 325 , marble, 48 .3 x 145 cm ., Mu seum of Fine Arts, Bosron .

versions of the scene on the si lver tureen. Birds pecking at an overturned basket once appeared in the lower rig ht center, linking this proto-Late Antique scene with the iconography of the mosaic as well as that of the tureen. 3 A seasonal sarcophag us of about 260 to 280 in the old Italian and French rococo courtyard of the Museum of Fine Arts g ives the repertory of birds and animals symboli c of the prog ress from Spring to Winter (fi g ure 7 ). They are also set in the lower reg ister, around the feet of the old farmer depi cted between sets of seasonal Amorini , two fig ures offull y-clothed Winter (Death) bei ng closest to the deceased .

Roses are also strewn along the path trod by the sets of Seasons. 4 A sarcophag us of the Constant inian age, about 32 5, reworked in post-Renaissance times , completes the iconographic cycle (fig ure 8). Here two large peacocks are placed below the fl ying Erotes who support the shield-bust of the deceased. They are pecking at baskets of fr uit and fl owers. The seasonal Amorini at the fro nt corners , Autumn at the left and W inter at the rig ht , carry similar krater-shaped baskets from the harvest and the winter storage shed .' The head of Med usa in the center of the newly-cleaned mosaic in the center of Fenway Court may represent merely a decorati ve t radition . The Gorgon's head which could turn living thi ngs to stone, however, has a wild and fearful look as rendered here in the multi-colored tesserae. In the H adrianic and Antonine periods , similar Medusa-heads were becoming a fixture on the sides and ends of Greek and Roman marble sarcophag i.

Medusa-heads am id garland s supported by N ikai or Vi ctories ("Victory in D eath ," as J ohn Si nger Sargent insc ribed in fuller words below his First World War m urals in Wide ner Library) are carved on the end of t he sarcophag us of the thi rd ce ntury A . O . placed at the foo t of the Montebello mosaic at Fenway Court (fig ure 9). These juxtapos itions of Medusae show that Mrs. Gard ner herself paid vis ual tri bute to these Roman symbols of man's fa te. 6

Cornelius C. Vermeule, 111 Curator, Department of Classical A rt Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Fi g ure 9 Garl and sa rcophag us, dera il of rhe end s , G reek I mperi al , wes rern Asia M inor, ca . A.D. 250, limesrone, 44 x 122.5 x 55 cm. , Inv. N o. S5c3, courryard , Isabella Srewa rr G ardner Mu se um .

C. Vermeu le, W Ca hn , R . H ad ley, Sculpture in the /Jabella Stewart G a rdner M useum , Bosron, 1977, 48, no. 64. 4 M . B. Com srock , et al ., Sculpture in Stone, Bosron , 1976 , 157, no.247.

Ibid., 158, no. 249 .

6 Sculpture in the Isabella Stewart Gardner Mmeum, 46, 47 , no. 63. Prof. Georg e H anfmann's heroic work , T heSeasonSarcophagus in D umbarton Oaks, 2 vols. , Cam bridge, 195 1, con rains all one mig h r wi sh ro read in add irion abour rh e Seasons in G reek and Roman arr.

A Greybeard jug at Fenway Court

In che refi ned su rroundings of rhe Du tch Room a sroneware jug on a richl y carved cabinec seems an oddicy (fig ure r). The jug has an interesr ing hi srory in che cicy of Bosron and represe nts a cype whi ch , as recent archeology has shown , was common in m any parrs of the world fo r several ce nturies - noc as indigenous manufaccure buc exported from Germany. Alrhoug h rhis example was found in Bosron , rece nt excavacions for che H arvard Square subway permined archeologisrs ro sifr chroug h several laye rs of Cambridge hisrory and am ong cheir fi nds were frag ments of similar vessels. For reasons discussed below, m any such jugs will come ro li g hc as archeology continues in Ameri can ci ties.

Fi gu re 1 Greybeard jug, Frechen, xv11 centu ry, sale-g lazed stonewa re, H . 43 cm., Inv. No. C21s8, Dur ch Room, Isabell a Stewart Gardner Museu m.

The Greybeard jug - fo r that is the name by which these facejugs are known - dates from the seventeenth century. It has a four liter capaci ty and is made of salt-g lazed stoneware. Its egg -shaped body ends in a narrow neck , the li p consisting of two rolls. The ridged handle shows fo ur indentations at the bottom , obviously made by the potter's thumb (figure 2). On the neck , opposite the handle, there is a g rimaci ng face with large, staring eyes , a straight nose with flaring nos trils, a scraggly beard , a sketchy, linear moustache, and rather untidy whiskers on the rig ht cheek (figure 3). The mos t charasteristic features of the face are the thi ck , long eyelashes , the straight eyebrows, and the huge, grinning mouth , distorted into a fig ure eight . In the center of the belly, beneath the face, is a relief application of the arms of the city of Amsterdam : a shield flanked by rampant lions surmounted by a five-pointed crown (fig ure 4). On either shoulder of the jug are the initials l.H . in a small oval. The salt g laze and clay wash cover only the upper twothirds of the jug and are streaked , exposing the natural g reyish clay color on the lower third. When the collection at Fenway Court was inventoried in 1927 a note was discovered inside this jug. An oldfashioned , cursive hand proclaims:

This j ug was fou nd in the excavation of cellars, under the "Old Brattle Square Church," fifteen feet below the surface-and is supposed to have been brought to this country by English officers , previous to the Battle on Breeds Hill in 1775. by. Martin Hayes & Co. 1 The Brattle Square Church was located where the new City H all now stands in Government Center Plaza (fig ure 5). 2 Built in 1773, 3 it was torn down a century later, between 1872 and 1874 , when the congregation sold the land and moved to the Back Bay. 4 Presumably, Martin Hayes , whose company is listed as both a construction firm and real estate agency in Boston city di rectories between 1872 and 1880, demolished the church or erected the commercial bui lding that replaced it and discovered the jug. Thus, Mrs. Gardner must have purchased it from H ayes or from a dealer sometime after 1872. We are certain that she owned the jug by the late 189o 's because it is visible in a photog raph of her house at 152 Beacon Street. It is true that the Brattle Square Church was occupied by British troops in 177 5. But no British officer would have used such an old-fas hioned object as this Greybeard when he had at his disposal lovely g lass decanters, Liverpool creamware jugs, or even Chinese export porcelain . Thus , we mus t dig deeper into the history of thi s site. The church occupied by British soldiers was not the first structure to be built in Brattle Square. A meeting house had been erected on the same si te in 1699 on land conveyed by

The jug was caralog ued , incorrect ly, as G renzhause n ware (G eneral Catalogue, Bos ton , 1935 , 186). 2

F. D et w iller, "Thomas D awes C hurch in Brattl e Square," Old T ime New Engla nd, LX IX , 1979 . l would like co th ank Susan Sincla ir and J ames Bradley, Survey Direcror at the Massac huse tts Hi stori cal Commi ss ion , fo r their work in researching the Brattle Square site. 3 T he Ma nifeJto Church , Records of the Church in Brattle Squa re, Boston, 1699187 2, Bosron , 1902. 4 D etwill er, 1979 .

But what is t he hisrory of the G reybeard jug and how did it, and others like it , come ta Bosron in t he first place? For the answers we must go tO Germany and set t he clock back fo ur or fi ve hund red years .

Fi g ure 2 G reybeard jug, detai l of figure r .

5 The Manifesto Church . .. , 190 2 .

6 R . G . H agga r, The Concise

Encyclopedia of Contine111al Pollery and Porcelain , New York , 1960, 464. 7 Wesrerwald is a hi g h pl ateau between the rive rs Sieg and Lahn on the ri g ht bank of the Rhine. Whe n war and relig ious persecution made li fe in Siegburg and Rae ren intolerable, ma ny potters es tablished t hemselves in the Wesrerwald afte r 1600. The potter y of this reg ion , whi ch is st ill produced today, had a g rey body a nd coba lt blue decoration unde r rhe sa lt g laze.

8 D esigns were carved into stone or clay Matritzen , or in tag lio nega tives , from whi ch the molded reliefs , or Patritzen , could be used over and ove r aga in . T hey were applied ro the leathe r- ha rd body of the vessel , bur care had ro be taken t hat no air bubbl es remained a nd rhar the wate r content in both pieces would be eq ual or t he relief would become detached du ring the fi ring .

T homas Bratt le the previous year. 5 In 17 00 a ten foot rig ht-of-way was granted ro t he meeti nghouse by a Mr. Dassett on condi t ion t hat his house "at the botrom of ye sd ground " be removed at t he meetinghouse's expense. The G reybeard jug at Fenway Court probably belonged to M r. Dassett's household and was thrown into a well when t he smal l hole in its side made it useless . T h is wou ld explain the g reat depth of fifteen feet at which it was fo und.

When we t hink of German cerami c hi story, t he fi rst t hing that comes to mind is, no doubt , t he red iscovery of hardpaste porcelai n at Meissen by Bottger in 17 0 8. We thin k of H oroldt's chinoiserie decorati on , Kand ler's baroque fi g ures, the elaborate d inner services commi ssioned by royalty, or the rococo porcelain ofNym phenburg, Frankenthal, and Ludw igsburg. But long before the eig hteenth century, at the end of the fifteenth cent ury, an equally if not more important ceram ic development rook place in t he Lower Rhine reg ion : the invention of a vitreous stoneware with a salt g laze t hat was im pervious tO liq uids and acids. T he abundant clay depos its along the Rh ine and its tri butaries and inexhaustible fi rewood supplies from the Eiffel , Hunsruck , and Westerwald mountains gave impetus ta pottery making as early as Celtic, Frank ish , and Roman times. By t he fi fteent h century, stoneware was one of the most important p roducts of the Rhineland. We may define stoneware as a cerami c body usually prepared , not a natural clay, which is fired tO the point of complete vitrification and is extremely hard and non-porous. 6 The G erman clay used to make sroneware had a rich content of sili cic acid and vitrified at 12 001300 degrees ce ntig rade; lead g lazes could not be used because they cannot wit hstand such hig h temperatures. Late in the fifteenth century it was di scovered that common salt , introduced into the

The invention and development of the printing process made possible the distr ibut ion of g raphi c desig ns which the Cologne, Siegburg , and Raeren potters trans lated into molded reliefs for their vessels. These molded and applied des igns are the characte risti c decoration of all Rhenish stoneware. 8 The most long-lived and widely distributed type of Rhenis h stoneware is that represented at Fenway Cou rt , the Bartmannkrug or Grey beard . T he first G reybeards were made in Cologne at the end of the fiftee nth century. However, the danger of fire , the g reat heat from the kil ns, the high price of wood due to the large amounts used by the potters , and the clouds of smoke and fou l-smelling chloride fumes that the potteries emitted kiln at the time of g reatest heat produced a thin , even , colorless g laze, resembling the texture of an orange skin . These new stonewares were so hard and durable that they could withstand years of toug h use in kitchen or cellar and, being almost unbreakable, lent themselves to shipping and export of Rhine wine. The most important stoneware potteri es were located in Colog ne, Frechen , Siegburg , Raeren , and H i:ihr-G renzhausen (Westerwald). 7 While the clay of Siegburg fired white, that of Colog ne and Frechen was g rey. To make their pots more appealing a brown or redd ish clay wash , called "engobe," was applied under the salt g laze.

Fi g ure 3 G reybeard jug, derail of fi g ure 1 . Fi g ure 4 G rey beard jug , derail of figure 1 , arms of the ci t y of Amsterdam .

William Chaffers offers evidence that the masks were also associated with the hated Duke of Alba (or Alva): Dr. Robert Plot, in his History of Oxfordshire (1676) refers to D'Alva bottles "which had been hitherto only made in Germany and brought to England by the Dutch in large quantities ." 10

Figure 5 Bratrle Square Church , ca. 1865 . Faneuil H all is visible in the bac kg round . (Photo : The Soc iet y for the Preservati on of N ew England Anriquiti es)

were, by the middle of the sixteenth century, sources of irritation to the populace of Cologne. Heavy taxes were levied against the potters and so much pressure was brought to bear that one by one they migrated to nearby Frechen or to Raeren and Westerwald where the production ofGreybeards and other stonewares continued . 9

Bartmannkriige are known to us not only as Greybeards but as Bellarmines . They acquired the latter name because their masks were once thought to be caricatural likenesses of Cardinal Roberto Bellarmine (15 24-1621) , an archfoe of Protestantism . Since Grey beards were made prior to the Cardinal's birth this is a misnomer. However, the name persisted in England and it occurs frequently in literary works. In William Cartright's play The Ordinary (1634) a character refers to ''A large jug some call a bellarmine, but we a conscience ...."

The mask as decoration on ceramics was used in many cultures and on many continents. Fragments dug up in Cologne show that the Romans made large and small drinking vessels with human faces in terra sigillata (red earthenware). During the fifteenth century Raeren became the center for facejugs with pierced eyes, protruding eyelids and noses, and, often, goatee beards (figure 6). With the development of relief decoration , the facejugs became more human. At first the masks were large, covering almost the entire surface of the vessel. The faces were handsome with benign expressions, the beards well-groomed-curled, parted, or even braided - and the noses well-defined. The earliest examples had no hair on the cheeks or fo'rehead and none had ears . A vessel dated ca. 1500 in the Cologne Kunstgewerbemuseum is especially noteworthy and rare because of its parted lips and teeth (figure 7). It also shows the relief decoration of vines and oak leaves typical of early Cologne stoneware and an evenly applied reddishbrown wash . The esteem with which these early Cologne jugs were held is demonstrated by the fact that they were reproduced in silver. One such copy of a very handsome Greybeard was made by Christoph Lindenberger at Nuremberg in 1558 (fig ure 8).

During the sixteenth century the faces became smaller in relation to the vessel and they were mounted on narrower necks so the bottles resembled roundbellied old men . The rims looked like crowns, even more so when pewter lids were added (figure 9). 11 A typical Greybeard of the Elizabethan era might have three armorial medallions or it might have a girthband around the widest part of the body with an inscription, often misspelled , admonishing the user "Trinkt und esst , Gott nicht vergesst" (Drink and eat, but do not forget God). Medallions, rosettes, initials, acanthus leaves, Tudor roses, and, especially, the arms of customers, patrons , cities and royalty were popular decorations. 12

Fig ure 6 Facejug with three hand les , Raeren , ca . 1500, salt-g lazed stoneware, H. 13.5 cm ., Kunstge werbemuse um , Colog ne.

9 By 15 5 5 on ly fo ur potters rem ained in Colog ne and by 1600 t hese too had left . See G . Rei nek ing vo n Bock , Steinzeug, Colog ne, 1971.

G . Reineking vo n Boc k , "Die Ent wicklung der Bartm aske an Rheini schem Stein ze ug ," Keramos, XXXI V, 1966 , 30-4 3. 12

10 W Chaffers, Marks and Monograms on European and Oriental Pottery and Porcelain, 14 t h rev. ed ., Los Angeles , 1946 , 42 , 4 3.

Fig ure 7 Greybeard jug, Colog ne, ca. 1500, salt-g lazed stoneware, H . 21 cm. , Kunstgewerbemuse um , Colog ne.

I. N . Hume, "German

Stoneware Bell arminesAn Introducti on ," Antiques Magazine, LXX , 1958, 4 39-440 .

Fi g ure 8 C hri stoph Lindenberge r, Greybeard jug, 1558, silver, Rhei nisches Landesmu se um , Bonn .

13 This jug was found in London in 1966inthe H olburn Circus distri ct , eighty feet be low the present ground level. 14 G. Reineking von Bock, "Verbreitung von Rheinischem Steinzeug," Keramos, LXXXVll , 1980, 11 - 46 . 15 M . Standbury, Batavia Catalogue, Perth , 1974 . 16 R. Stenuit , " Witte Leeuwe," 811!!eti11 van het

Rijksm11seum Amsterdam, IV , 1977, 165-178. 17 1. Meurer, " Rheini sc he Barokkruge in Wes t Afrika ," Keramos , LXVI , 1974, 33-40. 18 The pots fou nd in In dian g raves in York and Lancaster counti es were made in Wes terwald during the early seventeenth ce ntury.

By the end of the sixteenth century, potting technique began to decline. This is evident in a Greybeard attributed to Raeren , ca. 1600 (figure ro). 13 The hair surrounding the face has become more linear and the eyebrows are straighter than in earlier examples. While some good potting was done at Frechen after 1600 , by and large workmanship deteriorated rapidly. Applied or stamped decoration was usual ly hurriedly executed. The description of hair and beard were almost entirely linear and the expression , as may be seen in the example at Fenway Court , became grotesque, even sinister. It is not surprising to learn that bottles of this so-called Frechen type were used as witch bottles. Some have been found under hearthstones or entryways with their contents still intact : usually urine, fingernail parings , hair, and a cloth heart pierced with pins. These bottles were used ro cast a spell on others or to guard against being bewitched.

19 The dig was conducced in 1979 by the In stitute fo r Conservation Archeology, Peabody Museum , H arvard University; the sha rds are now at the Peabody Mu seum.

Pottery ceased to be produced in Cologne by 1600, but as a tradi ng center of stonewares the city remained unsurpassed for a hundred years. The Hansa merchants were responsible for the wide distribution of stonewares in Germany, but we know from inventories and cou rt records that Flemish and Dutch merchants were the chief wholesale buyers in Cologne. From Ghent and Amsterdam they exported Rhenish stoneware first to England, France, and Scandinavian countries and then to the whole known world. The Dutch East India Company, founded in 1602, actively engaged in Rhenish stoneware trade with Indonesia , Japan, and China. 14 The same ships that carried Rhenish stoneware to "East India" returned with precious cargoes of tea , silk, lacquer, and, above all, the Chinese and Japanese porcelains that were so coveted by Europeans. Hundreds of Greybeard shards of the Frechen type have been discovered in the wrecks of ships that sunk off the coasts of Ausrralia 1sand Africa 16 where, as late as the r97 o' s, natives were still using Rhenish stonewares. 17 Greybeards were also used in seventeenth-century America. Archeologists at Jamestown , Virginia, found one example, bearing a medallion of 1661, on the site of the first statehouse. Native Americans seem to have had a special reverence for these imports : many Greybeards have been found in Indian g raves as far west as the Mississippi. 18 In New England, stoneware shards were discovered at Srrawbery Banke, New Hampshire and a damaged Greybeard

Figure JO G reybeard jug, Raere n, ca . 1600, salr-g lazed sroneware, H . 26 .7 cm. , Busch-Reising er Museum , H arva rd Unive rsiry.

Fig ure 9 Grey beard jug , Frechen or Raeren , armori al reliefs dared 1603, salr-g lazed stoneware, H. 4 3 cm., Mu se um of Fine Arrs, Boston , g ifr of). Temp leman Coolidge. (Phoro: Jea n H oward)

was unearthed at Pemaquid , Maine. The finds at Wentworth Gate in Harvard Square - these Greybeard shards seem tO date to the earl iest student occupation of the sire, ca . 165 r- 167 4 19 - have sparked an in terest in systemati c excavation of the Bosron area which will undoubtedly result in new discoveries. The Greybeard at Fenway Court, however, remains the on ly complete specimen unearthed in New Eng land. Its m aker cou ld never have dreamed that hi s simple pot would one day be displayed in an elegantly furnished palace in a fa raway foreign country. Yer the Greybeard 's presence is not unjustified for it owes its world -wide distribution t0 the Dutch and Flemish merchants who, by thei r industry and daring, became prosperous enough to commissi on the pai ntings in the Dutch Room .

Lucie B. Beebe

Fr iedri ch Sc hiller,

1759- 180 5.

A Friedrich Schiller Letter to his Publisher: A Glimpse of the Poet in Business

Germ aine de Srael , Uber Deutsch/and, ed. S. Metken, Srnttga rt , 1962 , 158 . 2

Goethe und Cotta , Briefwechsel , Tex tkricisc he un d kommenci erc e Au sgabe, 2 vols. , ed . D. Kuhn , Scutcgart , 1979.

3 Schillers Werke, N a ci onalausgabe, xxv: Briefwechsel, Schillers Briefe 1. 1. 178828 . 2. 1790, ed. E . H aufe, Weim ar, r979, 65 0.

People tend co beli eve t hat wheneve r a poet s its dow n co write a letter, t he outcom e must necessaril y be a work of art . Mad am e de Stae l, the capric ious French journalist , once remarked t hat there were m any peopl e in G ermany who would cheri sh the mere add ress on an envelope as a prod uct of ge ni us , prov ided Goethe had written it . 1 The sam e holds true for Friedrich Schiller (1759- 180 5). Goethe and Schiller are p reeminent fi gures , not con fi ned to their reputat ions in G erman literature, and poets of t heir calibre have long been thoug ht tO li ve in a kind of ivory cower, aloof fro m the everyday sorrows whi ch bother less g ifted people. N eedless to say, thi s is pure fict ion. Li ke most people G oethe and Sch iller had their share of troubles and, li ke writers in every age, getting along with their publishers was the cause of most problems . It is a joy co read how G oethe nettled his publi sher J ohann Fri ed rich Cotta with his dem ands fo r hig her royalties in a correspondence whi ch fill s t wo bul ky volumes . 2 Reading those letters it is hard for us co beli eve that they stem from the same hand that wrote Faust and Elective Affinities.

W ith Fri ed rich Schill er it is exactly the same. On April 2, 1789, he wrote a letter co hi s p ubl is her, G eorg J oachim G oschen of Leipzig, concerning a fi nancial transacti on they had ro carry our. Since it was p ubli shed in 1870 and 1893, and reprinted, with some mi sread ings , in the Nationalausgabe of Schiller's works, t he contents of the letter have been know n co scholars, but t he actual m anusc ript , fo rmerl y part of a private collecti on in Leipzig, was believed los t in thi s century. 3 It is, however, ali ve and well , so co speak , in the coll ect ion of Isabella Stewart G ardner who boug ht it in 1893, cogether with a letter from Beethoven , fo r the incred ible sum of $49 .00 from the bibli ophile, Theodore Dwig ht , a fri end and ad visor. Today, Mrs. Gardner would have ro pay about 300 times the amount fo r Schiller's letter alone. The m anuscript , which is now on di splay in the Long G allery in Fenway Court , runs over t wo pages in a hast y and hardl y readable hand . The G erman origi nal reads as follows:

'Xlei111ar d . 2. April 89

Weimar, April 2 , (I 7)89

Einige f\linuten nachdem die Post 111it memem Brief 1111d Paq11et an iefort u'tlr ka111 der lh1-ige mil dem Ge/dean. Fiir lhre Gefdlligkeit liebster Fre1111d da nke ich lh11en au/ das allernrbindlichstc. !hre Frm 11dschaft gege11 mich 1st 1mbegrd11zt r, 11d rch b111 ordentlich beschdmt. sie nicht d11rch dh11/iche Dienste eiwiedern z11 kiirmen.1

A feU' min11tes after my letter and package had been posted to yo11 , I receii'ed yom-s co11tai11ing the money. I thank yo11. dearest friend, most cordially fo r )Ollr kindness. Yo11r friendship tou•a rd Ille is 1m/11111ted . and I fed q11ite embarrassed not to be able to ret11m 11 b; U'tlY of similar services.'

ow I am not certain u•hat )Oii har•e done 1111 bi11 ich i11 ngell'ijJheit , u•ie re es 11111 abo11t the brl/ of exchange u•hrch has been sent dem A mgno gehaltm haben. das Ihnm yo11111 the meantime. I do u·rsh yo11 u·o11/d u11terdesse11 prdse11tirt U'Ol'de111st . Irh wiinschte. dajJ ie es arceptirt habe11111o'cht1:11. have accepted 11 and u•o11/d li!t me pay the roo Thaler which I a/read) har·e receii•ed , either und mich die scho11 iibersa11dte11 1 00 Th. ent!l'ede1' Ihnen selbst oder a11jemand 1•011 h11:r to yo11rself or to so111ebod) here [in \ eimar] . The lllone; rs al )Ollr disposal. If l 1c1ke 11110 amzahle11 /iej3e11 . ie liege11 w llmm D1e11acco11nt all the 111a1111Scr1pts ) Oii ha1·e recernd ste11 berert. \Yle1111 rch al/es wsa111111enrech11e, from me 11p to nou•and are going to recein u•as ie an Mmpt t'On 11111' brsher erhalte11 habe111md bis zrrr Ostermesse noch 1·0111111r come Easter Farr ' . and if I ded11ct 1:1•erythi11g et'haltm u·erden 1md al/es da1•011 abziehe. //'as yo11 hal'e paid me 11p to nou" the amo11111 ;011 Sie mir bisher a11Sgezah/1 hab1:11. so betrdgt wo11/d hai•e to pay 111e before the Fair ll'011ld das , u•as re zrrr f\l esse 11och a11 mirh a11Sz11not be as high as that co1·ered b) the bill of zahle11 hdllen. 11icht sol'ie/ als das Amgno exchange. B1111/J o11 do 1101 object I shall al/Smacht . Wenn es lhnm aber nicht e11tgeg1m arrange fo r r11Si11S s to pa) yo11 th s11rp/11S I ist , so uiill irh es so einrichte11 . dajJ Ih11en shall ha1•e received from yo11 b) the e11d of the Cmsi11S d.as het'al/Sbezahlt , u'tls ich z11 Ende Fail; that is if yo11 hal'e accepted the bill. l 11 der f\l esse von Ih11en wviel e111pfa nge11 habe. case yo11 should protest a11d ret11rn it to me. wenn Sie neh111/ich das Amgno acceptirt the little bit of credit I ha1•e here U'011ld be haben. Folgt dieses 11111 Protest w riik. so ist end.a11gei·ed a11d I sho11/d han to pay protest mein bischen Credit hier 111 Gefahr 1111d charges 011 top of it . o. 111 case yo11hal'e 1101 macht mir noch Protest 1mkoste11 . Hdl!en ie accepted it, perhaps there ll'o11!d still be time also nicht acceptirt , so wdre es vie/leicht 11och fo r yo11 to send word to the Reiche11bach Zeit , wenn ie g!eich nach Elllpfang dieses Ho11se6 im111ediately after yo11 ha1•e receil'ed Briefs i11 das Reichenbachische Ha/IS schickthis letter and tell them yo11 accept the bill of ten rmd sagen fiejJen, Sie acceptirten den exchange. We ca11 alil'ays u·ork something 0111 Wechse!. then . Machen kiinnen wir es alsdann i11111m'. DijJ in der Ei!e und ndchstens 111ehr. Ewig der lhrige Schille1'.

A II this in a h11rry-111oi-e shortly. Yo11rs ever, Schiller.

I find ir hard ro imagine rhar Mr. G oschen under rood on first reading what rhi lerrer was all abour. There is an awkwa rd clumsine s in rhe way Schiller rri es roger hi point ae ro , and even when we rake inro account rhe hurry in w hi ch rhe letter wa wrirren , rhe repetitive use of expressions like "aus zahl en" (ro pay), "Assig no" (b ill of exchange) and "e rhalren" (ro recei e) ere. makes ir clear rhar ro correspond in financ ial m atters was nor one of chill er' srrong points. In rhe openi ng lines, when he expres e his fri end ship and g ratitude rowards hi publisher, he can resorr ro convenrional and rhetori cal phrases li ke " . .. danke ich Ihnen auf das allerverbindlichsre," a formul a which is al m ost unrranslarable ir tri es ro convey rhar chill er feels " most obliged " fo r what Goschen has done fo r him . Bur once Schiller comes ro rhe point at issue, he is ar a loss fo r wo rds ro stare cl earl y what he wanes Mr. Goschen to do. Since Goschen's letter m enri oned in the first paragraph is nor ex ranr , iris even harder fo r us ro fi g ure our what rhe business ar hand was all about , and Schiller's intricate st yle, swarming with subjunct ives and subordinate clauses , makes things eve n worse. The matter was simple enoug h though: Schiller had -for whatever reason senc his publi sher a bill of exchange, nor knowing rhar Mr. G osc hen's lerrer and money were already under way. Now he wants G osc hen ro accept rhe bill ,

because ifhe d es nor , hill er would , as he we ll kn ew, have to pay prores r ch arges . H e imply wane to kn w what he i ro do ab ur rhe verpaymenr he n w has received from o hen , a nd in rhi lerre r he tries r figure our a way of set tling rhe bu ine . H ad he waited a day or rwo, he would have re eive<l word rhar o chen in fa r ha<l a cepred rhe bill . 7 Bur chiller, like rhe rest of us , 1s uneasy and worried when 1r com e ro "com p licated " finan 1al problem , e peciall y so when there is a n k of lo 1ng m oney. l nsrea<l of wa1r1ng for b chen' decision , he hurriedly wrore him rhi letter immediately afte r ha ing received rhe publisher's lerrer and money. ince n ne of chille r' wo rks are men ri ned in rhi message, one might find ir nor alrogerhe r ve ry inre resr1ng, especiall y so because i r lacks rhe cla ri ry of style which makes chiller's hisrorical and philosophical w riting , hi prose ficti on , poetry and d ramas so beautifully readable. H owever, letters like rhis throw some lig ht on rhe everyday matters of business even g reat men like Fri edrich chill er have ro deal wi rh , and they g ive rhe li e to Shakespeare's descri ption of rhe poer who lives wi rh hi "eye in a fine frenzy roll ing ," bur otherwise need nor be concerned about such base things as royalti es , bills of exchange and letters ro publi shers. The m ere facr rhar Schiller is wo rri ed abo ut " rhe littl e bit of credit I have here" m akes thi s letter a very likable one. Ir shows Schill er the m an, nor rhe poer, and rhar is a ni ce change.

Walter Hettche

4 Th e Eas cer Book Fa ir, held annu a ll y in Le ipzig, was ch e d a re fo r a ll ne w boo ks co be publi shed

5 ieg fri ed Leb rec hc ru s1us ( 1738 - 1824), boo kse ller and publi she r in Le ipzig H e publi shed a coll ec n on of c hill er's prose fi cci on in 1792 Negoci a ci ons a bo uc chi s ed ni on we re he ld in 17 9

6 Th e Re ic hen bac h H ouse was a ba nking ho use in Le ipzig whi ch spec ia li zed 1n d ealing w ich b ill s of exc ha nge . 7 ee chillers Briefe, ed . E H a ufe, 65 0

I 1e de \ olfe in rhe 90 ' . ( Ph ro : l u eum of rhe try o ew Yo rk) 1

Elsie de Wolfe and Isabella Stewart Gardner

Among the many younger friends of Mrs. Gardner, chosen more often than not for their accomplishments , was Elsie de Wolfe. Their brief correspondence is a footnote to the recent interest in the life and career of Miss de Wolfe! Elsie, born in 1865 , was broug ht up in New York as was Mrs . Gardner, but instead of inheriting well she inherited almost nothing and had to make her way in the world, first as an actress but eventually as a very successful interior decorator. As one critic recently pointed out , she was to interior decorating what her friend Emily Post was to good manners . Shortly after 1900 at a time when Mrs . Gardner had g iven up Europe (she would make only one more trip), Elsi e de Wolfe became a resident of Versai lles -at first for a few months a year, eventually for longer and longe r periods until it became her home. The international set went ro the same spas , met at house parties , and moved with the seasons like birds. Elsie de Wolfe and her long -time companion, Bessie Marbury, were known as excellent hostesses and it follows that Mrs . Gardner and Miss de Wolfe would have had friends in common - fri ends who were known for what they did: Bernard Berenson , Marion Crawford , H enry James , Henry Adams , Nellie Melba, John Singer Sargent and others who kept a foot on two continents. What they had in com.m e n , beside their soc ial connections , Mrs. Gardner in Boston , Miss de Wolfe in Versailles , was a life of art , music and gardens . This was Mrs. Gardner's trinity that broug ht about Fenway Court and broug ht Miss de Wolfe to see it as she was beg inning the renovat ion of her estate, the Villa Trianon. The meeting was a success. In her letter of thanks she wrote: 39

I have no words to tell you the pleasure you have given me- I can't leave Boston without writing you these few poor words. I shut my eyes close (sic} to shut in the beauty of all yr wonderful things & shut out all the banalite & sordidness of my own immediate present . You have accomplished a great & beautiful thing which will bear f ruit in the greater artistic advancement of our working people. It is not that they are dull only ignorant & untaught . The written word is much the unwritten one more- Yrs with the deepest admiration Elsie de Wo/fe 2

See, for example rhe bi ography by J ane Smirh , Elsie de Wolfe, A L ife in the H igh Sty le, New York , 1982 . 2

Elsie de Wolfe 's lerrers to Mrs. G ardner are in th e Mu se um archi ves .

In it one perceives another bond between the two, a desire to create beauty as a means of ed ucating taste. She ret urned to Fenway Court on at least two occas10ns, wrmng again m 1913 or 14:

r27

123 EAST FIF1HIFTH

STREET

Dear Queen Isabella This is only to say "thank you" for all yr great kindness to us, A lexe & me while we were in Boston . We had a wonderful time all "grace a vous" & it was a joy to see you again. We are to come on again when the Aboretum is in bloom . Much , much love Yrs always Elsie de Wolfe

ofa table , designed by Elsie de Wolfe , beech , H . 67.5 cm ., L. 99 cm ., W. 30 cm., Inv. o. Fl 5 n 5, Room of Ea rl y Italian Pa1nrin g s .

When war broke our , Mi ss de Wolfe was in France and there she pent much of the war working fi r a hospita l or raisi ng funds for relief of the wounded . When she returned t0 Fenway Court in r92 0, Mrs. Gardner was an invalid . The encou nter was recorded in her aurobiog rap hy:

ing " Yes" and setting the time. It was a stormy day in March when we presented ourselves . The door was opened by a funny little old man , an Italian , who told us that Mrs . Gardner would see us in her own room. we were then taken up in the great lift , and when I went in to see her she was lying on a couch of white linen and her hair was entirely covered with linen bands of exceeding fineness. She looked like a corpse prepared for burial. Indeed, j ohn Sargent made a drawing of he1' which now hangs in her gallery. To anyone who saw her that day, as 1 did, it is one of the most remarkable drawings in existence. She looked so remote from anything connected with this world that I could only think of some of the primitive pictures of saints . Yet in my heart I knew she was not a saint . I was rather tremulous as I went forward and kissed her hand and said, ·'Queen Isabella, I have bro11ght Brenda Ou/ferin to see you." he looked at Brenda for a few seconds with011t speaking. Then she said: "My dear, I kneii/ yo11r father-in -law very well when he u·as Governor-General of Canada. It was for his sake and my memOIJ' of him that I told Elsie she co11ld bring yo11 here today. Now that I see yo11, you are so lovely that I sho11ld have let you come for yo11rse!f" we talked to her for a few min11tes and finally she said to me:

When Brenda , Lady 0 11/ferin (who has since remarried) was in America , she wanted lo see the Gardner home. At this time "'Queen Isabella" was very ill and had never left her own private suite of rooms at the top of the home. "/ wo11ld like to see you alone." These rooms were furnished with her own old American f11rnit11re from the Beacon tree! When Lady 011/ferin left the room she said: house in her early days. I telegraphed her, "There is a little box on the table. I u•ant yo11 asking if I might bring Brenda Ou/ferin to to keep it in memory of me." see Fenway C011rt. I received a telegram sayWhen I opened it later I found it to be an exq11isite jade ornament. I have it now. That was the last time I saw her, for she died shortly afte1'. 3

The g ift was confirmed in her let ter of thanks :

Here I am back again in my "pays divaste" where I retreat from room to room as each place is dismantled & my last stand is my bedroom.' I went to a cinema last night to pass the time & at ro.30 got into my room on the train leaving at midnight & hugging my precious jade went sound asleep & woke only as we rolled into the station in New York . So that's the first luck yr wonderful stone has given me.' It was a real joy seeing you & yr vitality & charm are life enhancing & encouraging. I'm so glad I went on to Boston & You.' Elsie The next year a postcard of Villa Trianon arrived from France (June 6, 1921):

Just back to my own corner of the world after 4 2 weeks in Cannes with Ogden Codman & 3 weeks more en auto & at the Berensons'. Most lovely, interesting, cultivating & comfortable. We are all thrilled over Gladys engagement to Marlborough announced today. r 7 years of devotion has its reward.' She is lunching here tomorrow with Sonny { ?} . I think of you often dear Queen & I wear my jade & am very happy Elsie de Wolfe

A final lette r in 192 3 introduced General Ronald Storrs, Governor of J erusalem , who was anxious ro see Fenway Court . With that the record of their fri endship stands. At one moment in her career, in fact one of the brig htes t , Elsie de Wolfe was engaged by Mr. Frick to acquire furniture for the second fl oor of his house on Fifth Avenue, the family 's int imate quarters. This she furnished by buying some of the best pieces from a renowned collection in Paris. Mrs. Gardner also boug ht antiques but preferred ro choose them for herself. Placed with the furnishings of the Room of Early Italian Paintings is a small , simple table bought from a friend in 1915. It is a design of Elsie de Wolfe's, a sofa table. Mrs. Gardner did not use it with a sofa: the table, covered with damask and with two silver candles ti cks on it , is placed in front of a small fo urteenth-century altarpiece. Typical of both women was an orig inality of interi or decoration in which old and new, consistency and inconsi stency were juxtaposed to g ive a se nse of style. Both women had already made t heir mark as designers when they met and could apprec iate the other's accomplishments.

Rollin van N. Hadley

3 E. de Wolfe , After At!, New York, 19 35, 105, 106. 4 O gde n Codman , an architect from Boston , had worked on the renova ti on of a New York brownsrone wit h Elsie and had coll aborated on the book The Decoration of Houses with Ed ith Whar ron (New York , r89 7).

The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum ) Incorporated Fifty -seventh Annual Report for the Year Nineteen Hundred and Eighty One

Garme nc fabri c, J apa nese, 1800- 1900, silk with compound cabby.

Report of the President

Not long ago my w ife and I brought a young couple from Maine for a visit to the Museum. They were on their honeymoon. He is a lobsterman , she a schoolteacher, and they live on an island ten miles offs hore. I am pretty s'.ue neither of them had been in an art museum before. Fortunately we ran into J ohanna Giwosky, t he director of music , at the back entrance, and she let us in through the greenhouses , a breathtaking sight in themselves . We found Robert MacKenzie, the head gardener, in the potti ng shed as we passed through, and I was able to show my friends the wall covered with framed cer tifi cates of the medals and awards he has won fo r horticu lt ure. Then we crossed the snowy garden , passed through the Museum office and came out in the inner courtyard bursting with flowers. I could hear an intake of breath from our friends. Of course we did n't have enoug h time ; it is hard to have enoug h time when you are showing visitors around Boston. We couldn't stay fo r the concert by Jules and Virginia Eskin that J ohanna G iwosky had com e to prepare for, and I fe lt very much t he tour g uide on a schedule trying to make sure our friends saw the obvious hig hlig hts - the Vermeer, the Rem brand ts, The Rape of Europa , El jaleo, the Daddi, the Simone Martini, and the Botticelli Madonna, before it was time to go.

But there was no rushing them. They wanted to see the pictures on every wall before leaving fo r the next room. They stopped to admire ornaments and carvings and inlaid furniture. She would want to exam ine closely how a painter had done a piece of lace or gold embroi dery on a dress. And they kept going to the windows of the galleries to gaze again on the cou rtyard from different levels. I think this brief visit meant a lot to the young couple, but it also gave me a fresh view of the Museum, what it m eans to the 15 0 , 000 visitors who come here each year, and how important it is to protect and preserve it as one of our g reat national treas ures .

Malcolm D. Perkins

Report of the Director

Slow, solid progress marked the year in the Museum , with some projects brought to conclusion and others advanced to the point where they can be completed in 1982. Experiments were tried in certain areas, notably in the regular weekly concerts and in the program for members . A children's program was presented on Sunday, October 4, to an enthusiastic audience, several of whom wrote to cong ratulate the Museum fo r the or iginality of the presentat ion. Conducted by Newton Wayland who conceived the idea, "Beethoven Lives" had schoolchildren as performers and appealed as much to parents as to their offspri ng. Other such programs will be included in the music series on an irregular basis , arranged throug h the capable hands of our music director. Odetta perfo rming in the Tapes try Room .

Several concerts from the 128 presen ted during the year stand out as hig hli g hts of the series. The New Eng land Chamber Orchestra presented a concert in honor of the Boston Symphony Orches tra's roo th anniversary; a full-scale production of three twelfrh-ceotury liturg ical dramas in honor of St. Nicholas was g iven on St. Nicholas Day; The London Serpant Trio performed orig inal music on rare, early instruments; an orchestral concert of musi c by Stravi nsky was directed by a young J apanese cooduetor ; and Odetta offered her ow n special folk music. Among the young perfo rmers making their debuts in Boston , two pianists who had played in the Museum many times returned to perform on the nig ht after they had woo national competitions . Randall Hodg kinson woo the Rockefeller Award and Christopher O 'Riley was a finalist in the Leeds Competition in London. The Massachusetts Council on the Arts and Humanities and the Music Perfo rmance Trust Fund generously supple,meoted the music budget again this year. The Museum's members , a group that has g rown by about fifteen percent during the year, were offered special music for Mrs . Gardner's birthday, a fine performance by the American String Quartet accompanying Claude Frank on the piano. At Christmas the Boston Cecil ia Society, whose predecessors were part of the prog ram on the Museum's first nig ht in 1903, sang in the Tapestry Room

fo llowed by a recepti on in the Dutch Room . W ith the cooperat ion of the Spanish Consulate, the Museum was able to offer an evening of Spanis h music, perfo rmed on the portative organ by Bernard Brauchli .

year, and thank them fo r their involvement. The Museum is particularly g rateful for the support of our fi rst corporate members. Al so, we thank J ane Godfrey fo r her advice on corporate fun d raising.

T he fall lec ture series had as a spec ial treat Geoffrey de Bellaig ue, Surveyor of the Queen's Works of Art , speaking on the collecti ons fo rmed by Charles 11 , George III and George IV . Members of the staff gave lectures on vari ous aspec ts of the collecti on illuminating t he fo under's taste.

One sig nifi cant g ift was received in memory of Doreen I. Young, teacher of art history and assistant headmistress at Concord Academy and co-fo under of Simon's Rock . The donati on expresses the g reat apprec iati on of all her fri ends fo r her work and their recogniti on of Doreen Young 's love of the Gardner Museum .

N ew members were g iven the opportunity to view the collection and g reenhouses info rmally and to talk with members of the staff. We acknowledge the support of the many individual members who participated in the activities this

Geoffrey de Bell aig ue, Sur veyor of the Queen's Works of Art , who spoke to members on royal coll ections.

One of our efforts to save energy, after two years of planning, was reali zed when a way was fo und to insulate the offi ce wing. Two inches of foa m plasti c were covered with stucco on the west and south sides. The windows were triple g lazed on the east side to complete the arrangements. Further study is needed on heating and air conditioning before we can rake full advantag.e of this. New lig hts were installed in the Gothic Room and on several particular obj ects on the first floor in the campaign to improve lig hting . Windows in the G othic Room , back stairs and across the front of the th ird fl oor were treated to reduce g lare. The cafe showed a profit before deprec iation in its second year of operat ion and continues to serve an appreciat ive aud ience. The staff works under crowded cond itions to produce an interest ing,

Special Visits by non-profit organizations , with an attendance of roo or more were g ranted to: March 13: Bosto n Symphony Orches rra ( 195) March 18: Georgetow n Alumni Club of Boston (125)

April

l O:

Bunting Institute of Radcl iffe Co ll ege

( 15 0)

May 4 : New England farm & Garden Assoc iation ( 150) May 15 : Ameri can Society of Int erior Desig ners (100)

May 27: H arvard Medical School , Continuing Ed. Dept. (110) May 28 : World Affairs Co uncil ( 175) September 9: H arvard Medi ca l School , Office of Student Affairs (250) September 21 : Child ren's Hospira! , Dep t. of Pediarri cs ( 175) October r Texas Club of Internists ( 150 ) October 19 : Young Pres ident's Organ iza ti on ( 120 )

October 23: MIT Sloan School of Manage ment "Inside rhe Greenhouse", rhe Museum's exhibir ar rhe New England Spring Flower and Garden Show.

short daily menu. Their plight is one of several under study at the present time to see if space can be found to supplement their inadequate kitchen. The Museum's exhibit at the New England Spring Flower and Garden Show was a small "working" greenhouse and potting shed fi lled with a variety of plants, landscaped on the outside. It won a si lver medal and a Superior Commendation Certificate. The Museum's exhibit at the annual Camellia Show won a gold medal. The greenhouses donated cut flowers for the six-week run of An Island Tale, performed by the People's Theatre, Cambridge. The Museum received a generous gift of a collection of orchids from Mrs. Mettie Whipple, of Newton, Mass ., for which we are very grateful. The head gardener and his staff continue to please the public with the variety of plants grow n to perfection that appear in the Museum's court, as good a flower show as can be found in New England. 47

(100)

October 25: Wei zmann Instirute of Science (250)

Income from the Sales Desk this year was $49,898., up slightly from l98o's figure of $48, 158. Attendance for 1981 was 143,054, up from 136,000 in 1980. A new security superintendent , Lyle Grind le, joined the staff in September and immediately began a review of equipment and procedures. The Museum has not purchased major equipment for security in a decade. As the report now being prepared is carried out, it will increase our electronic surveillance and fire protection and give the museum an added advantage in the continuing efforts to protect the collection . Other staff changes include the retirement of Patrick Niland and Joseph Miniutti, maintenance, and Frederick

Employed in res tri cted sched ules were Amy Eshoo, adm inistration, Barbara Russell , archives, Alexa Trefonides , catering, G raham White, Theresa Babi neau , Louise Mattaliano, Lois Yachetta, Anthony Sercey, K ev in Gaudette, Wil li am Evans, sec urity, Diane Bailey, Carol D av is, Rosalyn Sears, and Adam Trefonides , cafe . Employed on a work study program from Boston University is J ohn Demi ck who assists the staff p horograp her. The admini strat ive and curatorial staff benefited g reatly from the aid of student interns, Ramona Salzillo, Wheaton College, Catherine Mark , Welles ley College, J oseph H ershenson , H arvard University, D av id Kennerley and Meg Golodner, Vassar College. Lyle G rindl e, Chief of Security, discuss ing proce du res with Miriam H itchcoc k of the day watch .

Doy le, Patr ick Slev in and J ames Sulli van , g uards. Resig nat ions were accepted from Brian Scarry, assistant secu ri ty fo reman , Marlene Eidelheit, texti le assistant, Mary Anne Dig nan , mem bership sec retary, Terry Shaneyfelt, Brian Kelly and Peter Blanc het te, watchdesk, Kathleen Smith and Kat hlee n McLaughl in, cafe ass istants, and Cathy Schwartz , g uard. Engaged fo r reg ular d uties we re, in the text ile lab, Betsy Gould and Rob in Berg man, R ika Sm ith in t he objects lab, Kathleen McKitchen and Rosemary Pad ua in the cafe, Brian Porter as ass istant security fo reman , Miriam Hitchcock and Thomas Z ucker-Scharff on the watchdesk and as g uards, Anthony Biancucc i, T heresa Burns, Francis Gavin , Stephen Ja nus, J illaine J ones , Ke nne th Kelly, Pearse MacCurtain , Robert Morris and M ichael Shea.

The Museum owes a spec ial debt of gratitude to Jud ith Melzer and Mary Anne D ig nan who volunteered their help during m embersh ip m ailing s. The staff continues to perfo rm with enthusiasm and dedicat ion , often contributing to changes in policy- necessary internal changes in order that we m ay adjust to g reater changes beyond our walls. To them and to the Trustees fo r support and encouragement , the d irector records his t hanks fo r a successful year.

Rollin van N. Hadley

Report of the Curator

The conservation of objects in the collection and the maintenance of the galleries themselves do not usually produce startling changes. H owever, the rece nt cleaning of the Roman , second-century mosaic fl oor pavement that is the centerpi ece of the courtyard revealed a brig htness and depth of color that will be a pleasant surprise even to freq uent visitors . Cornelius Vermeule, who catalog ued the ancient sculpture in the collection , took the opportunity to re-examine the mosaic and its iconography ; his thoug hts are prese nted in an article in this issue. The polychromed and g ilt wood fig ure of S. G eorge, which stands at the Museum's exit and dates to the beginning of the sixteenth century, was also treated . Its

polychromy was set down in the areas where it had lifted and losses were filled and inpainted. Unfo rtunately, the French Romanesque, limestone portal between the Spanish and East Clo isters began to deteriorate during the summer. It was timely that the chief conservator had received a g rant from UNESCO to attend a seminar on stone conservation, held in Venice in May and June, fo r he has now beg un the pa instaking tes ting to determine whi ch material can most effectively and safely stabilize the stone. As the treatment will require many months , the supervisor of the building , J ohn Niland , has constructed an ingenious plexig lass fra mework that protects the portal. Venetian watercolors by J ohn Singer Sargent , S. Maria Gesuati and S. Giuseppe di Castello, were treated by the paper conservator. The musi cal manusc ripts in the collection , approximately twenty, were

Conse rva ti on ass ista nt , Rika Smith , cleaning the second-century, Rom an mosa ic fl oor pave ment.

drycleaned and mended, and all the newspaper clippings were sorted, de-acidified , and safely stored.

S. George, Bavarian or Tyrolean , ca. 1500 - LO , polychromed and g ilt wood, L49 cm ., Inv. No. S4 n !. Trea ted in l98 !.

As work on the textile catalog ue continued , the textile conservat ion staff prepared m aterials fo r photography and implemented improved storage procedu res. A set of seventeenth-century Italian chai rs in the Tapestry Room was am ong the furniture that was reupholstered and , at the end of the year, two Flemish tapestries were being treated: Amazon Queens , dated 1450-14 7 5, and one of the tapestries from the sixteenthcentury series illustrating the life of Cyrus the Great. The m anuscript for the textile catalogue referred to above, prepared by Adolph S. Cavallo, is now complete and will be published in 1983. His article in this issue of Fenway Court offers an introduction ro the texti le collecrion and a sampling of the new information that the catalogue will contain . A second publication was also completed during the course of the year: in the summer of 1982, Shorewood Fine Art Books w ill publish a book illustrating one hundred of the best objects in the collection , including paintings , drawings, sculpture, furniture, and textiles. The director wrote the introduction and individual essays , and the Museum's photographer made new color transparenc ies to illustrate the volume.

The museum is, of course, freq uently asked to contribute ro other research proj ects . The curatorial assistant , with the help of an intern , asem bled seventyfive photographs of obj ects in the collection that depict classical subj ects for the Lexicon lconographicum Mytho/ogiae C/assicae, which will be made available throug h Rutgers , the State University of New J ersey. The Museum's archives continues to be an important resource for students and scholars , both from local institutions and from abroad . Letters, photog raphs, and other materials were consulted by biog raphers of George Santayana, Charles Manin Loeffl er, and J ohn Singer Sargent . The archivist catalog ued Mrs. Gardner's t wenty-seven travel d iaries, the photog raphs she collected , almost 15 00, and surveyed the Museum's architectural records for the Massachusetts Committee for the Preservation of Architectural Records. Study in other archi ves has contributed to research on our own holdings: an annotated photograph album , discovered among William Amory Gardner's papers at the Groton School, enabled the archi vist to identify and date the phorog raphs in a similar album at the Museum. In April , the Museum part icipated in a two-day seminar on "Lig ht ing for Cultural Fac il it ies," sponsored by Technology and Conservation . A group of seventy-five conservators, curators, and des ig ners visited the Museum to discuss the collection's lig hting problems, req uirements, and poss ible solutions. The louve rs installed in the Veronese and T it ian Rooms were cited as a prototype fo r redi-

recting lig ht and filtering ultra-violet rays while maintaining the architectural integ rity of the windows. A class from Welles ley College vis ited the conservation fac ili t ies ; the curator spoke to a g roup from Trinity College and , with the archi vist , conducted a meeting of Boston College's Museum Stud ies sem inar. The conse rvator of textiles presented a lecture on the treatment of tapestri es to the Text ile Conse rvation G roup at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York .

Deborah Gribbon ~

Conservator of tex ti les Marjorie Bullock and ass is tan ts , Betsy Gould and Robin Berg man , prepa re ma terial fo r storage.

Membership Events

In 1979 when the Museum fi rst invited the public to become members , the Trustees and staff hoped to bui ld a g roup of supporters whose interest and contributions would insure the maintenance of the Museum's collecti on, g reenhouse, and concerts. A p leasant outgrowt h of the m embership program has been the series of lec tures and special concerts, many of which the general public may attend fo r a modest fee. These spec ial events provide new opportuniti es to enjoy the collect ion and to learn abo ut the history and traditions of the Museum .

FEBRUARY

26 26

AND MARCH

Contributing members, Patrons and Benefacrors lunch , followed by a tour of the g ree nhouses led by the head gardener. APRIL 14

Mem orial Service fo llowed by a tour of the collection with the director. APRIL 22

Founder's Birthday Conce rt and Reception : The American String Quartet, Claude Frank, soloist . OCTOBER

Mrs. Gardner as a Collector, Rollin van N. H adley, direcror. The first in a seri es of lectures on the Museum and its fo under scheduled for 1981 - 82. OCTOBER 28

Three Kings-Their Tastefor the Decorative A rts , Geoffrey de Bellaigue, Surveyor of the Queen's Works of Art.

NOVEMBER 9 Tour of the coll ect ion and g reenhouses for new membe rs.

NOVEMBER 24

Concert of Spanish music perfo rmed on the porrative organ by Bernard Brauchli . DECEMBER I AND 3 Mrs . Gardner as a Builder, Marie Diamond , staff lecturer; second in a series of talks on the Museum and its fo under. DECEMBER 17

H oliday concert: An Italian Christmas, The Bosron Cec ilia Chorus and Orchestra.

路For information on membership please contact the Museum office, 2 Palace Road, Boston, Massachusetts, 0 2 I I 5 .

The direcror's rour of the collec tion with the new members.

Publications

A li st of sli des is ava il able on requ est .

scu lpture collection , which includes exampl es from the classical and medieval periods throug h the Renaissance to the modern era; 264 black and white illustrati ons . Paperbound $12 .00; Clothbound $18 .oo ; Postage and packi ng $ .85 (domest ic) $ r. 50 (international).

Li bra ries and oche r educational institutions are offe red a 4 0% discounr on most items. Mail orders wi ll be shi pped by 4rh class, book race (d omestic) or su rface races (incernaciona l). Pl ease m ake check or money order payable co the Isabell a Stewart Ga rdner Mu seum .

The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum , 1978. A handsomely illustrated book containing essays on the founde r and the coll ection by the direcror, curaror and prominent scholars; 80 pp. , 24 color plates. Clothbound $18. oo ; Postage and packing $.85 (domestic) $r.50 (i nternational).

Manusc ri prs on subjects related co the coll ec ci on wi ll be conside red fo r publi ca ri on . Please se nd proposa ls co the cu racor.

Guide to the Collection . An illustrated guide fo r visitors, with a brief sketch of the founder. Hig hli g hting the coll ection , room by room, with attributi ons and descripti ons reflecting recen t publications; rev ised 2nd edit ion; rr6 pp. Paperbound $3.oo; Pos tage and packing $. 80 (dom estic) $ l .oo (internati onal). Oriental and Islamic Art in the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, by Yasuko H orioka, Marylin Rhi e and Walter B. Denny, 1975. A fully illustrated catalog ue; thi s small collec ti on includes sculpture, paintings, cerami cs, lacquer ware, miniatures and carvings. Paperbound $5 .oo; Postage and packing $.80 (domestic) $ 1 .oo (in ternational). Sculpture in the Isabella Stewart G ardner Museum, by Cornelius C. Vermeule, 111 , Walter Cahn and Rollin van N. H adley, 1977. An il lustrated catalog ue of the

European and American Paintings in the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum , by Philip H endy, 1974. A descriptive catalog ue, with biographies of the arti sts and reprod uctions of all paintings ; 282 black and white illustrations, 38 color p lates. C lot hbound $25 .oo ; Postage and packing $2. 25 (domestic) $2. 50 (international). Drawings/Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum , edited by Rollin van N. H ad ley, 1968. A small group of notable drawings ranging in date from the late fifteenth to the earl y twentieth century; 38 illustrations, fronti sp iece in color. Paperbound $2.oo; Postage and packing $ .80 (domestic) $ 1 .oo (i nternati onal).

Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. A Selection of Paintings, Drawings and Watercolors , The University of Chicago Press , 1976. A microfiche with 167 color illustrations, captions, and biographical sketch of Mrs. Gardner. paperbound $19.5 0 ; Postage and packing $.50 (domestic) $ r. 2 5 (international). Isabella Stewart Gardner and Fenway Court, by Morris Carter. A biography of Isabella Stewart Gardner and a history of the formation of her collection by the first director of the museum ; foreword by G. Peabody Gardner; illustrated ; third edition. Clothbound $12.00; Postage and packing $.85 (domestic) $ r.5 0 (international). A Checklist of the Correspondence of Isabella Stewart Gardner at the Gardner Museum. Writers , composers, performers , politicians, historians , and friends from the l86o's to the l92o 's, numbering over rooo names , with a g uide to the locations of collected letters in the museum ; 12 pp. Paperbound $. ro; Postage and packing $ .20 (domestic) $ A O (international). Fenway Court. Illustrated articles on the collection and the archives, from Sargent's watercolors to Mrs. Gardner's trip to Bayreuth ; museum reports by the president and director. Annual Reports for 1970 and 1972 through 1977 and 1980 are available. Paper bound $3. 50; (197 0: $2.oo); Postage and packing $. 80 (domestic) $ r. oo (international).

Trustees

Staff *

The Isabe ll a Stewa rt Gardner Mu seum, Incorporated, Sole Tru stee under the will of Isabe ll a Stewart G a rdner

ADM IN ISTRAT ION

Assistant, Objects

GUARDS

Rika Smith

Director Ro llin van N . Hadl ey MA INTENANCE

Assistant Dit-ector President

Linda V Hewitt

Malco lm D. Perkin s

Supervisor of Buildings John F. Niland

Curator Vice-President and Treasurer

D ebora h G ri bbon

John L. Gardner

A rchivist!Administrative Assistant

Maintenance Foreman Alfred]. Smith

Susan Sinclair

Secretary

Shop Technician Mi chael Finnerty

James L. Terry

Administrative Assistant H ope M el. Coo li dge

Elliot Forbes Maso n H am m ond Franc is W H atc h , Jr. James Law rence

Curatorial Assistant K a ren E . H aas

Membership Coordinator

Elizabeth Bing Patr ick Burns J oh n Colleran D onald Feeney Thomas Littl e Yvonne Me rce r

Ada Logan

Photographer

SECUR ITY

Greg H eins

Chief of Security Director of Music

Lyle Grind le

J ohanna Giwosky

Security Foremen Docents Mari e L. Diamond

Charles H eidorn Brian Porter

Judith E. H a nhi sa lo Lo is Starkey Ada Logan

WATCH

Sales Clerk Loren L. Benson

Printer J o nat han Randolph

CONSERVATION

Robe rt Anderson Robert French Miriam Hi tchcock Walte r Stanul Pi ete r Vand erbeck Thomas Zucke r- Scharff

Thomas Abrah am Mauri ce B. Ahern H e nry Barry Anthony Biancucci The res a Burns Peter C lappe r Susan Cohn Pasq uale D ' Al essio Thomas Dirrane Edward P. D ow ns Dennis Fitzge rald Franc is Gavin Franc is R . Gillis Alfred Hazoury J ohn H . H oll a nd Stephen J a nus J illaine J ones H erbert Kenney Kenneth Kelly J oh n]. King John Lonergan Pea rse MacC urtain Daniel M cLaugh lin Cha rl es M cS travi ck Robert Morris D aniel O 'Conne ll J oseph Rajunas J ohn C. Ribner J eremiah Ryan Mi c hael Shea Loui s Yachetta

GARDEN ING

Head Gardener Robert M. M ac Ken zie

Gardeners Stanley Kozak Charles P. H ea ly, Jr. J oseph F. Kiarsis

Chief Conservator Jack Soultanian CAFE

Conservator of Paintings

Cafe S 11pervisor

Gabrielle Kopelman

Jill C harvat

Conservator of Paper

Assistant Cafe Supervisor

Caroline Graboys

Kathleen Mc Kitchen

Conservator of Textiles

Cafe Assistants

M arj ori e R . Bulloc k

Rosema ry Padua Mari e Crandall

Assistants, Textiles Be tsy Gould Robin Bergman

"On regul a r duty 31 D ecember 1981

MUSEUM OFF ICE 2 Palace Road Bostan, Massach usetts

0 2II5