Franses Tapestry Archive

The Franses Tapestry Archive and Library in London is devoted to the study of European tapestries and figurative textiles.[1] It is the world’s largest academic research resource on the subject.[2][1]

Franses Tapestry Archive
Interior view of the Franses Tapestry Archive
Map
LocationSt James's, London, United Kingdom
TypeResearch Archive
Established1987 (1987)
Collection
Items collectedVisual records of tapestries, books, academic journals, periodicals, sale catalogues
Size270,000+
Access and use
Access requirementsResearch for academic articles, books, exhibitions, research advancing knowledge or appreciation of tapestries
Other information
DirectorSimon Franses

History

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Established in 1987, the archive was co-founded by Simon Franses, a director of the Franses Gallery and Tom Campbell,[3] a tapestry scholar. After 7 years of full-time work, Dr Campbell moved to New York to take up a curatorial post at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. He went on to curate two landmark Tapestry exhibitions Tapestry in the Renaissance: Art and Magnificence (2002)[4] and Tapestry in the Baroque: Threads of Splendor (2007).[5] In 2008, he was appointed director of the museum.

The vast collection of images began to be collected by Dr Campbell with a team of research assistants, and was gathered from across Europe and America. The Archive has continued to expand over 29 years. It now holds over 240,000 visual records of European tapestries accessible by subject, date, country of manufacture and place of origin. These records have been collected and catalogued from several hundred museums, libraries, auction houses, trade and private collections, and allows precise identification of individual works (as well as visual reconstruction of dispersed sets of tapestries).

Mission

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  • To collect images and data on every significant European tapestry and figurative textile.
  • To identify, classify, cross-reference and conserve these.
  • To increase knowledge by collecting books, related articles, and documentation on design, commissioning, origin, production, use, value, provenance.
  • To increase appreciation and understanding of this art form.

Archive

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Exterior of the Franses Tapestry Archive
 
Drawer from the Archive Subject Catalogue
 
Interior view of the Franses Tapestry Archive showing subject drawers
 
Interior view of the Franses Tapestry Archive showing French Sales catalogues

The images are stored under almost 900 main headings from Landmark Series of European Tapestries to more modest works, altar frontal, table carpets, cushions and upholstery.

Tapestry Series Title Century Subject Archive Ref Notes
The Beaufort Arms 14th Armorial 68
Apocalypse 14th Religious 434/435 Château d'Angers
Nine Heroes 15th History/Religious 145 [6]
Saint Piat and Saint Eleutherius 15th Religious 430/436 Tournai Cathedral
Devonshire Hunting Tapestries 15th Hunting 305 [7]
The Justice of Trajan and Herkenbald 15th History 131 Wikicommons
The Caesar Tapestries 15th History 117 -
Life of Saint Peter 15th Religious 438 -
History of Troy 15th History 260 [8]
The Hunt of the Unicorn 15th Allegory 4 [9]
The Lady and the Unicorn 16th Allegory 4 [10]
The Honours 16th Allegory 52 [11]
Acts of the Apostles 16th Religious 424 Vatican Museums
The Grotesques of Leo X 16th Mythology 82 Vatican Museums
The Hunts of Maximlillien 16th Hunting 746 Louvre
The Passion 16th Religious 407 [12]
Scuola Nouva 16th Religious 400 Vatican Museums
Deeds of Scipio 16th History 136 -
The Story of Scipio 16th History 133 [13]
The Seven Deadly Sins 16th Religious 54 [14]
The Story of Joshua 16th Religious 368 [15]
The Story of Joseph 16th Religious 364 -
The Story of Saint Paul 16th Religious 440 [16]
The Story of Abraham 16th Religious 351 [17]
The Jagiellonian Tapestries 16th Various Various Wikicommons
The Battle of Pavia 16th History 162 Museo di Capodimonte
The Conquest of Tunis| 16th History 154 [18]
Early History of Rome 16th History 131 -
Fables of Ovid "Poesia" 16th Mythology 252 [19]
The Valois Tapestries 16th Courtly 279 Uffizi
The Armada 16th/17th History 153 [20]
The Story of Vulcan 17th Mythology 534 [21]
Hero and Leander 17th Mythology 530 Wikicommons
The Story of Queen Artemesia 17th History 675 [22]
The Triumph of the Eucharist 17th Religious 336 [23]
The Story of Constantine 17th History 676 [24]
Story of Achilles 17th Mythology 231 [25]
Decius Mus 17th History 125 [26]
Stories from the Old Testament 17th Religious 693 -
The Story of Alexander 17th History 723 -
The Royal Residences 17th Hunting 700 -
The Gallery of Apollo 17th Portraits 727 Wikicommons
The Elements 17th Allegory 697 -
Histoire du Roi 17th History 726 -
New Indies 18th Allegory 730 -
Hunts of Louis XV 18th Hunting 745 -
Don Quixote 18th Myth/Literature 275 [27]
Fragments from the Opera 18th Myth/Literature 742 [28]
Holy Grail Tapestries 19th Myth/Literature Morris [29]

The Collection includes:

  • Visual records: 240,000 +
  • Reference Books: 2,760
  • Articles: 3,600
  • Catalogues of major collections: 450
  • Sale catalogues and periodicals: 20,000

Other archives, collections and photos

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Institutions

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Private collections

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Pages from the former Hamot, Paris Album showing "L'Été" an extremely rare Savonnerie Pictorial Tapestry.
 
Bernheimer, Munich Archive of Tapestry photographs.

Galleries

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  • Bernheimer, Munich
  • Duveen, New York
  • S Franses, London
  • French & Company, New York
  • Hamot, Paris
  • C John, London
  • Mayorcas, London
  • Perez, London
  • Rosenberg & Steibel, New York
  • Seligman, Paris

Research projects

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The Archive has undertaken a number of research projects. A joint survey with the National Trust of the Tapestries in their 200 historic houses was carried out. Assistance is given to academics and scholars[31][32] and where copyright is owned, images are made available for publication.[33]

A project with Glasgow City Art Gallery and Museum assembling documentation from the Archive on Sir William Burrell’s collection of medieval tapestries. The Burrell Collection has appointed two international tapestry scholars to catalogue this Tapestry collection.[34] The archive assisted with the academic research and securing loans for the "History Woven in Threads" an Exhibition of Medieval and Renaissance Tapestries held in 2014 at Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania, Vilnius.[35]

Surveys

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Lost and stolen

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Several missing or stolen pieces have been recovered through the Archive – in 1993 two Gobelins Tapestries stolen from the Institute of Fine Arts, New York, were located and returned, and a Brussels Tapestry stolen from North Mymms Park, England. In 2001 The Art Loss Register deposited images of missing or stolen tapestries and textiles.

Other uses of the documentation

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The documentation is also used to provide appraisals for government indemnity in the case of inter-museum loans, grant-giving bodies and Acceptance in Lieu.

References

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  1. ^ a b "CapitaLand to appear before London courts over dispute with UK art gallery". www.businesstimes.com.sg. 5 January 2017. Retrieved 1 June 2023.
  2. ^ Vogel, Carol (10 September 2008). "Curator at Met Named Director of the Museum". The New York Times. Retrieved 4 August 2016.
  3. ^ The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Press Release (9 September 2008). "Thomas P. Campbell Named Next Director of The Metropolitan Museum of Art". MetMuseum.org. Retrieved 5 August 2016.
  4. ^ Campbell, ed. Tapestry in the Renaissance: Art and Magnificence, exhibition catalogue, Metropolitan Museum of Art 2002.
  5. ^ Thomas P. Campbell, Pascal-François Bertrand, Jeri Bapasola, 'Tapestry in the Baroque: Threads of Splendor', Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, N.Y.), Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1 Jan 2007
  6. ^ "Julius Caesar (from the Heroes Tapestries) | South Netherlandish". The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Retrieved 26 November 2023.
  7. ^ "The Devonshire Hunting Tapestries". V&A. Retrieved 25 August 2016.
  8. ^ "The War of Troy tapestry". V&A. Retrieved 25 August 2016.
  9. ^ "The Unicorn Tapestries". The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Archived from the original on 31 July 2016. Retrieved 9 August 2016.
  10. ^ "La Dame à la licorne". Musée de Cluny (in French). Retrieved 26 November 2023.
  11. ^ "The Honours series (Los Honores)". tapestries.flandesenhispania.org. Archived from the original on 4 December 2016. Retrieved 25 August 2016.
  12. ^ "The Passion of Christ series (Pasión de Cristo)". tapestries.flandesenhispania.org. Archived from the original on 10 December 2016. Retrieved 25 August 2016.
  13. ^ Charissa Bremer-David (2015). Woven Gold: Tapestries of Louis XIV. Getty Publications. ISBN 9781606064610.
  14. ^ "Designed by Pieter Coecke van Aelst | Seven Deadly Sins: Gluttony tapestry | Flemish, Brussels". The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Retrieved 26 November 2023.
  15. ^ "The Story of Joshua: Gibeonites Trick Joshua tapestry". The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Retrieved 25 August 2016.
  16. ^ "Pieter Coecke van Aelst | Story of Saint Paul: The Arrest of Paul tapestry | Netherlandish, Brussels". The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Retrieved 26 November 2023.
  17. ^ "Pieter Coeck van Aelst (1502-50) - The Story of Abraham Series". Royal Collection Trust. Archived from the original on 25 September 2019. Retrieved 25 August 2016.
  18. ^ "The Conquest of Tunis series - tapestries". tapestries.flandesenhispania.org. Archived from the original on 9 February 2018. Retrieved 9 August 2016.
  19. ^ Marie-Hélène de Ribou. "Tapestry depicting scenes from Ovid's Metamorphoses". Musée du Louvre. Archived from the original on 8 May 2016. Retrieved 25 August 2016.
  20. ^ "Armada Tapestries". The Armada Paintings. House of Lords. Retrieved 25 August 2016.
  21. ^ "Tapestry". V&A. Retrieved 25 August 2016.
  22. ^ "The Queen Distributing the Booty". Minneapolis Institute of Art. Retrieved 25 August 2016.
  23. ^ "The Triumph of the Eucharist Series - tapestries". Archived from the original on 10 December 2016. Retrieved 25 August 2016.
  24. ^ "Philadelphia Museum of Art - Collections : Search Collections". Philadelphia Museum of Art. Retrieved 25 August 2016.
  25. ^ "Tapestry: The Anger of Achilles Against Agamemnon (From the series the Story of Achilles)". Museum of Fine Arts Boston. Retrieved 25 August 2016.
  26. ^ "THE DECIUS MUS CYCLE". Lichtenstein: The Princely Collections. Archived from the original on 1 April 2016. Retrieved 25 August 2016.
  27. ^ "Peter van den Hecke - Arrival of the Shepherdesses at the Wedding of Camacho". The Frick Collection. Archived from the original on 2 February 2017. Retrieved 9 August 2016.
  28. ^ "Charles-Antoine Coypel (1694-1752) - Fragments dOpera: Armide, Act V scene IV". Royal Collection Trust. House of Lords. Retrieved 25 August 2016.
  29. ^ "Search Results: Holy Grail Tapestries". Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery. Archived from the original on 28 August 2017. Retrieved 25 August 2016.
  30. ^ Nevinson, JL (2004). "Marillier, Henry Currie (1865–1951)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/34876. Retrieved 4 August 2016. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  31. ^ Mayer-Thurman, Christa C. (2001). European Textiles. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art. p. 7 fn14.
  32. ^ Darr, AP; Albainy, Tracey; Holcomb, Melanie (1996). Woven Splendor: Five Centuries of Tapestry in the Detroit Institute of Art. Detroit: DIA. p. 4.
  33. ^ Delmarcel, Guy, ed. (2002). Flemish Tapestry Weavers Abroad: Emigration and the Founding of Manufactories in Europe. Louvain: Leuven University Press. p. 36 fig 11.
  34. ^ "Burrell Tapestries Research Project". Glasgow Museums. Retrieved 8 August 2016.
  35. ^ "Medieval And Renaissance Tapestry In Europe. History Woven In Threads | National Museum – Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania". Retrieved 4 August 2016.

Further reading

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General

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  • Joubert, Fabienne; Lefébure, Amaury; Bertrand, P-F (1995). Histoire de la Tapisserie: En Europe, du Moyen-Âge 'a nos Jours. Paris: Flammarion. ISBN 2-08-010969-3.
  • Heniz, Dora (1963). Europäische Wandteppiche I. Von der Anfängen der Bilderwerkerie bis zum Ende des 16 Jahrhunderts. Brunswick: Klinkhardt & Biermann.
  • Thomson, F P (1980). Tapestry, Mirror of History. Newton Abbot: David & Charles. ISBN 0-7153-7686-1.
  • Thomson, W G (1973). A History of Tapestry from the Earliest Times Until the Present Day (Third Edition, Revised by F.P. and E.S. Thomson ed.). Wakefield: EP Publishing Ltd. ISBN 0-85409-768-6.

Museum collections

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  • Cavallo, Adolfo Salvatore (1993). Medieval Tapestries in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art. ISBN 0-87099-644-4.
  • Joubert, Fabienne (1987). La Tapisserie Médiévale au Musée de Cluny. Paris: Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication / Éditions de la Réunion des Musées Nationaux. ISBN 2-7118-2-094-7.
  • Standen, Edith Appleton (1985). European Post-Medieval Tapestries and Related Hangings in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. (2 vols.). New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art. ISBN 0-87099-406-9.
  • Wingfield Digby, G F (1980). The Victoria and Albert Museum. The Tapestry Collection : Medieval and Renaissance. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office. ISBN 0-11-290246-4.
  • Adelson, Candace J (1994). European Tapestry in the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. Minneapolis: The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, New York : Abrams. ISBN 0-8109-3262-8.
  • Bennett, Anna Gray (1992). Five Centuries of Tapestry : The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. San Francisco: Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. ISBN 0-8118-0213-2.
  • Cavallo, Adolph (1967). Tapestries of Europe and Colonial Peru in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. (2 Vols). Boston: Museum of Fine Arts.
  • Junquera de Vega, Paulina; Carretero, Concha Herro (1986). Catalogo de Tapices del Patrimonio Nacional. (2 vols.). Madrid: Editorial Patrimonio Nacional. ISBN 84-7120-102-X.

Flemish tapestry

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  • Delmarcel, Guy (1999). Flemish Tapestry. London: Thames & Hudson. ISBN 0-500-01972-X.
  • Göbel, Heinrich (trans Robert West) (1974). Tapestries of the Lowlands (Reprint ed.). New York: Hacker Art Books. ISBN 0878171320.
  • Göbel, Heinrich (1923). Wandteppiche I. Die Niederlande. (2 Vols). Leipzig: Klinkhardt & Biermann.
  • d'Hulst, R-A (1967). Flemish Tapestries from the Fifteenth to the Eighteenth Century. Brussels: Arcade.

French tapestry

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  • Badin, Jules (1909). La Manufacture de Tapisseries de Beauvais depuis ses origines jusqu'a nos jours. Paris: Sociéte de propagation des livres d’art.
  • Bertrand, P-F; Chevalier, D & P (1988). Les Tapisseries d'Aubusson et de Felletin 1457-1791. Paris: Solarge Thierry Editeur.
  • Fenaille, Maurice (1903–1906). État général des tapisseries de la manufacture des Gobelins depuis son origine jusqu'à nos jours 1600-1900. (6 Vols.). Paris: Hachette.
  • Göbel, Heinrich (1928). Wandteppiche II. Die Romanischen Länder. (2 Vols). Leipzig: Schmidt & Günther.
  • Weigert, R-A (1962). French Tapestry. London: Faber & Faber.

German tapestry

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  • Göbel, Heinrich (1933–1934). Wandteppiche III. Die Germanischen und Slavischen Länder. (2 Vols). Leipzig: Schmidt & Günther.
  • Kurth, Betty (1926). Die Deutsche Bildteppiche du Miltelalters. (3 Vols). Vienna: A Schroll & Co.

British tapestry

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  • Marillier, H C (1927). History of the Merton Abbey Tapestry Works, Founded by William Morris. London: Constable & Co.
  • Thomson, W G (1914). Tapestry Weaving in England, from the Earliest Times to the end of the Eighteenth Century. London: B T Batsford.
  • Scottish Arts Council (1980). Master Weavers. Tapestry from the Dovecot Studios 1912-80. (Exhibition Catalogue). Edinburgh: Canongate.

Italian tapestry

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  • Viale Ferrero, M (1983). Arazzi italiani. Milan: Electa.

Other

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  • Buri, Anna; Stucky-Schürer, Monica (1990). Zahm und Wild : Basler und Straßbuger Bildteppiche des 15. Jahrhunderts. Mainz: Verlag Phillip von Zabern. ISBN 3-8053-1174-5.
  • Baldass, Ludwig (1920). Die Wiener Gobelinsammlung. Dreihundert bildtafeln mit beschreibenden text. Vienna: Osterr. Verlagsgesellschaft Ed. Hölzel & Co.
  • Bremmer-David, Charissa (2015). Woven Gold: Tapestries of Louis XIV. Los Angeles: Getty Publications. ISBN 978-1-60606-461-0.
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51°30′28″N 0°08′17″W / 51.5078°N 0.1380°W / 51.5078; -0.1380