Franses Tapestry Archive

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

Franses Tapestry Archive
Interior view of the Franses Tapestry Archive
CountryUnited Kingdom
TypeResearch Archive
Established1987 (1987)
LocationSt James's, London
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

Established in 1987, the archive was co-founded by Simon Franses, a director of the Franses Gallery and Tom Campbell,[2] 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)[3] and Tapestry in the Baroque: Threads of Splendor (2007).[4] 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
  • 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
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 Arms14thArmorial68
Apocalypse14thReligious434/435Château d'Angers
Nine Heroes15thHistory/Religious145[5]
Saint Piat and Saint Eleutherius15thReligious430/436Tournai Cathedral
Devonshire Hunting Tapestries15thHunting305[6]
The Justice of Trajan and Herkenbald15thHistory131Wikicommons
The Ceasar Tapestries15thHistory117-
Life of Saint Peter15thReligious438-
History of Troy15thHistory260[7]
The Hunt of the Unicorn15thAllegory4[8]
The Lady and the Unicorn16thAllegory4[9]
The Honours16thAllegory52[10]
Acts of the Apostles16thReligious424Vatican Museums
The Grotesques of Leo X16thMythology82Vatican Museums
The Hunts of Maximlillien16thHunting746Louvre
The Passion16thReligious407[11]
Scuola Nouva16thReligious400Vatican Museums
Deeds of Scipio16thHistory136-
The Story of Scipio16thHistory133[12]
The Seven Deadly Sins16thReligious54[13]
The Story of Joshua16thReligious368[14]
The Story of Joseph16thReligious364-
The Story of Saint Paul16thReligious440[15]
The Story of Abraham16thReligious351[16]
The Jagiellonian Tapestries16thVariousVariousWikicommons
The Battle of Pavia16thHistory162Museo di Capodimonte
The Conquest of Tunis|16thHistory154[17]
Early History of Rome16thHistory131-
Fables of Ovid "Poesia"16thMythology252[18]
The Valois Tapestries16thCourtly279Uffizi
The Armada16th/17thHistory153[19]
The Story of Vulcan17thMythology534[20]
Hero and Leander17thMythology530Wikicommons
The Story of Queen Artemesia17thHistory675[21]
The Triumph of the Eucharist17thReligious336[22]
The Story of Constantine17thHistory676[23]
Story of Achilles17thMythology231[24]
Decius Mus17thHistory125[25]
Stories from the Old Testament17thReligious693-
The Story of Alexander17thHistory723-
The Royal Residences17thHunting700-
The Gallery of Apollo17thPortraits727Wikicommons
The Elements17thAllegory697-
Histoire du Roi17thHistory726-
New Indies18thAllegory730-
Hunts of Louis XV18thHunting745-
Don Quixote18thMyth/Literature275[26]
Fragments from the Opera18thMyth/Literature742[27]
Holy Grail Tapestries19thMyth/Literature Morris[28]

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

Institutions

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

Galleries
  • 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

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[30][31] and where copyright is owned, images are made available for publication.[32]

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.[33] 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.[34]

Surveys

Lost and stolen

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

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
  1. Vogel, Carol. "Curator at Met Named Director of the Museum". The New York Times. Retrieved 4 August 2016.
  2. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Press Release (September 9, 2008). "Thomas P. Campbell Named Next Director of The Metropolitan Museum of Art". MetMuseum.org. Retrieved 5 August 2016.
  3. Campbell, ed. Tapestry in the Renaissance: Art and Magnificence, exhibition catalogue, Metropolitan Museum of Art 2002.
  4. 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
  5. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/47.101.3/
  6. https://www.vam.ac.uk/articles/the-devonshire-hunting-tapestries
  7. http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/w/the-war-of-troy-tapestry/
  8. http://www.metmuseum.org/metmedia/interactives/adults-teachers/the-unicorn-tapestries
  9. http://www.musee-moyenage.fr/collection/oeuvre/la-dame-a-la-licorne.html
  10. http://tapestries.flandesenhispania.org/index.php/The_Honours_series_(Los_Honores)
  11. http://tapestries.flandesenhispania.org/index.php/The_Passion_of_Christ_series_(Pasi%C3%B3n_de_Cristo)-
  12. Charissa Bremer-David (2015). Woven Gold: Tapestries of Louis XIV. Getty Publications. ISBN 9781606064610.
  13. http://metmuseum.org/exhibitions/view?exhibitionId=%7B9c967c7d-b440-438e-a197-a9ce6c970afc%7D&oid=626204
  14. http://metmuseum.org/exhibitions/view?exhibitionId=%7Bfc2c7eb8-3ec0-4e06-a102-60aa535828b9%7D&oid=239289
  15. http://metmuseum.org/exhibitions/view?exhibitionId=%7Ba7b39f90-1190-416d-a32f-b9f5333ce6a5%7D&oid=238936
  16. https://www.royalcollection.org.uk/collection/1046/the-story-of-abraham-series\
  17. http://tapestries.flandesenhispania.org/index.php/The_Conquest_of_Tunis_series
  18. http://www.louvre.fr/en/oeuvre-notices/tapestry-depicting-scenes-ovid-s-metamorphoses
  19. http://armada.parliament.uk/history.html
  20. https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O78761/tapestry-mortlake-tapestry-factory/
  21. http://collections.artsmia.org/art/776/the-queen-distributing-the-booty-attributed-to-the-workshop-of-lucas-wandandalle-at-the-faubourg-saint-marcel-manufactory-of-marc-de-comans-and-francois-de-la-pl
  22. http://tapestries.flandesenhispania.org/index.php/The_Triumph_of_the_Eucharist_Series
  23. http://www.philamuseum.org/collections/browse.html?packID=104
  24. http://www.mfa.org/collections/object/tapestry-the-anger-of-achilles-against-agamemnon-from-the-series-the-story-of-achilles-37401
  25. http://www.liechtensteincollections.at/en/pages/artbase_main.asp?module=browse&action=ce_theme&lang=en&sid=87294&config=T-1282004185954503,1,1,1,1,0,0
  26. http://collections.frick.org/view/objects/asitem/125/5/primaryMaker-asc/title-asc?t:state:flow=f7b6a502-ce0c-412e-a003-dd36f51c803d
  27. https://www.royalcollection.org.uk/collection/19547/fragments-dopera-armide-act-v-scene-iv
  28. http://www.bmagic.org.uk/results?s=Holy+Grail+Tapestries%7CArticle from the Birmingham Museums
  29. Nevinson, JL. "Marillier, Henry Currie (1865–1951)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 4 August 2016.
  30. Mayer-Thurman, Christa C. (2001). European Textiles. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art. p. 7 fn14.
  31. Darr, AP; Albainy, Tracey; Holcomb, Melanie (1996). Woven Splendor: Five Centuries of Tapestry in the Detroit Institute of Art. Detroit: DIA. p. 4.
  32. Delmarcel, Guy (ed) (2002). Flemish Tapestry Weavers Abroad: Emigration and the Founding of Manufactories in Europe. Louvain: Leuven University Press. p. 36 fig 11.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
  33. "Burrell Tapestries Research Project". Glasgow Museums. Retrieved 8 August 2016.
  34. "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

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

Other
  • 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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