Tapestry: Wild Men and Moors
about 1440
Object PlacePossibly Strasbourg, Alsace, Germany
Medium/TechniqueLinen and wool slit tapestry
Dimensions100 x 490 cm (39 3/8 x 192 15/16 in.)
Credit LineCharles Potter Kling Fund
Accession number54.1431
On View
Not on viewClassificationsTextiles
Collections
ProvenanceFirst half of the 19th century, probably Wilhelm Dettelbach, Gailingen, near Konstanz, Germany [see note 1]; probably sold by Dettelbach to the Princes of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen; by 1874, kept at the Fürstlich Hohenzollernsches Museum, Sigmaringen, Germany [see note 2]; 1928, sold, upon the dispersal of the collection under the direction of the Städelsches Kunstinstitut, Frankfurt, to Ottmar Strauss (b. 1878 - d. 1941), Cologne [see note 3]; deposited at the Commerzbank, Cologne, where it remained for the duration of World War II [see note 4]; 1954, sold by Paul Weiden on behalf of Westra, A.G., Basel, to Rosenberg and Stiebel, New York [see note 5]; 1954, sold by Rosenberg and Stiebel to the MFA for $95,000. (Accession Date: December 9, 1954)
NOTES:
[1] According to a letter from Peter Kempf, Director, Fürstlich Hohenzollernsches Museum to Jean-Michel Tuchscherer of the MFA (September 25, 1984).
[2] See F. A. Lehner, Fürstlich Hohenzollern'sches Museum zu Sigmaringen: Verzeichnis der Textilarbeiten (Sigmaringen, 1874), p. 4, cat. no. 2.
[3] Georg Swarzenski, "Der Verkauf der Sigmaringer Sammlung," Zeitschrift für bildende Kunst 11/12 (1928-1929): 277. The tapestry was exhibited at the Städel in 1928; see Kurzes Verzeichnis der im Staedelschen Kunstinstitut ausgestellten Sigmaringer Sammlungen (Frankfurt, 1928), p. 100, cat. no. 1125.
[4] See Elfi Pracht, "Ottmar Strauss: Industrieller, Staatsbeamter, Kunstsammler," Menora: Jahrbuch für deutsch-jüdische Geschichte 1994, p. 69, n. 50. Before fleeing Germany for Switzerland in 1936, Strauss sold most of his art collection in a series of auctions in Frankfurt. This tapestry, however, remained in his possession. Hermann Goering was interested in acquiring the work, but it remained in a Cologne bank vault throughout the Nazi era.
[5] At his death, Strauss bequeathed the tapestry to his grandson, Stephan Kronenberg (see Pracht 1994, as above, n. 4). When the tapestry was sold in 1954, it was through the family's company; Westra had been founded as the Ottmar Strauss Corporation in 1950. Strauss's son, Ulrich, was president; Paul Weiden was his attorney.
NOTES:
[1] According to a letter from Peter Kempf, Director, Fürstlich Hohenzollernsches Museum to Jean-Michel Tuchscherer of the MFA (September 25, 1984).
[2] See F. A. Lehner, Fürstlich Hohenzollern'sches Museum zu Sigmaringen: Verzeichnis der Textilarbeiten (Sigmaringen, 1874), p. 4, cat. no. 2.
[3] Georg Swarzenski, "Der Verkauf der Sigmaringer Sammlung," Zeitschrift für bildende Kunst 11/12 (1928-1929): 277. The tapestry was exhibited at the Städel in 1928; see Kurzes Verzeichnis der im Staedelschen Kunstinstitut ausgestellten Sigmaringer Sammlungen (Frankfurt, 1928), p. 100, cat. no. 1125.
[4] See Elfi Pracht, "Ottmar Strauss: Industrieller, Staatsbeamter, Kunstsammler," Menora: Jahrbuch für deutsch-jüdische Geschichte 1994, p. 69, n. 50. Before fleeing Germany for Switzerland in 1936, Strauss sold most of his art collection in a series of auctions in Frankfurt. This tapestry, however, remained in his possession. Hermann Goering was interested in acquiring the work, but it remained in a Cologne bank vault throughout the Nazi era.
[5] At his death, Strauss bequeathed the tapestry to his grandson, Stephan Kronenberg (see Pracht 1994, as above, n. 4). When the tapestry was sold in 1954, it was through the family's company; Westra had been founded as the Ottmar Strauss Corporation in 1950. Strauss's son, Ulrich, was president; Paul Weiden was his attorney.
4th–6th century A.D.
4th–5th century
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7th century A.D. (?)
4th–5th century A.D.