Italy?, France?
This is one of a set of rich hangings which incorporate late 17th-century Italian or French embroidery and appliqué of cloth of gold. It is not known where or when Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild (b.1839, d.1898) acquired them. However, while in Florence in 1875, Ferdinand wrote to his uncle Lionel that he had spent a considerable sum on ‘a fine lot of old velvet’. Ferdinand displayed the hangings in the Bachelors’ Wing Corridor as a subtle backdrop to the Renaissance-style interiors and his exceptional collection of Renaissance treasures. Adapted as curtains, valances and drapes for windows and arches, they created a luxurious, tent-like, interior. The size and shape of the hangings suggests that they may have originally formed the sumptuous draperies for a state bed.
Earliest Rothschild collector: Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild; b.1839, d.1898
Credit: Waddesdon (Rothschild Family)