Flag
maker
Unknown
Date1813-1814
Place MadeFrance, Europe
MediumSilk tabby, silk and gilt yarns, satin, gilt sequins, bosses, spiral wires
Dimensions101.6 x 102.2 cm (40 x 40 1/4 in.)
ClassificationsTextile Arts
Credit LineIsabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston
Accession numberT17s1.c
eMuseum ID725522
Alt. No. 2 (Cavallo)117
Alt. No. 1 (Siple)022
EmbARK ObjectID12270
Previous NumberT17s1
TMS Source ID1403
Last Updated8/14/24
Status
Not on viewWeb CommentaryThis lavishly embroidered standard is either the original flag of the most prestigious unit within Emperor Napoléon Bonaparte’s Grand Army or an early reproduction. Flags like this one were carried on staffs capped with a gilt bronze eagle to symbolize the divine authority of the First Empire of Napoleon. Isabella Stewart Gardner was fascinated by French history and displayed this flag (and its eagle finial, which was stolen from the museum in 1990) in the foyer of her 152 Beacon Street home and later in the Short Gallery.
BibliographyNotesCharles Pillet. Palais de San Donato, deuxième partie, Catalogue des objets d'ameublement du rez-de-chaussée,... (Paris, 12-22 April 1880), p. 27, lot 2190. (as an exact copy of the flag of the first regiment of the Imperial Guard of Napoleon I)
Art Exhibition: Mrs. John L. Gardner, 152 Beacon St., Boston. Exh. cat. (Boston, 1899), p. 1, no. 5. (as the flag of the first regiment of the Imperial Guard of Napoleon I)
O. Hollander. Nos drapeaux et étendards de 1812 à 1815 (Paris, 1902), pp. 22, 81-83, 103, 104, 201, 202.
Catalogue. Fenway Court. (Boston, 1903), p. 1. (as a flag of the first regiment of the Imperial Guard of Napoleon I)
Wendel Longstreet and Morris Carter. General Catalogue (Boston, 1935), p. 133. (as a flag of the first regiment of the Imperial Guard of Napoleon I)
“Notes, Records, Comments.” Gardner Museum Calendar of Events 9, no. 42 (19 Jun. 1966), p. 2. (as a copy of the flag of the first regiment of the Imperial Guard of Napoleon I)
Général J. Regnault. Les aigles impériales et le drapeau tricolore 1804-15 (Paris, 1967), pp. 207, 208, figs. 36, 37.
Adolph S. Cavallo. Textiles: Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (Boston, 1986), pp. 160-61, no. 117. (as the original or a copy of the flag of the first regiment of the Imperial Guard of Napoleon I)
Kathleen King,"Relics of an Emperor: Napoleon Bonaparte," Inside the Collection (blog), Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, 9 August 2022, https://www.gardnermuseum.org/blog/relics-emperor-napoleon-bonaparte-gardner-museum
Art Exhibition: Mrs. John L. Gardner, 152 Beacon St., Boston. Exh. cat. (Boston, 1899), p. 1, no. 5. (as the flag of the first regiment of the Imperial Guard of Napoleon I)
O. Hollander. Nos drapeaux et étendards de 1812 à 1815 (Paris, 1902), pp. 22, 81-83, 103, 104, 201, 202.
Catalogue. Fenway Court. (Boston, 1903), p. 1. (as a flag of the first regiment of the Imperial Guard of Napoleon I)
Wendel Longstreet and Morris Carter. General Catalogue (Boston, 1935), p. 133. (as a flag of the first regiment of the Imperial Guard of Napoleon I)
“Notes, Records, Comments.” Gardner Museum Calendar of Events 9, no. 42 (19 Jun. 1966), p. 2. (as a copy of the flag of the first regiment of the Imperial Guard of Napoleon I)
Général J. Regnault. Les aigles impériales et le drapeau tricolore 1804-15 (Paris, 1967), pp. 207, 208, figs. 36, 37.
Adolph S. Cavallo. Textiles: Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (Boston, 1986), pp. 160-61, no. 117. (as the original or a copy of the flag of the first regiment of the Imperial Guard of Napoleon I)
Kathleen King,"Relics of an Emperor: Napoleon Bonaparte," Inside the Collection (blog), Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, 9 August 2022, https://www.gardnermuseum.org/blog/relics-emperor-napoleon-bonaparte-gardner-museum
MarksNotesEmbroidered in gold thread (obverse): GARDE / IMPERIALE / L'EMPEREUR / NAPOLÉON / AU 1er RÉGIMENT / DES GRENADIERS / À PIED
Embroidered in gold thread (reverse): MARINGO / ULM, / AUSTERLITZ, JÉNA / EYLAY, FRIEDLAND, / ECKMÜHL, ESSLING / WAGRAM, SMOLENSK / MOSKOWA / VIENNE, BERLIN / MADRID, MOSCOU
Embroidered in gold thread (reverse): MARINGO / ULM, / AUSTERLITZ, JÉNA / EYLAY, FRIEDLAND, / ECKMÜHL, ESSLING / WAGRAM, SMOLENSK / MOSKOWA / VIENNE, BERLIN / MADRID, MOSCOU
ProvenanceNotesAnatoli Nikolaievich Demidov (1813–1870), Prince of San Donato, Russian diplomat and industrialist, Florence.
Sale of the San Donato Collection, Chales Pillet, Paris, 12-22 April 1880, lot 2190.
Purchased by Isabella Stewart Gardner from the art dealer Sypher and Company, New York on 9 November 1880 for $300.
Sale of the San Donato Collection, Chales Pillet, Paris, 12-22 April 1880, lot 2190.
Purchased by Isabella Stewart Gardner from the art dealer Sypher and Company, New York on 9 November 1880 for $300.
Object/Provenance
Parent Object/Child Object