(c) 2016 Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston

Folding Fan: Bayreuth Opera House

maker Unknown

Date1892

Place MadeBayreuth, Bavaria, Germany, Europe

MediumPrint on paper with enameled wood ribs

Dimensions34.3 x 62.9 x 3.2 cm (13 1/2 x 24 3/4 x 1 1/4 in.)

ClassificationsCostume

Credit LineIsabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston

Accession numberU33w106

eMuseum ID726975

EmbARK ObjectID15438

Previous NumberU33cg1

TMS Source ID4004

Last Updated8/14/24

Status

Not on view

Web CommentaryDuring Isabella’s lifetime, German composer Richard Wagner was at the epicenter of the classical music world. Isabella admired Wagner’s work and went to great lengths to see his performances. She traveled many times to Bayreuth, where Wagner hosted an annual music festival. While there she collected mementos, including this beautiful folding fan. It’s covered with iconic images of a Parsifal score, Wagner himself, his house, and his opera house.

BibliographyNotesEllen Dennis. "A Note on the Fans in the Collection." Fenway Court (1984), p. 48 (as German, Bayreuth, dated 1892)
Ana Barrett, "Belle of the Opera: Gardner and Wagner," Inside the Collection (blog), Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, 20 July 2021, https://www.gardnermuseum.org/blog/belle-opera-gardner-and-wagner

MarksNotesSigned and dated by twenty performers at the Bayreuth Opera House in ink and pencil (verso): Hamilton Aide - 10th August 1892 / Margaret Brooke 1892 / Veil Safleichen 1892 / Fanny P. Mason. / A. J. Mounteney Jephson. Aug 18th 92 "Buburika" / Rosa Sucher Bayreuth 19/8/92 / Ernest van Dyck Parsifal 92. / Lelin de Hegesmann Lindessenary / Eizabeth Lawrence / Gisela Staudigl 1892 / Therese Malten 21 VIII 92 Bayreuth / Bayreuth 92. Felix Motte seerm arm Leiz / Comte de Saint-Phalle / Dame Afaidnurausae Leaymusf 92
Printed (left-hand outside rib): Verlag von Christian, Bayreuth

ProvenanceNotesProbably purchased by Isabella Stewart Gardner from the Bayreuth Opera House, Bayreuth, August 1892.