Folding Fan
maker
Francesco Paolo Tosti
(Ortona, Italy, 1846 - 1916, Ortona, Italy)
Date1897
Place MadeMonte Carlo, Monaco, Europe
MediumInk on paper with wood ribs
Dimensions33 x 59.1 cm (13 x 23 1/4 in.)
ClassificationsCostume
Credit LineIsabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston
Accession numberU1cg40
eMuseum ID725066
EmbARK ObjectID15478
Textile Database Number812
TMS Source ID4042
Last Updated8/9/24
Status
Not on viewWeb CommentaryThis fan is a souvenir of Isabella Stewart Gardner’s meeting with composer Sir Paolo Tosti. A member of the Royal Academy of Music who was knighted by King Edward VII, Tosti rose from humble beginnings in Italy to become a fashionable composer of “salon music” in London during the 1890s. Gardner was a champion of artists challenged by early poverty, and this fan—inscribed with the words “Pour Mrs. Gardner” (for Mrs. Gardner) and “Je t’aime”(I love you)—may be read as a tribute to her compassionate patronage.
BibliographyNotesEllen Dennis. "A Note on the Fans in the Collection." Fenway Court (1984), p. 48.
MarksNotesInscribed in ink (upper left): Pour Mrs. Gardner / (Souvenir)
Inscribed in ink (above musical notation): Je t'aime / Fragment
Inscribed in ink: Lentamente with the opening bars of "Je t'aime"
Signed and dated in ink (lower right): F. Paolo Tosti / Monte Carlo 4 Nov. 97
Inscribed in ink (above musical notation): Je t'aime / Fragment
Inscribed in ink: Lentamente with the opening bars of "Je t'aime"
Signed and dated in ink (lower right): F. Paolo Tosti / Monte Carlo 4 Nov. 97
ProvenanceNotesGift from the composer Francesco Paolo Tosti (1846-1916) to Isabella Stewart Gardner in Monte Carlo on 4 November 1897.
