Sofa Table
designer
Elsie de Wolfe
(New York, 1865 - 1950, Versailles)
manufacturer
Unknown
Dateearly 20th century
Place MadeUnited States, North America
MediumBeech
Dimensions67.5 x 99 x 30 cm (26 9/16 x 39 x 11 13/16 in.)
ClassificationsFurniture
Credit LineIsabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston
Accession numberF15n5
eMuseum ID730969
EmbARK ObjectID11701
TMS Source ID888
Last Updated10/4/24
Status
Not on viewWeb CommentaryTime and time again Gardner juxtaposed modern design with old masters. A good example of this practice is a beech sofa table by the legendary New York designer Elsie de Wolfe that Gardner transformed into a silk-covered altar for her sparkling tabernacle by the fourteenth-century Sienese painter Bartolomeo Bulgarini. Unlike other society grand dames, Gardner was not de Wolfe's client, but she did support female professionals, and the two New Yorkers forged a friendship based on their shared love of beauty. De Wolfe declared in a newspaper article that Gardner had no equal in America. She made a final visit to the museum near the time of Isabella's death, comparing her host's pallid appearance to "primitve pictures of saints."
BibliographyNotesGilbert Wendel Longstreet and Morris Carter. General Catalogue (Boston, 1935), p. 96. (as designed by Elise de Wolfe)
Rollin van N. Hadley. "Elsie de Wolfe and Isabella Stewart Gardner." Fenway Court (1981), pp. 38-41, ill.
Aurora Daniel, "Interior Decorator, Elsie de Wolfe," Inside the Collection (blog), Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, 8 March 2022, https://www.gardnermuseum.org/blog/interior-decorator-elsie-de-wolfe
Rollin van N. Hadley. "Elsie de Wolfe and Isabella Stewart Gardner." Fenway Court (1981), pp. 38-41, ill.
Aurora Daniel, "Interior Decorator, Elsie de Wolfe," Inside the Collection (blog), Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, 8 March 2022, https://www.gardnermuseum.org/blog/interior-decorator-elsie-de-wolfe
ProvenanceNotesPurchased by Isabella Stewart Gardner from Mrs. William Hooper for $20 on 20 July 1915. (for a set of two tables)
