(OlEUR NICHOLAS HOUVEL, or rather Houel, first conceived t...)
OlEUR NICHOLAS HOUVEL, or rather Houel, first conceived tlie idea of illustrating in tapestries certain events in the life of Catherine de Medicis under the guise of A rtemesia. Houel was, according to Felibien and Guiffrey, a notable citizen of Paris, a merchant apothecary and grocer, who became toward the end of his life Intendant and Governor of the house of Christian Charity, established in the suburbS aint-M arcel in 1578. He was a singular and enigmatic personage, fond of letters, and in business relations with the highest personages of the court. He cultivated poetry, encouraged artists, and devoted the fortune he had acquired, by intelligence and industry, to pious purposes. (Typographical errors above are due to OCR software and don't occur in the book.) About the Publisher Forgotten Books is a publisher of historical writings, such as: Philosophy, Classics, Science, Religion, History, Folklore and Mythology. Forgotten Books' Classic Reprint Series utilizes the latest technology to regenerate facsimiles of historically important writings. Careful attention has been made to accurately preserve the original format of each page whilst digitally enhancing the aged text. Read books online for free at www.forgottenbooks.org
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collector of and authority on tapestries
Charles Mather Ffoulke was born in Quakertown, Bucks County, Pennsylvania, where his family had settled in 1712 on land granted them by John, brother of William Penn. His parents were Benjamin Green Ffoulke and Jane Mather. He was the second son, one of six children.
With his brothers and sisters he was educated in the Friends’ School at Quakertown and attended regularly the Friends’ Meeting.
At sixteen he was sent for a year to a boarding school at Gwynedd and later to the Friends’ Central High School at Philadelphia.
In 1860, when only nineteen years of age, he himself was made principal of the Friends’ School in Quakertown. Being a Quaker, to his bitter disappointment he was not allowed to join the Union army at the time of the Civil War but instead, went into the wool business.
As buyer for the firm of Davis & Ffoulke, he traveled extensively in this country, and through exposure on one of these trips, contracted rheumatism with which he battled for the rest of his life.
It was through his wife, who had had training as an artist, that he became interested in art and it was during this first trip to Europe that he acquired something more than a working knowledge of the paintings of the great masters, as well as three foreign languages—French, German, and Italian.
The Ffoulkes returned to America in 1874, settled in Philadelphia, and for another ten years Ffoulke devoted himself exclusively and very successfully to business. By that time he had acquired sufficient means to be able to purchase works of art which, on a previous journey, he had coveted.
In 1884 he and his family, consisting of his wife and children (one son and three daughters), went to Europe and took up residence in Nice. The disastrous effects of the earthquake of 1887 caused them to change their residence to Florence, and it was here that Ffoulke took up the study of tapestries, which he pursued with the utmost diligence.
A friendship with an Italian painter brought him into contact with a leading Italian collector and authority on textiles, Giuseppe Salvadori, from whom he learned much concerning technique.
His first valuable purchase was a set of Flemish tapestries, historically important, rich in gold and silver, which he found and acquired in Munich. In 1888 his improved health permitted his return to America and he took up his residence then in Washington.
The following year, while in Europe, he had the good fortune to be presented by a friend to the Princess Barberini and was given opportunity to examine the great Barberini collection of tapestries, many pieces of which had then been stored for thirty years.
This entire collection he later acquired (with the consent of the Italian government) and brought to the United States. The collection included series depicting Dido and Htneas, Judith and Holofernes, and the life of Christ.
The collection was too large even for the gallery Ffoulke had prepared for it in Washington, and he therefore disposed of some of the pieces. The largest set, illustrating the life of Christ, was thus obtained for the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York.
A confirmed invalid after 1892, for years before his death Ffoulke was unable to walk a step, and from a man of commanding stature became pitiably dwarfed and crippled. Wherever he went he was carried, but so heroically did he disregard his physical disabilities that others forgot them.
In 1904, though terribly broken in health, he went abroad with his wife, daughter, and youngest son, and after spending some time in France and Italy, wintered in Egypt, where he made a special study of Egyptian weavings.
It was while he was on this trip that the King of Belgium requested and secured the loan of his Flemish tapestries for the Exposition in Brussels in 1905. Charles M. Ffoulke was essentially public-spirited and a leader.
During his last years he frequently discussed with friends the establishment of a national organization to quicken interest in, and appreciation of art in America and to serve as a channel for the expression of public opinion in matters pertaining to art that might call for legislative action. These plans materialized in the organization of the American Federation of Arts, a little more than a month after his death, which occurred in New York, where he had gone for treatment.
After establishing himself in Washington he helped to secure a charter from Congress for a National Academy of Art (inactive) and was instrumental in organizing the National Society of the Fine Arts (later the Washington Society of the Fine Arts), of which, in 1907, he became president. During his presidency of this society he organized a fine exhibition of tapestries and textiles, which was held in the Corcoran Gallery of Art and for which he wrote a descriptive catalogue.
(OlEUR NICHOLAS HOUVEL, or rather Houel, first conceived t...)
In 1872, on account of ill health, he gave up his business and went to Europe, where he met and, in December of that year, married Sarah Cushing of New York.
The following year, while in Europe, he had the good fortune to be presented by a friend to the Princess Barberini and was given opportunity to examine the great Barberini collection of tapestries, many pieces of which had then been stored for thirty years.
