5 - Coping with Connoisseurship : Issues in Attribution and Purpose Raised by an Indo-Portuguese “Vestment” in the Metropolitan Museum of Art

Summary

Among the greatest achievements of early twentieth-century America is the public museum. Whether dedicated to the fine arts, notable citizens, or the nation's past, these institutions constitute an unparalleled educational and cultural resource. Most were established thanks at least in part to donations from ruthless, wealthy financiers and industrialists who had spent years acquiring stunning collections of art and artifacts, then presented them to the community as proof of their public spirit. The impulse behind these gestures may have ranged from a genuine interest in civic improvement to keeping up with the Morgans, but without the great collectors, the great museums of America would be little more than cabinets of curiosities.

For all their business acumen, these titans of industry were not necessarily so discerning when it came to what they purchased and then bestowed upon the new museums. Some acquired works that turned out to be misattributed, misdated, or outright forged. Others bought things they liked but knew little about, relying upon the seller's description when it came time to identify the article in their records. Errors were inevitable, and if not spotted and corrected, could accompany an artifact after its owner's death and its transfer to its new home.

Such seems to be the case with an unusual early seventeenth-century textile in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (Fig. 5.1a). This item, donated by American expatriate Lily S. Place, came to the Met in the early 1920s. Place specialized in ancient Egyptian artifacts but also had a small collection of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Middle Eastern embroideries and costumes. The piece at the Met, a half-circle of cotton fabric quilted in hunting scenes with golden silk, is described in the museum's records as a “cope,” or vestment used by Christian clergy. There are some serious issues with this identification, however, as it is neither the correct fabric, the correct size, nor worked in the correct motifs to be credible as a religious garment. These issues, which should have been evident, were not addressed until the Met's 2013 exhibition “Interwoven Globe: The Worldwide Textile Trade.”

The garment itself is an unusual example of the so-called Indo-Portuguese quilted textiles imported by Portuguese merchants during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.