If you have a little empty wall space – say 12 feet 6 inches by 14 feet 3 inches – you might be interested in acquiring one of two early 17th century Flemish tapestries once owned by Henry Flagler that The Breakers is putting up for auction Monday at Leslie Hindman Auctioneers’ Fine Furniture, Decorative Arts and Silver sale in Chicago.
It’s not known when and where the railroad, oil and hotel tycoon, whose winter home is now the Flagler Museum, purchased the tapestries. The hotel, which Flagler built, acquired them from his heirs after he died in 1913, said Corbin Horn, director of the auction house’s decorative arts department.
One silk and wool tapestry measuring 11 feet 7 inches by 15 feet 2 inches portrays The Story of Troy. The other, which depicts The Story of Duchy of Brabant, features the 12th century Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I, known as Barbarossa or Redbeard, rewarding one of his followers.