Franz Josef of Austria

Printed at bottom of card-mount:-
FRANZ JOSEF
(Of AUSTRIA)

silk:
cm deep by cm wide

by Geoffrey Godden:
Franz Josef was born in 1830. He was the last of the Hapsburg emperors, being Emperor of Austria from 1848 to 1916 as well as King of Hungary and the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

The title FRANZ JOSEF OF AUSTRIA was first listed on label 23+34b of 1888, but the subject would appear to have been mainly made for the Continental market.

Two different silks appear to depict Franz Josef. One shows him as a youngish man. This version, number 105a, is shown with others of the same series, reproduced from the Stevens presentation volume [see so248].

The second silk, shown above, appears to depict Franz Josef aged about sixty, with two crossed flags.

Both examples are extremely rare.

Other comments:
This silk does not have a weavers name printed on the front, although the version above has been seen with the 29+34 title label of 1894.
The card mount is also the same, as respects border pattern, thickness and quality, as most of the other German portrait silks recorded on this site.

This portrait silk was also framed in Europe, with the typical distinctive German card mount, although, note the different spelling of his name:-