Jules Soulages

Mirror frame, walnut, carved and partly gilt, with the emblem of Alfonso d'Este, Ferrara, 1502-1519, part of the collections of Jules Soulages

Jules Soulages was a collector of French and Italian Renaissance art; after his death his collection was acquired by the Museum.

Born in Toulouse in 1803, Jules Soulages practised as a lawyer in Paris and was founding member of the Société Archeologique du Midi de la France. He created an extensive collection of French and Italian Renaissance decorative art from 1825.

Soulages died on 13 October 1857, aged 54. The dealer John Webb was despatched to examine and report on the collection, which was purchased between 1859 and 1865 in installments for £11,000 with the assistance of 73 subscribers.

Information in the V&A Archive

MA/2/S12: Nominal file – Soulages Collection

MA/32/1: Photographs

MA/49/1/3 & MA/49/2/1: Press cuttings

Henry Cole: diaries: typed transcripts, 1822-1882

A0331: Clive Wainwright research papers (includes ‘Monsieur Soulages of Toulouse: a forgotten collector’ [typescript])

Selected printed sources

Soulages Collection: opinions of the press [Press coverage of the exhibition of the Soulages collection, from 4 Dec. 1856 - 12 Feb. 1857]. NAL pressmark: 609.AG.0001

Catalogue of the Soulages collection: being a descriptive inventory of a collection of works of decorative art, formerly in the possession of M. Jules Soulages of Toulouse; now, by permission of the Committee of Privy Council for Trade, exhibited to the public at the Museum of Ornamental Art, Marlborough House / by J.C. Robinson. London: Chapman & Hall, 1856. NAL pressmark: VA.1856.0007

‘Un dernier mot sur la collection Soulages.’ Revue Archéologique du Midi de la France 2 (1867). NAL pressmark: PP.61.G

Wainwright, Clive. ‘Models of inspiration.’  Country Life (9 June 1988): 266-67. NAL pressmark: PP.5.J-M

To locate material in the National Art Library, please search the Library Catalogue.