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GAYET, ALBERT (1856–1916): LIFE AND WORKS Nancy Arthur Hoskins Keywords: Albert Gayet, Albert Jean Marie Phillippe Gayet, Gaston Maspero, Émile Étienne Guimet, Musée Guimet, Musée du Louvre, Antinoöpolis, Antinoé, Coptic textiles, Coptic tapestries, Coptic art, Late Antique textiles, Fauve Art, Henri Matisse, Thaïs. Albert Gayet, originally named Jean Marie Phillippe Albert Gayet, was born 17 September 1856, in Dijon, France to Antoine Gayet and Claudine Émélie Flessière (Hoskins 2004: 5). He died on 9 May 1916 and is buried in Dijon. Albert Gayet became known as “the archaeologist of Antinoé” and his work also contributed to Coptic studies with the 1889 publication of Les Monuments coptes du Musée du Boulaq, the first catalog on Coptic monuments (Hoskins 2004: vii) and L’art copte, published in 1902 (Hoskins 2004: 6). Education and Early Career 1856–1895 Gayet held a diploma from l’École des Hautes Études de Paris, Section d’archéologie et de philogie orientale; was a member of the Société d’archéologie du Caire; and an Archéologue lauréat du Salon. Gayet was a protégé of GASTON CAMILLE CHARLES MASPERO (1846–1916), the French director of the Antiquities Department of Egypt. Maspero called Gayet a “student of Christian archaeology” (Hoskins 2004: 5). In 1881, Gayet joined Maspero’s Mission Archéologique and by 1884 was in charge of a mission in Egypt for the Ministère de l’instruction publique et des Beaux-Arts. As a young archaeologist, Gayet copied the inscriptions at the Temple of Luxor, surveyed the Temple of Dendera, and measured DAYR ANBA HADRA at Aswan. His early archaeological projects in Egypt were published between 1886 and 1902 (Hoskins 2004: 6). Gayet’s Campaigns in Egypt Émile Étienne Guimet (1836–1918) established the Musée Guimet in Paris. He thought that the site of the ancient city of Antinoöpolis (Antinoé), which was founded by the emperor Hadrian in AD 130, would be a promising site for excavation and sponsored Gayet’s first campaign in Antinoé in

GAYET, ALBERT (1856-1916): THE COPTIC TAPESTRY ALBUMS Nancy Arthur Hoskins Keywords: Albert Gayet; Albert Jean Marie Philippe Gayet; Henry Art Gallery; Musée du Louvre; Antinoöpolis; Antinoé; Coptic textiles; Coptic tapestries; Coptic fabrics; Coptic art; Thaïs; Sarapion; Henry Bryon; Mamluk textiles; Early Islamic textiles; Archaeology; Burial; Tomb. Albert Gayet Thousands of COPTIC TEXTILES were collected by the French archaeologist Jean Marie Philippe ALBERT GAYET (1856–1916) from Coptic burial grounds in Egypt (Hoskins 2023). The textiles and other grave goods were brought back to Paris and donated to museums or expedition sponsors. A large number of Gayet’s textiles were sold at auction in 1901. Those textiles are now scattered in public and private collections around the world (Hoskins 2004). One group of Gayet’s textile fragments and artifacts from the sale were artfully arranged over a hundred years ago in a pair of unique volumes—The Text Album and The Textile Album. The pair of books and their textile treasures are now at the Henry Art Gallery at the University of Washington in Seattle (Fig. 1). Fig. 1.A Fig. 1.B Fig. 1.A: The Text Album, 11¼” x 9½” (28.6 cm x 24.8 cm x 4.8 cm). Fig. 1.B: The Textile Album, 11¼” x 9¾” (28.6 cm x 24.8 cm x 7.6 cm). Courtesy of the Henry Art Gallery, University of Washington, Seattle (Hoskins 2004). Images by R. Nicol. The Coptic Tapestry Albums Two letters from Albert Gayet to Henry Bryon were donated with the two albums and identify Bryon as the owner in 1913 (Hoskins 2004). Either Bryon or the Parisian bookbinder Robert Joly created the way the textiles were used in the albums. Gayet wrote in a letter to Bryon that, “the albums with the clothes of Antinoé, were charming and executed with perfect artistic talent” (Gayet 1913). The albums were sold at auction by a Monsieur X at the Hôtel Drouot on 23 February 1928 in Paris. The sale catalog advertised “ancient books, autographs, objets d’art, curiosities, and a collection o