WAre they really steaks that John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Ringo Starr and the Beatles ate with Joan Baez on August 29, 1966? You could probably do a DNA analysis to figure out the menu sequence. The once white tablecloth of the catering company Jo Vilardi from San Francisco is stained enough. And also painted all over: The Beatles didn't necessarily serve as a role model for good table manners. The Frankfurt Museum of Applied Arts now has an almost legendary exhibit.
Cloth was long lost
The “Fab Four” tablecloth had been missing for 55 years. It only resurfaced in 2022: a man got it from an acquaintance as payment for a debt and never sold it. Because the tablecloth, which has autographs and the saying “Paul McCartney did not lay a hand on this table”, was stolen property. A few days after the Beatles' last official concert on August 29, 1966 at Cadlestick Park Stadium in San Francisco, it was stolen from the caterer's window.
Famous cloth: Florian Schilling, entrepreneur and donor of the tablecloth on Friday at the Museum of Applied Arts in Frankfurt.
:
Image: Wonge Bergmann
The fact that it is now in Frankfurt is due to chance and a certain instinct for play: Frankfurt supervisory board management consultant Florian Schilling had also read about the spectacular find, which was auctioned off at an online auction in October 2022. “I figured it would fetch hundreds of thousands,” he says, as a number of Beatles items have fetched enormous prices. He offered at the very beginning. Because he always liked the Beatles and didn't expect to get the contract.
But he got it. “I was surprised by the quality,” says Schilling. John Lennon, who studied art, drew a yellow sun wheel and an abstract machine. At least that is certain, says Schilling. “But we don’t know whether the portraits are of Paul McCartney or Joan Baez.” He can’t ask Baez. He contacted her management and received a rejection, said Schilling. He has now delved deeply into the history of the Beatles, so deeply that he has even given a lecture on the band's entire work – all thanks to the tablecloth.
“I’m having a lot of fun with it and this story,” says Schilling. Hanging the tablecloth at home was not an option for conservation reasons. The Beatles Museum in Liverpool was also interested, but Schilling left it on permanent loan to the Frankfurt house. The museum will celebrate four new additions to the permanent exhibition “Elementary Parts” on February 22nd at 7 p.m. The Beatles cloth is guaranteed not to get any new stains: it can be seen behind glass.
#Beatles39 #tablecloth #display #Frankfurt #Museum
