FLORIAN - The Most Traveled Man on Earth

Estelle Sims Collection. This consisted of some original works created by the Florian
family artists, and 32 drawings from the 16 th through the 18 th centuries of Italian and
French masters and engravings. <strong>The</strong> Sims Collection consisted of 262 items, including
the following: 8 original works by Jean Baptiste; 15 by his wife; 3 by her brother; 11 by
the eldest daughter (Laura); 68 by the second daughter (Virginia); 3 by her third daughter
(Elisabeth); 8 by pupils and friends; and 32 by Italian and French masters. Portraits of
the two youngest daughters, (Elisabeth and Azelia) remained in the Sims Collection.
In the 1960s the Collection was displayed at the Library, and articles appeared in the
Mobile Press Register about Jean Baptiste and his wife (by now having been “promoted”
to the “Count and Countess” de Pontcadeuc).
With the establishment of the Mobile Museum of Art, many of the best items in the Sims
Collection were transferred to the new Museum. At the Library and Museum, the
Collection now resides in the vaults, and is unknown to all except a handful of Mobilians.
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