"Saint Bacchus" Sideboard

1858

William Burges, Artist Harland and Fisher, Maker N. H. J. Westlake, Maker Thomas Morten, Maker

On View

British, Level 3, South Wing

"Saint Bacchus" Sideboard: 1 of Collection Gallery

"Saint Bacchus" Sideboard: 2 of Collection Gallery

"Saint Bacchus" Sideboard: 3 of Collection Gallery

"Saint Bacchus" Sideboard: 4 of Collection Gallery

"Saint Bacchus" Sideboard: 5 of Collection Gallery

"Saint Bacchus" Sideboard: 6 of Collection Gallery

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About the Artwork

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Markings

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Published References

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Catalogue Raisonné

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Credit Line for Reproduction

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About the Artwork

The center panels of the sideboard in the Gothic Revival style are decorated with a tongue-in-cheek homage to the fictitious "Saint Bacchus," picturing the "saint" (named for the Roman god of wine) arguing with figures representing the nonalcoholic beverages of "Water, Ginger Beer, and Soda Water"; his martyrdom by being squeezed to death in a wine press; and finally, pilgrims venerating his earthly remains contained in a wine barrel. Heads representing alcoholic drinks—"Cyder," "Ale," "Sherry," and "Port"—decorate the doors on either side, and a lively frieze of cats chasing mice embellishes the base of the cabinet.

Title "Saint Bacchus" Sideboard

Artwork Date 1858

Makers William Burges (Artist) English, 1827-1881 Harland and Fisher (Maker) English N. H. J. Westlake (Maker) English, 1833-1921 Thomas Morten (Maker) English, 1836-1866

Medium Stained, painted and gilded wood with marble and iron mounts

Dimensions Overall: 40 × 53 × 15 7/8 inches (101.6 × 134.6 × 40.3 cm) Overall: 41 1/2 × 54 3/4 × 17 inches (105.4 × 139.1 × 43.2 cm) Overall: 19 1/2 × 20 inches (49.5 × 50.8 cm)

Classification Furniture

Department European Sculpture and Dec Arts

Credit Gift of Mr. and Mrs. M. E. Cunningham

Accession Number This unique number is assigned to an individual artwork as part of the cataloguing process at the time of entry into the permanent collection. Most frequently, accession numbers begin with the year in which the artwork entered the museum’s holdings. For example, 2008.3 refers to the year of acquisition and notes that it was the 3rd of that year. The DIA has a few additional systems—no longer assigned—that identify specific donors or museum patronage groups. F82.50

Markings

Inscriptions ------

Marks Marks, carved on the upper right top surface of the chest, underneath the marble top: H [probably for cabinetmaker Harland and Fisher, 33 Southampton Street, Strand, London, England.]

Provenance

1858, Herbert George Yatman (London, England)

ca. 1957, (Art market, Rome, Italy)

1957-1982, Mr. and Mrs. M. E. Cunningham (Birmingham, Michigan, USA)

1982-present, gift to the Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, Michigan, USA)

For more information on provenance and its important function in the museum, please visit:

Provenance page

Exhibition History

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The exhibition history of a number of objects in our collection only begins after their acquisition by the museum, and may reflect an incomplete record.

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Published References

Crook, J. William Burges and the High Victorian Dream. Chicago, 1981, pp. 296, 407, note 35. [reference to Burges, W. "Abstract of Diaries." Unpublished manuscript, 1858.]

Exh. cat., Victoria and Albert Museum. London, 93, E 8, p. 27.

Towne Hufford, S. "The 'St. Bacchus' Sideboard: A New Piece of Furniture by William Burges." The Burlington Magazine 128, no. 999 (1986): 407-412 (ill.).

Gere, C. and M. Whiteway. Nineteenth-Century Design from Pugin to Mackintosh. London and New York, 1993, p. 89.

Zelleke, G. "Telling Stories in the Gothic Vein: William Burges and the Art of Painted Furniture." Objects of Desire: Victorian Art at the Art Institute of Chicago. Museum Studies 31, no. 1 (1995): p. 27, fig. 9 (ill.).

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Catalogue Raisoneé

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Credit Line for Reproduction

William Burges; Harland and Fisher; Thomas Morten; et al., "Saint Bacchus" Sideboard, 1858, stained, painted and gilded wood with marble and iron mounts. Detroit Institute of Arts, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. M. E. Cunningham, F82.50.