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.
"Saint Bacchus" Sideboard
1858
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
Stained, painted and gilded wood with marble and iron mounts
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)
Furniture
European Modern Art to 1970
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. M. E. Cunningham
F82.50
Public Domain
Markings
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)
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Provenance pageExhibition 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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Suggest FeedbackPublished 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 Unpublished manuscript, 1858].
Towne Hufford, S. "The 'St. Bacchus' Sideboard: A New Piece of Furniture by William Burges." The Burlington Magazine 128, no. 999 (1986): pp. 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).
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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.
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