1860 (painted)
Pine, painted in oil paint, with gold and silver leaf
During the week before his wedding in June 1860, the artist Edward Burne-Jones painted a plain sideboard that he had in his possession, and later used it in his dining room. He described the subject of his painting as 'Ladies and animals...in various relations to each other'. The three panels on the front show ladies feeding pigs, parrot and fishes.
Burne-Jones had begun painting furniture a few years earlier when he shared a studio in Red Lion Square, London, with the designer William Morris. They were influenced by medieval furniture which was plain and strongly-built, but with a surface decoration of painting.
http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O66254/sideboard-ladies-and-animals-sideboard/
I have seen furniture painted by Arts and Crafts artists later on, and thought it was sloppily done.
ReplyDeleteBut Edward Burne-Jones' sideboard seems to be exquisitely crafted. And yes it reminded me also of those Italian medieval marriage trunks.
I didn't know about the Italian marriage trunks - fascinating.
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