Image of Gallery in South Kensington
On display at V&A South Kensington
British Galleries, Room 125, Edwin and Susan Davies Gallery

A Peacock

Memorial Tablet
1886 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Object Type
This is an unusual memorial tablet, quite unlike the majority designed and made before this date. It is a coloured copy of a plain white plaster tablet designed by Edward Burne-Jones (1833-1898) in memory of his close friend Laura Lyttleton (née Tennant), who died in childbirth in 1886 within the first year of her marriage. The original was installed in the church of St Andrew in Mells, Somerset. The coloured version was made for Burne-Jones's own house, The Grange, Fulham.

Subjects Depicted
Burne-Jones had been studying Byzantine art. The peacock was a symbol of the Resurrection in Greek culture of the Christian era.

People
Lady Georgiana Burne-Jones described this tablet in her biography of her husband thus: - 'Laura, the daughter of Sir Charles Tennant: in our house she so fascinated us all that we called her The Siren"". [Her memorial] is eight feet high" and an effigy of a peacock which is the symbol of the Resurrection standing upon a laurel tree - and the laurel grows out of the tomb and burst through the side of the tomb with a determination to go on living and refusing to be dead and below was a Latin inscription made by Dean Church one of the many who loved her.'


Object details

Categories
Object type
Titles
  • A Peacock (assigned by artist)
  • Memorial tablet to Mrs. Laura Lyttleton.
Materials and techniques
oil and gilt gesso on wood
Brief description
Oil and gilt gesso entitled 'A Peacock' by Edward Coley Burne-Jones. Great Britain, 1886.
Physical description
Oil and gilt gesso entitled 'A Peacock'.
Dimensions
  • Height: 237.5cm
  • Top, maximum width: 133cm
  • Top, maximum depth: 20cm
  • Base width: 112cm
  • Base, maximum depth: 10.3cm
80 includes current backboard Dimensions checked: Measured; 04/06/1999 by KL old case dimensions : 300 x 150 x 40
Styles
Gallery label
British Galleries: This is a coloured copy of a white plaster tablet designed by the artist Edward Burne-Jones to commemorate his friend Laura Lyttleton, who died in childbirth in 1886. The original was installed in the church of St Andrew in Mells, Somerset. The peacock represents resurrection and was taken by Burne-Jones from Byzantine art. He made this copy for his own home, 'The Grange', in Fulham, London.(27/03/2003)
Credit line
Given by Mrs J. W. Mackail, daughter of the artist
Object history
Given by Mrs J. W. Mackail, 1938. Made in London by Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones (born in Birmingham, 1833, died in London, 1898)
Subject depicted
Summary
Object Type
This is an unusual memorial tablet, quite unlike the majority designed and made before this date. It is a coloured copy of a plain white plaster tablet designed by Edward Burne-Jones (1833-1898) in memory of his close friend Laura Lyttleton (née Tennant), who died in childbirth in 1886 within the first year of her marriage. The original was installed in the church of St Andrew in Mells, Somerset. The coloured version was made for Burne-Jones's own house, The Grange, Fulham.

Subjects Depicted
Burne-Jones had been studying Byzantine art. The peacock was a symbol of the Resurrection in Greek culture of the Christian era.

People
Lady Georgiana Burne-Jones described this tablet in her biography of her husband thus: - 'Laura, the daughter of Sir Charles Tennant: in our house she so fascinated us all that we called her The Siren"". [Her memorial] is eight feet high" and an effigy of a peacock which is the symbol of the Resurrection standing upon a laurel tree - and the laurel grows out of the tomb and burst through the side of the tomb with a determination to go on living and refusing to be dead and below was a Latin inscription made by Dean Church one of the many who loved her.'
Bibliographic reference
Victoria and Albert Museum, Department of Engraving, Illustration and Design and Department of Paintings, Accessions 1938, London: Board of Education, 1939.
Collection
Accession number
P.85-1938

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Record createdMarch 27, 2003
Record URL
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