Vase
1874 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Object Type
This vase was designed specifically for use within one of William Burges's interior schemes. Ceramics were regularly shown in his drawings for interiors, although few of these in fact appear to have been produced.
Places
The commission to rebuild Cardiff Castle for the 3rd Marquess of Bute provided Burges with an unprecedented opportunity to realise his ideas on a grand scale. Not only was Bute held to be the richest man in Britain, but he shared Burges's enthusiasm for antiquarian subjects and his romantic passion for the Middle Ages. This vase was one of four designed to be placed on the stone brackets in each corner of the Summer Smoking Room, a galleried interior at the top of the Clock Tower of the Castle. The foundation stone was laid in 1869.
Design & Designing
The shape of the vase relates very closely to examples of tulip vases in a photograph of The office in William Burges's chambers, 15 Buckingham Street, London: the Zodiac Settee, dated 1871 (RIBA7224) and a later image of the same room dated 1876 (V&A 514-1933). The vases on the mantel and settees in the photographs look to be made of porcelain with monochrome glaze (possibly red) and probably 19th-century Chinese. In the 19th century a wide variety of shapes were made in ceramic centres of production such as Jingdezhen, and some of them are adaptations of earlier types.
Burges appears to have had a fascination with spouted or chimney shapes. A drawing of a glass rosewater vase of similar form appears in one of Burges's sketchbooks (RIBA53375). Another influence may have been the multi-chimneyed outline of one of Burges's favourite Medieval buildings - the kitchen of the French Benedictine abbey of Marmoutier.
This vase was designed specifically for use within one of William Burges's interior schemes. Ceramics were regularly shown in his drawings for interiors, although few of these in fact appear to have been produced.
Places
The commission to rebuild Cardiff Castle for the 3rd Marquess of Bute provided Burges with an unprecedented opportunity to realise his ideas on a grand scale. Not only was Bute held to be the richest man in Britain, but he shared Burges's enthusiasm for antiquarian subjects and his romantic passion for the Middle Ages. This vase was one of four designed to be placed on the stone brackets in each corner of the Summer Smoking Room, a galleried interior at the top of the Clock Tower of the Castle. The foundation stone was laid in 1869.
Design & Designing
The shape of the vase relates very closely to examples of tulip vases in a photograph of The office in William Burges's chambers, 15 Buckingham Street, London: the Zodiac Settee, dated 1871 (RIBA7224) and a later image of the same room dated 1876 (V&A 514-1933). The vases on the mantel and settees in the photographs look to be made of porcelain with monochrome glaze (possibly red) and probably 19th-century Chinese. In the 19th century a wide variety of shapes were made in ceramic centres of production such as Jingdezhen, and some of them are adaptations of earlier types.
Burges appears to have had a fascination with spouted or chimney shapes. A drawing of a glass rosewater vase of similar form appears in one of Burges's sketchbooks (RIBA53375). Another influence may have been the multi-chimneyed outline of one of Burges's favourite Medieval buildings - the kitchen of the French Benedictine abbey of Marmoutier.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Stoneware, painted |
| Brief description | Tulip Vase, stoneware, design by William Burges, possibly made in London, Staffordshire or Shropshire, 1874. |
| Physical description | This vase was one of a set of four vases set on the corner stone brackets in early photographs of the Summer Smoking Room of Cardiff castle, designed for Lord Bute. The shape of the vase is roughly based on late-18th to 19th-century Chinese tulip vases. |
| Dimensions |
|
| Marks and inscriptions | Inscribed with the date and the name of the patron, the Marquess of Bute
The inscription reads 'IOHNS PATCS. MARQ. DE BUTE'; four ovals containing armorial bearings associated with Bute; top of the neck has the inscription 'ANNO DOMINI 1874' |
| Gallery label |
|
| Credit line | Given in memory of Lavinia and Charles Handley-Read by Mr Thomas Stainton |
| Object history | One of a pair designed for the 3rd Marquess of Bute and intended for the smoking room of Cardiff Castle Designed by William Burges (London, 1827-1881); Possibly made in Staffordshire or Shropshire. Formerly in the Handley-Read Colln. |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Summary | Object Type This vase was designed specifically for use within one of William Burges's interior schemes. Ceramics were regularly shown in his drawings for interiors, although few of these in fact appear to have been produced. Places The commission to rebuild Cardiff Castle for the 3rd Marquess of Bute provided Burges with an unprecedented opportunity to realise his ideas on a grand scale. Not only was Bute held to be the richest man in Britain, but he shared Burges's enthusiasm for antiquarian subjects and his romantic passion for the Middle Ages. This vase was one of four designed to be placed on the stone brackets in each corner of the Summer Smoking Room, a galleried interior at the top of the Clock Tower of the Castle. The foundation stone was laid in 1869. Design & Designing The shape of the vase relates very closely to examples of tulip vases in a photograph of The office in William Burges's chambers, 15 Buckingham Street, London: the Zodiac Settee, dated 1871 (RIBA7224) and a later image of the same room dated 1876 (V&A 514-1933). The vases on the mantel and settees in the photographs look to be made of porcelain with monochrome glaze (possibly red) and probably 19th-century Chinese. In the 19th century a wide variety of shapes were made in ceramic centres of production such as Jingdezhen, and some of them are adaptations of earlier types. Burges appears to have had a fascination with spouted or chimney shapes. A drawing of a glass rosewater vase of similar form appears in one of Burges's sketchbooks (RIBA53375). Another influence may have been the multi-chimneyed outline of one of Burges's favourite Medieval buildings - the kitchen of the French Benedictine abbey of Marmoutier. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | C.40-1972 |
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| Record created | September 28, 1998 |
| Record URL |
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