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Sydney Richmond Burleigh

King Arthur Chest

Maker

Sydney Richmond Burleigh (American, 1853-1931), designer
Julia Lippitt Mauran (American, 1860-1949), carver
Potter and Company (American, active 1878-1910), cabinetmaker

Title

King Arthur Chest

Year

ca. 1900

Medium

Oak with paint and gilding

Materials/Techniques

Techniques

Oak with paint and gilding

Materials

oak, paint

Dimensions

55.2 x 101.6 cm (21 3/4 x 40 inches)

Credit / Object Number

Credit

Bequest of Isaac C. Bates

Object Number

13.429

Type

Furniture

Publications

Journal

Manual / Issue 13: Storage

The RISD Museum’s thirteenth issue of Manual unpacks the idea and reality of storage-objects museums don’t put on view, works made as containers of various sorts, and more metaphorical considerations about how meanings and narratives are stored. This issue serves as a companion to the Raid the Icebox Now series of exhibitions on view at the RISD Museum through November 2020, in which nine contemporary artists and design collectives use the museum and its collections as a site for critical creative production and presentation. Raid the Icebox Now marks the 50th anniversary of Raid the Icebox 1 with Andy Warhol*, held in 1970 at the RISD Museum.

Books

American Furniture In Pendleton House

Exhibition History

Making It In America

Oct 11, 2013 – Feb 09, 2014

Label copy

Elizabeth A. Williams, curator of decorative arts: This chest in the Arts and Crafts style conveys the movement’s philosophy of “art for the people,” a progressive mindset embodied by Sydney Richmond Burleigh when he commissioned Julia Lippitt Mauran, a female woodcarver. Featuring characters and imagery from the legend of King Arthur, Mauran’s panels reflect the movement’s idealization of the medieval period as an era of sincere artisan practice. Both Burleigh and Mauran actively promoted the Arts and Crafts movement in Providence, Burleigh as a founder of the Providence Art Club and Mauran as a charter member of the Providence Handicraft Club. Isaac Bates, whose portrait hangs above, gave this chest to RISD; he was a member of the Providence Art Club and an active supporter of art in the city.

John Dunnigan, furniture designer and maker and RISD professor (Furniture Design): This piece demonstrates the permeability of the boundaries of art, design, and craft. It is a collaboration in the spirit of the Art Workers Guild, with the painter, Burleigh, designing the piece, Mauran carving the panels, and the woodworkers at Potter & Company building it. Burleigh’s choice of frame-and-panel construction allowed Potter to construct the chest with blank panels. Oak is not easy to carve, and no doubt Mauran’s work represented the most labor-intensive part of the project. It’s likely that once she completed the panels, they were returned to Potter, where the chest would have been assembled and finished.

This is a good example of how furniture can express profound ideas-things like love and fidelity, as seen in the legend of Arthur and Guinevere, or the politics of art and labor behind the Arts and Crafts movement-while giving us a place to put our stuff.

Focus on Form

American Furniture from the Museum's Collection

Apr 01, 1998 – May 21, 2000

Image use

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This object is in the Public Domain and available under a CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication

Tombstone

Sydney Richmond Burleigh (American, 1853-1931), designer
Julia Lippitt Mauran (American, 1860-1949), carver
Potter and Company (American, active 1878-1910), cabinetmaker

King Arthur Chest, ca. 1900

Oak with paint and gilding