William Burges, (1827-1881) was the most extraordinary and imaginative architect and designer of the 19th Century. His romantic and idealised designs related to the past, and steeped in hallucinatory laudanum he transmogrified these idealised ancient images into a spectacular Victorian present.
On this site I have presented an overview of the life, history and works of William Burges, and would be very happy to hear from any collectors and historians with further information and insights.
I have occasional original designs by Burges for sale, and we offer a small range of his designs replicated as wallpapers, fabrics and metalware. We are always interested in purchasing similar items. We also offer a listing and search facility for collectors and dealers.
This site would not have been possible without the assistance of Matthew Williams, curator at Cardiff Castle, and the World's foremost authority on William Burges and Cardiff Castle, and author of, 'William Burges' published by Pitkin.
Architect, designer, and an eccentric, William Burges was a prominent Gothic-revivalist whose designs in architecture, furniture, stained glass, and sculpture fused his vision of the Middle Ages, the observations from his extensive travels, and his own personality, creating in his work a new, eclectic style. As a master of detail and fantasy, Burges' attention reached from the walls and the stained glass windows of a building to each chair, dressing table, and vase in the rooms, giving his work aesthetic harmony.
Burges' training came from not only his upbringing and schooling -- his father was a civil engineer and Burges studied the science of construction at King's College -- but also from his travels. Burges went to France and Belgium, Germany, Austria and Switzerland, Spain and Portugal, Italy, Sicily and Greece, Turkey, Egypt, Scandinavia and Japan, sketching and absorbing the architectural marvels, wall painting, and manuscripts in each country, particularly French Gothic, whose heavy forms and thick columns Burge admired for their "boldness, breadth, strength, sternness and virility," and the Japanese Court, whose egg-shell china, lacquer cabinets, suits of armour, textiles, and ivory ornaments, just to begin, retained the medieval techniques that had deserted Europe.
