Terms and conditions of use
Sideboard
(c. 1871)
Medium
Oak (Quercus sp.), Boxwood (Buxus sp.), Pine (Pinus sp.)
Measurements
(a-l) 172.5 × 205.0 × 56.5 cm (overall)
Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Purchased, 1976
Gallery location
18th & 19th Century Decorative Arts & Paintings Gallery
Level 2, NGV International
About this work
By 1862 Bruce J. Talbert was designing furniture for several leading London firms and he exhibited a version of this Sideboard at the London 1871 International Exhibition. Like several influential designers working in Britain during the nineteenth century, Talbert admired historical English furniture. He preferred solid timber rather than veneers, oiled surfaces rather than polished. The sideboard employs traditional decorative techniques of carving, turning, reeding and inlay and exploits the decorative and practical potential of large Gothic hinges. The Latin inscription reads, ‘It is better to be invited to dine on vegetables prepared with love than on the fattened calf prepared with hatred’.
Artwork Details
Place/s of Execution
London, England
Inscription
(b) incised in relief on upper edge c.l.: MELIVS EST VOC ARI
incised in relief on upper edge c.: AD OLERA CV (- above V) CHARITATE QVA (- above A) AD VITVLV (- above third V)
incised in relief on upper edge c.r.: SAGINATU CV (- above V) ODIO
(e) impressed on upper central panel c.: GILLOW C (\ through C) Co
(translation: It is better to dine on vegetables prepared with love than on the fattened cow prepared with hatred.)
Accession Number
D109.a-l-1976
Department
International Decorative Arts
This digital record has been made available on NGV Collection Online through the generous support of Digitisation Champion Ms Carol Grigor through Metal Manufactures Limited
Physical description
Two stages, upper stage with three vertical divisions; lower stage with central drawer and recessed shelf.