Metalwork and Jewellery
Burges was a notable designer of Gothic-inspired metalwork and jewellery, and he has been cited as "Pugin's successor in the Gothic revival style." Although Burges was foremost an architect, Edmund Gosse described his buildings as "more jewel than architecture", and Crook states that "Burges's genius as a designer is expressed to perfection in his jewellery and metalwork." He began with religious artifacts (candlesticks, chalices, pectoral crosses) as individual commissions or as part of the decorative scheme for buildings over which he had complete artistic control. Examples include the chalices for St Michael's Church, Brighton, the statue of the Angel which stands above St Fin Barre's and which was his personal gift to the cathedral, and the Dunedin Crozier. This item, carved in ivory and depicting St George slaying the dragon, was made for the first Bishop of Dunedin. In 1875 Burges published the design in a French magazine as a thirteenth century original, an example of his delight in tricks and jokes. He also undertook commissions for patrons, including the Sneyd dessert service and the Bute claret jug. On 3 April 1872, Burges produced a gothic-style brooch for the marriage of the Marquess of Bute to Lady Bute. In September 1873, he produced another brooch for the Marchioness, in the shape of a gothic G, a gold heraldic shield in enamel, encrusted with gems and pearls. He followed this with a necklace and earrings, an attempt to "design in Castellani's archeological style." Another example of the works that Burges created for Lady Bute as a present for her husband, was a silver cruet set, in the form of two medieval retainers carrying tiny barrels of salt and pepper; the answer to the question of "what to give a man who (could) afford everything."
Some of his most notable works, however, were those he created for himself, often with the proceeds of the winning of an architectural competition. Examples include the Elephant Inkstand, which Crook considers "the very epitome of its creator's special genius", the pair of jewelled decanters paid for with the fees for the plans of the Crimea Memorial Church and for his series of lectures, Art Applied to Industry, and the Cat Cup, created by Barkentin in commemoration of the Law Courts competition, of which Crook writes: "Its technical virtuosity sets standards for the Arts and Crafts phase. But the overall conception, the range of materials, the ingenuity, the inventiveness, the sheer gusto of the design, is peculiarly, triumphantly Burges." Burges also designed more utilitarian articles which were nonetheless imbued with his love of allusion and punning, including silverware featuring mermaids, spiders and other creatures and a set of knives and forks for the Tower House, with the handles, carved by Nicholls, showing symbols of "meat and vegetables, veal, venision, onion, pea and so on." He was also a knowledgeable critic, referred to by a contemporary as "one of the best judges of armour in Europe."
The whereabouts of some of Burges's most important pieces are unknown, but discoveries are sometimes made: a brooch which he designed as a wedding present for his friend John Pollard Seddon was identified on the BBC television series Antiques Roadshow and subsequently sold at auction for £31,000 in August 2011.
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