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The Backgammon Players

Designer Philip Webb British
Painted by Sir Edward Burne-Jones British
1861
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 516
This early masterpiece of the Arts and Crafts Movement exemplifies the collaborative endeavors of William Morris and his circle to improve design standards. Morris believed that a return to the principles of medieval production, with fine artists creating functional objects, could help overcome the evils of industrialization. This cabinet, one of several in which Morris enlisted the participation of Sir Edward Burne-Jones, is an attempt to erase the distinction between the fine and the applied arts. The painting on leather with a punched background is itself a craftsman's medium.

Although the cabinet is usually described as in the "medieval style," it is actually a vivid example of the ability of the Morris firm to convert the eclecticism that marked much of the art of the late nineteenth century into an original and modern style. Although Burne-Jones's painted figures are in medieval costume much of the decoration is equally Oriental in inspiration. Philip Webb's straightforward design, however, which boldly displays the casework skeleton on the exterior, anticipated the emphasis on structural elements that would inform the design revolution of the next century.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: The Backgammon Players
  • Designer: Philip Webb (British, Oxford 1831–1915 West Sussex)
  • Manufacturer: Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Co. (1861–75)
  • Artist: Painted by Sir Edward Burne-Jones (British, Birmingham 1833–1898 Fulham)
  • Date: 1861
  • Culture: British
  • Medium: Painted pine, oil paint on leather, brass, copper
  • Dimensions: Overall: 73 × 45 × 21 in. (185.4 × 114.3 × 53.3 cm)
  • Classifications: Woodwork-Furniture, Paintings
  • Credit Line: Rogers Fund, 1926
  • Object Number: 26.54
  • Curatorial Department: European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

More Artwork

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Wineglass (one of three), Philip Webb British, Glass, British, London
Wineglass (one of three)
Multiple artists/makers
designed ca. 1860, made ca. 1862–63
Footed goblet with bulging bowl, Philip Webb British, Flint glass, British, London
Footed goblet with bulging bowl
Multiple artists/makers
1860
Prie-dieu, Stammer & Breul, Oak and pine veneered with rosewood, tulipwood, ebony and ebonized wood, and micromosaic decoration of various natural and stained woods; modern silk-velvet; coated brass, Austrian, Vienna
Prie-dieu
Stammer & Breul
1855
Spoon holder, Christopher Dresser British, Scottish, Silver-plated brass, ebony, British, Birmingham or London
Spoon holder
Christopher Dresser
Hukin & Heath
ca. 1878–81
Cabinet, Jean Brandely French, Oak veneered with cedar, walnut, ebony and ivory; silvered-bronze mounts, French, Paris
Cabinet
Multiple artists/makers
1867

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