Brass Lectern

54" x 26" x 19"

An impressive, 19th-century lectern made of bronze. True to the Gothic aesthetic, the top’s floral tracery is highly intricate and minute in scale, as is the sugar-barley twisted stem. Its round base is well-proportioned and features stylized claw feet. The Gothic Revival style emerged in Victorian England to strengthen national identity and Christian morale. Quickly, it dominated 19th-century architecture across the Anglo-world, from residential buildings to churches and parliamentary structures. In its original, ecclesiastical setting, this lectern served as a prop for sermon delivery. In a residential setting, it is a conversation piece, fantastic for displaying a large folio or coffee-table book. Also, a practical device to host sheet music for musicians.

At this time in London, an accident occurred at the Meux & Co’s Horse Shoe Brewery on October 17, 1814. One of the brewery’s 22-foot-tall wooden vats of fermenting porter burst, destroying several other large barrels with the pressure of the liquid. This caused a wave of beer, measuring between 128,000 and 323,000 imperial gallons, to collapse the back wall of the brewery, and sweep into St. Gilles rookery, a nearby neighbourhood. Eight people were killed in what was later titled the London Beer Flood.