The Lindsay Endowment Fund and The Art Fund have assisted the acquisition of The Garden of Hesperides. Pic © National Museums Scotland
An overmantel depiction of Greek mythology which was owned by the Scottish Prime Minister and heralded as an “astonishing achievement” at the turn of the 20th century has been unveiled at the National Museum of Scotland in a £210,000 acquisition.
Arthur Balfour, the Scottish First Lord of the Treasury, paid British enameller Alexander Fisher £750 for The Garden of Hesperides in 1899, a fee which represented a sixth of his salary three years before he became the Scottish leader.
“It is impossible to overstate how important this dramatic and colourful piece was to the British Art and Crafts Movement,” explained Godfrey Evans, Principal Curator of European Applied Art.
“It is an outstanding example of sculpture and enamelling, and we are delighted that it is now on public display.”
The Scottish First Lord of the Treasury spent £750 on the piece in 1899. Pic © National Museums Scotland
The Lindsay Endowment Fund has contributed £95,000 of the funding, with a further £70,000 provided by The Art Fund.
The Garden was home to golden apples which granted their eaters immortality, guarded by a throng of nymphs and a hundred-headed insomniac dragon, colourfully portrayed in vivid copper, silver, ivory and enamel by Fisher.
Balfour hung it in the dining room of his East Lothian mansion, where it is reputed to have accrued admiration from his guests.
Godfrey Evans said it was "impossible to overstate" the importance of the work. Pic © National Museums Scotland
David Barrie, Director of The Art Fund, said: “This is an extraordinary period piece by a largely forgotten artist who deserves to be much better known. The myth of the Hesperides can be read as an allegory for life’s labours and the desire for success and it would have meant a lot to the erudite and refined Balfour.”
“Only last year we helped National Museum Wales acquire the Burne-Jones panels which Balfour commissioned for his London home, and I’m delighted that The Art Fund has played such a significant part in securing another remarkable product of his patronage, this time relating to his home in Scotland.”
