St George and De Morgan's Dragons
It's the story of St George and the dragon, but not as you know it. Painted by William De Morgan as a decorative panel for a cabinet, this painting forces us to reimagine the legend, quite comically from the disgruntled dragon's perspective.
William De Morgan's Dragons
They’re everywhere once you start looking.
The flick of a scaly tail round the rim of a vase. A clawed talon clutching the edge of a plate. William De Morgan was a potter who LOVED dragons.
But why did these scaly monsters do it for him?
Let’s look at some of the ways he used these mythical beasts to adorn his artwork to find out.
De Morgan’s first dalliance with a dragon may take you by surprise if you know the story of St George. This fanciful legend imagines a heroic English knight whose chivalric actions save a princess from the dreadful fate of being fed to a fire-breathing dragon.
Most paintings of St George show the slaying of the beast in all its gory detail. Just look at the godly power bursting through the clouds and the fleeing princess in this dramatic version of the story by Tintoretto in the National Gallery.
De Morgan painted a panel for a cabinet and decorated it with the story of St George and the dragon. It is very different from the Tintoretto.
Emblazoned with a medieval style panel depicting the legend of St George and the Dragon, this Dragon Cabinet is an exceptionally rare piece of De Morgan furniture, made before he began creating ceramics which he is best known for.
His humour is evident in his depiction of a rather grumpy dragon which has been denied a princess dinner by the heroic St George.
Blue Dragon Tile Panel (1872/1904) by William De MorganDe Morgan Collection
Decorative Dragons
De Morgan began his own ceramic business in 1872 at his home in Chelsea, and his dragons came along too.
Ouroboros Dish (1872) by William De MorganDe Morgan Collection
First, he was joined by the ouroboros. From the ancient Greek meaning ‘tail-devourer’ this ancient symbol of infinity shows a dragon-like creature eating its own tail. As it eats it is reborn and this cycle goes on forever. It has represented awe and wonder for millenia.
This symbol of rebirth and renewal is first known to have originated on the ancient Egyptian king Tutankhamen’s golden tomb. These people saw time as a series of cycles, rather than the linear way it is seen in Western traditions.
Demeter Mourning for Persephone (1906) by Evelyn De MorganDe Morgan Collection
Remembering his Father
It is perhaps for this reason that De Morgan first used his ouroboros in 1873 when his father, Augustus, died.
Augustus De Morgan was a notable mathematician of his time. His work on logic, reason, negative numbers, and proving infinity has won him a place in mathematics hall of fame. De Morgan’s Laws are still used and highly regarded in the subject today.
Blue Island High School (Dr. Max Beberman's Revised Math Program) (1957-04) by Albert FennLIFE Photo Collection
Augustus De Morgan was keen that his subject should be available to all. Not just the literate elite who could engage with universities. He often wrote for the cheap and widely circulated publication the Penny Cyclopaedia.
Portrait of Jonathan Swift (1774) by Nathaniel Bermingham|Jonathan SwiftThe Metropolitan Museum of Art
Great fleas have little fleas upon their backs to bite 'em,
And little fleas have lesser fleas, and so ad infinitum.
And the great fleas themselves, in turn, have greater fleas to go on;
While these again have greater still, and greater still, and so on.
He also published his own books including A Budget of Paradoxes. In this volume when explaining infinity, he re-worded a Jonathan Swift poem to explain the concept easily:
Ouroboros Dish (1872) by William De MorganDe Morgan Collection
The ouroboros’s infinite biting of its own tail resonates beautifully with Augustus De Morgan’s humorous poem. William De Morgan’s ouroboros plate is a fitting tribute to his mathematician father.
A scholar in his Study by Thomas WyckHallwyl Museum
The symbol of the ouroboros was also used in early alchemy. Chrysopoeia is the process for the artificial production of gold from base metals. Think philosopher's stone.
The term was first used in “Chrysopoeia of Cleopatra” a brief alchemical text written on a single piece of parchment dating from the 11th century. The text is full of runes and symbols, including the ouroboros.
Ruby Lustre Dish with Dragon and Owls (front) (1872) by William De MorganDe Morgan Collection
The Dragon as Subject
Although it’s easy to add meaning to De Morgan’s dragons, he was a master designer who manipulated shapes to create designs. Stylising flora and fauna was his forte. Perhaps he only liked dragons so much because their scaly talons and bendy bodies looked the part on his plates and vases.
The round body of this dragon lends itself beautifully to the centre of this ruby lustre dish, it is nothing more than a decorative motif.
Ruby Lustre Dish with Dragon and Owls (reverse) (1872) by William De MorganDe Morgan Collection
De Morgan has also used the dragon’s sharp claws to create a repeat pattern for the reverse of this plate. As a key member of the Arts and Crafts Movement which prized the handmade over all else, De Morgan was keen that the whole plate was considered and adorned.
He used the dragon motif as inspiration to decorate the whole plate.
Whether De Morgan used dragons for their rich symbolism, or simply to decorate his pots, they are central to his designs. He was a charming, witty character and his playful dragons let us glimpse his imaginative world of beautiful designs.
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