ABSTRACT
William Burges (1827–81) identified himself throughout his prolific career as an ‘art-architect’. In 1849, Burges joined the architectural office of Matthew Digby Wyatt and worked on the Great Exhibition of 1851, and he assisted with two related books Metal Work and Its Artistic Design and The Industrial Arts of the Nineteenth Century , published in 1852 and 1853–54, respectively. He established his own architectural practice in 1856 and in 1865, started work on an extensive renovation and redecoration of Cardiff Castle. Burges was to become one of England's most important Gothic Revival architect–designers. Although the medieval was the main source for his design work, Islamic architecture was also an inspiration, as was Japanese art. In fact, Burges published an article on the Japanese Court in the International Exhibition, in 1862. As to style and costume, they are beyond control, and must be left wholly to time and Providence.
