Information

A worked up preliminary study for the tapestry. It lacks the decorative details of the tapestry such as jewels on the clothes. This details would have been supplied at a later stage by John Henry Dearle. Unlike the elaborate copy of the Tassilo chalice which appears in the tapestry, the communion cup here is quite simple.The donor sister, Katie Lewis, was a favourite correspondent of Burne-Jones when she was a child. Burne-Jones also painted portraits of both sisters, now in private collections.

Morris & Co. had received a commission from an Australian mining millionaire, W.K. D'Arcy, to furnish his house, Stanmore Hall, near Uxbridge. It had a large dining room and Morris pursuaded him to make use of tapestry to cover the walls. On undertaking to decorate the room in this way, Morris asked Burne-Jones to draw cartoons for a series based on the Holy Grail legend. The set consisted of five large panels, a smaller one of a ship, and a dado of verdure with the knights' shields hanging from the trees. The five scenes were as follows:The Knights of the Round Table Summoned to the Quest by a Strange DamselThe Arming and Departure of the KnightsThe Failure of Sir LancelotThe Failure of Sir GawaineThe Achievement of Sir Galahad Accompanied by Sir Bors and Sir Percival This cartoon was presented to Birmingham in 1949 by Mrs. Gertrude Burney, whose sister, Katie Lewis, was a favourite correspondent of Burne-Jones when she was a child. Burne-Jones also painted portraits of both sisters, now in private collections.

  • Presented by Mrs Gertrude Burney, 1949.
  • © Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery

Makers

Association Artist Organisation
Artist Sir Edward Burne-Jones -

Exhibitions

Catalogue No. Venue Date(s)
-
64 Royal Watercolour Society 1894 - 1894
 
-
- Walker Galleries, London 1959 - 1959
- Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto 1969 - 1969
 
-
- Walker Galleries, London 1959 - 1959
- Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto 1969 - 1969
 
William Morris and the Middle Ages
15 (repro p. 91) Whitworth Art Gallery, University of Manchester 1984-09-28 - 1984-12-08
 
The Holy Grail Tapestries
- Guernsey Museum & Art Gallery, St. Peter Port 1992-07-01 - 1992-09-01
 
Der Graal: Artusromantik in der Kunst des 19. Jahrhunderts
36 (repro p. 233) Bayerisches Nationalmuseum, Munich 1995-10-25 - 1996-01-21
 

Literature

Author(s) Date(s) Publisher Pages
Edward Burne-Jones: A Record and Review
Malcolm Bell 1892 George Bell & Sons, London p. 80
 
Burne-Jones
Bill Waters, Martin Harrison 1973 Barrie & Jenkins, London p. 166
 
Edward Burne-Jones: Victorian Artist-Dreamer
John Christian, Stephen Wildman 1998 Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York p. 304
 
Hidden Burne-Jones, Works on paper by Edward Burne-Jones from Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery
2007 Dan Giles, Ltd., London p. 93

Associated people

Name Type
William Morris Manufactured for

Associated places

Name Type
Stanmore Hall Associated with

Related work & resources

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