| Method | Photogravure |
| Artist | after Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones |
| Published | Published by the Berlin Photographic Company Berlin. _ London W.133 New Bond Street. _ New York 14 East 23rd Street. [c.1900] |
| Dimensions | Image 145 x 233 mm, Plate 213 x 287 mm, Sheet 507 x 667 mm |
| Notes |
Printed on India laid paper. Plate 7, taken from Burne-Jones' 1861-2 watercolour of the same title, from 'The Work of Edward Burne-Jones, Ninety-One Photogravures Directly Reproduced from the Original Paintings'. Only two-hundred copies of the 'The Work of Edward Burne-Jones...' were produced, each of which was signed by Philip Burne-Jones, the eldest son of Edward. Set within a garden, a young man and maiden play backgammon. Wearing medieval inspired attire, the figures allude to Burne-Jones', and more broadly speaking, the Pre-Raphaelite artists' fascination with the Middle Ages. Although it has previously been suggested that the female figure was modelled on Jane Morris, it is more likely that the figure was modelled on Fanny Cornforth. A pencil drawing of the same date presents Cornforth in an identical dress to that in the watercolour. The relaxed nature of the image appears to reflect that of the Red House, the home of William Morris, which was completed in 1859. As described by Georgiana Burne-Jones, the Red House was 'more a poem than a house'. The watercolour from which this painting was taken is now in the collection of Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery. Burne-Jones visited the subject on a few occasions, with a completed drawing, in far more detail than the watercolour, being held in the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge. The subject was once again revisited for an oil painting on leather, featured on the doors of a cabinet created by Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & co., which is now in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones, 1st Bt (1833-1898) was a painter and designer closely associated with the later phase of the Pre-Raphaelite movement. Burne-Jones met William Morris as an undergraduate of Exeter college, Oxford, whilst studying for a degree in theology. The pair went on to work very closely together on numerous decorative arts projects including stained glass windows, tapestries and illustrations. Originally intending to become a church minister, Burne-Jones never finished his degree, choosing instead to pursue an artistic career under the influence of Dante Gabriel Rossetti. Rossetti heavily inspired his early work, but by the 1860's his idiosyncratic style was beginning to develop. His mature work, however different in total effect, is rich in conscious echoes of Botticelli, Mantegna and other Italian masters of the Quattrocento. Thusly, Burne Jones' later paintings of classical and medieval subjects are some of the most iconic of the Pre-Raphaelite movement. He was at the height of his popularity during the 1880's, though his reputation began to decline with the onset of the Impressionists. He was created a baronet in 1894, when he formally hyphenated his name. The Berlin Photographic Company, (1880 - 1920; fl) or the Berlin Photographische Gesellschaft, was a German print publishers who specialised in photogravures after Old Masters and contemporary painters. High quality photographs were taken of the original works. The negatives were then exposed onto a gelatin covered copper plate, etched with acid, and printed in a similar fashion to an engraving. The main series of the Berlin Photographic Company's publications is kept together at Blythe House, West Kensington. Condition: Foxing and discolouration to margins, water stain to upper left corner of sheet, not affecting image. |
| Framing | unmounted |
| Price | £375.00 |
| Stock ID | 41653 |