Study for the king asleep in the Briar Rose series

Details

Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones, Bt., A.R.A., R.W.S. (1833-1898)
Study for the king asleep in the Briar Rose series
with inscription and date 'A sketch in black chalk/by Sir Edward Burne-Jones... & given by/him to me his pupil./Sketch for throne in council chamber/of Briar-Rose series./Matthew Webb/August 10th 1908' (lower right) and with a further inscription 'top of throne/in above/drawing' (lower left)
pencil and black chalk, unframed
145/8 x 95/8 in. (37.2 x 24.4 cm.)

Provenance

Matthew Webb, Sir Edward Burne-Jones's studio assistant, 1908.

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Lot Essay

The drawing is a study for the king asleep in The Council Chamber, the second picture in Burne-Jones' Briar Rose series. The subject of the sleeping princess had occupied Burne-Jones throughout most of his career. By 1872 he had painted a set of three small oils for William Graham. By the 1880s he was working on a large set of canvases, subsequently sold to Lord Faringdon and now at Buscot Park. Towards the end of his life Burne-Jones painted another version of three of the series; the third version of The Council Chamber is now in the Bancroft Collection, Wilmington, Delaware, and it has been suggested that stylistically the present drawing may relate to this picture.

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