Lot 25
25
Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones, Bt., A.R.A., R.W.S. (1833-1898)
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Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones, Bt., A.R.A., R.W.S. (1833-1898)

Sisyphus

Details
Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones, Bt., A.R.A., R.W.S. (1833-1898)
Sisyphus
with inscription 'Sisyphus/by E. Burne Jones' (on the artist's label attached to the backboard) and with a further inscription No. 327./by E. Burne-Jones ARA/Edmund Oldfield Esq/19 Thurloe Square/S.W./C. Hall to/deliver at this address/on Aug 9th. No.323.' (on an old label attached to the backboard)
pencil, bodycolour and gold, with gum arabic, on a prepared ground, painted circle
9¼ x 9¼ in. (23.6 x 23.6 cm.)
Provenance
Edmund Oldfield, 19 Thurloe Square, London.
Special notice
No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 17.5% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.

Lot Essay

From the same series of drawings as lot 24. Sisyphus was one of a number of mythological figures (Tantalus and Ixion were others) who were punished in Hades for offences committed on earth, and were seen by Orpheus when he visited the underworld in search of Eurydice. A king of Corinth notorious for his cunning and double-dealing, Sisyphus was condemned to push a huge stone up a hill only to see it slip from his grasp and roll down again as soon as he reached the summit.

The numbers 323 and 327 which occur on old labels on the backs of lots 24 and 25 may be inventory numbers. The drawings, were not in either of the artist's memorial exhibitions, at the New Gallery in 1898-9 and the Burlington Fine Arts Club in 1899.

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