Lot Essay
FOURTH LADY putting on the basnet
Oh gentle knight (Galahad)
That you bow down to us in reverence,
We are most glad, I, Katherine, with delight
Must needs fall trembling.
William Morris, 1856, (Sir Galahad: A Christmas Mystery, first published in The Defence of Guinevere, 1858).
The painting by Rossetti on the back of this chair almost certainly dates from early 1857. Burne-Jones' letter to Miss Sampson of November 1856 (see introductory text) would appear to confirm that the construction of both chairs had been completed by this date. Additionally, Rossetti's correspondence to William Allingham of 18 December 1856 (see introductory text) informs us that the subsequent painting of the first chair (lot 21) had been completed by the date of writing. It is logical to assume therefore that, with both chairs made and one chair already painted (perhaps not to his total satisfaction), Rossetti embarked upon this second and immeasurably more confident and accomplished composition without delay.
Although Morris's poem from which this scene was taken was not actually published until 1858, it is known, again from Rossetti's lengthy December correspondence with Allingham, that Morris had already written 'poetry enough for a big book', despite having published in total only five pieces, in the Oxford and Cambridge Magazine that year. The very precise recording by Marillier (op. cit.) of the title of Rossetti's painting on the chair and its relation to a specific poem by Morris, can leave little doubt that at least a first version of Sir Galahad: A Christmas Mystery had been completed by Morris by the end of 1856, and that it was this work which was the direct source for Rossetti. This is of considerable relevance to our understanding of the relationship between Rossetti's work and Morris's poems. Once again it is Rossetti's correspondence with Allingham which informs us that by the end of 1856 Morris had also written a poem to Rossetti's watercolour of the same year, The Blue Closet; Morris was later also to write verse to other of Rossetti's works, but the present Sir Galahad and Gwendolen chairs would appear to the only works where Rossetti used pre-existing works by Morris as his subject reference.
The selection of Morris's Sir Galahad as the subject, is of particular contextual significance to Rossetti's work. The poem is in direct homage to Malory's story of the quest of the Holy Grail from Morris's beloved Morte d'Arthur, an equal passion for which must surely have been instilled in Rossetti by both Morris and Burne-Jones from the earliest days of their mutual friendship. Although Rossetti had worked with 'Arthurian' subjects before (most recently in his drawings for Moxon's illustrated edition of Tennyson's Poems,) it was not until 1857 that a considerable volume of work based specifically on Malory's Quest for the Holy Grail, began to flow from Rossetti's hand, much of which related to the project to decorate the hall of the Oxford Union Debating Society, dating from the summer and autumn of that same year. It seems that the Galahad chair may well have been the first of these works, and perhaps even the catalyst for what followed; to date it was certainly one of Rossetti's most unusual both in terms of composition and execution - this latter in itself is remarkable given that Rossetti had not painted in oil since the early 1850s.
Many of the details introduced by Rossetti in the 'Galahad' chair recur in his contemporary or immediately subsequent works. The girdle worn by The Damsel of the Sanct Greal, a watercolour of 1857, (Tate Gallery, London; Surtees, pl. 117, cat. no. 91), is decorated with an identical XOXOXO motif as that seen in the present chair; the distinctive peacock feather pattern seen here on the Lady's cloak, is repeated in Rossetti's 1857 pen and ink study for the Oxford Union project Sir Launcelot in the Queen's Chamber, (Birmingham City Museum and Art Gallery; Surtees, pl.127, cat. no. 95, reproduced bottom right); the highly decorative black and white design incorporating mythical birds, berries and sprays used here by Rossetti to such effect to adorn the Knight's sleeve and break up the somewhat empty centre of the painting, is seen again, barely changed, in the cape of the central figure in Rossetti's 1858/9 pen and ink drawing Mary Magdalene at the door of Simon the Pharisee (Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge; Surtees, pl. 156, cat. no. 109). Rossetti's much favoured spiral motif, already discussed in relation to the design of the base of chair, is also seen in the almost impasted decoration of the Lady's headdress, (and again on Gwendolen's headdress - see following lot). It re-appears frequently as a decorative motif or textile pattern in subsequent works - the attendant's sleeve in A Christmas Carol, 1857/8 (Fogg Museum of Art, Harvard University; Surtees, pl.134, cat. no. 98); the Knight's sleeve and singlet in Sir Launcelot, and the Knight's sleeve in Before the Battle, 1858, (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; Surtees, pl. 148, cat. no. 106, reproduced top right). This latter work is worthy of particular note for its composition: it follows closely that of the 'Galahad chair', with the two foreground figures similarly juxtaposed, against a background of massed heads seen in flat perspective, typical of paintings of the fifteenth century. The Galahad chair, and later Before the Battle, would appear to be the only two occasions on which Rossetti used this very distinctive composition to complement and emphasise the historical subject matter of the work. (It is hard to believe that Burne-Jones was not influenced by one or both of these works in his composition of the right hand panel on the Prioress's Wardrobe, completed in 1858).
Consideration of the form of the knight's sleeve in both the Galahad chair and Before the Battle, the use of the spiral motif in both of these and several other works, and the treatment of the Sir Galahad's drapery in the present chair may now also assist in resolving the attribution of the set of four panels in the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A exh. cat. no. J.6.), which are believed to have come from a settle made at Red Lion Square and therefore contemporary by a matter of months or even weeks with the present chair. It is presumed that Rossetti, Burne-Jones and Morris all worked on the settle, but opinion is still divided as to which panel is the work of which artist. With the stylistic evidence now presented by the 'Galahad' chair, it may be possible to attribute some if not all of them more confidently to Rossetti.
It should not be forgotten that Rossetti wrote to Allingham in December 1856 that 'He (author's italics) and I have painted the back of a chair...' Although from his description it can be deduced that this specifically referred to the Gwendolen chair (see following lot), the striking painted design on the reverse of the back and the bold stripes and chevrons on the base do not relate to any known decorative work by Rossetti. The scene depicted on the face of the chair is a complete composition in its own right, but it is not hard to understand that once this work had been finished, Rossetti would then have been content to allow Morris to complete the decoration of the chair, which was after all, Morris's own design. The vivid design on the reverse compares closely with the semi-circular chair in the William Morris Gallery (V&A exh. cat. no. J. 4), both in colour and use of foliate motifs, and, given Rossetti's acknowledgement of Morris's input in the Gwendolen chair, the attribution of the decorative work to Morris on both chairs seems appropriate. The birds incorporated in the reverse design on the present chair may yet be the work of Rossetti. They are much closer to the attentuated crested forms seen on the sleeve of Sir Galahad, and bear little relation to the rather dumpy, primitive bird on the Morris Gallery chair. As Mackail notes of Morris at this time (p. 114), 'The human figure was too much for him, and even with birds or animals in his designs he felt difficulty. So it remained afterwards'.
A final comment should be made about the leather which remains on both this and the Gwendolen chair. That (we presume) Morris finally completed the chairs by covering the uprights and seats so meticulously with leather, finely space-nailed with gilded studs, serves as a touching and eloquent reminder of the love and zeal that went into their creation.
Oh gentle knight (Galahad)
That you bow down to us in reverence,
We are most glad, I, Katherine, with delight
Must needs fall trembling.
William Morris, 1856, (Sir Galahad: A Christmas Mystery, first published in The Defence of Guinevere, 1858).
The painting by Rossetti on the back of this chair almost certainly dates from early 1857. Burne-Jones' letter to Miss Sampson of November 1856 (see introductory text) would appear to confirm that the construction of both chairs had been completed by this date. Additionally, Rossetti's correspondence to William Allingham of 18 December 1856 (see introductory text) informs us that the subsequent painting of the first chair (lot 21) had been completed by the date of writing. It is logical to assume therefore that, with both chairs made and one chair already painted (perhaps not to his total satisfaction), Rossetti embarked upon this second and immeasurably more confident and accomplished composition without delay.
Although Morris's poem from which this scene was taken was not actually published until 1858, it is known, again from Rossetti's lengthy December correspondence with Allingham, that Morris had already written 'poetry enough for a big book', despite having published in total only five pieces, in the Oxford and Cambridge Magazine that year. The very precise recording by Marillier (op. cit.) of the title of Rossetti's painting on the chair and its relation to a specific poem by Morris, can leave little doubt that at least a first version of Sir Galahad: A Christmas Mystery had been completed by Morris by the end of 1856, and that it was this work which was the direct source for Rossetti. This is of considerable relevance to our understanding of the relationship between Rossetti's work and Morris's poems. Once again it is Rossetti's correspondence with Allingham which informs us that by the end of 1856 Morris had also written a poem to Rossetti's watercolour of the same year, The Blue Closet; Morris was later also to write verse to other of Rossetti's works, but the present Sir Galahad and Gwendolen chairs would appear to the only works where Rossetti used pre-existing works by Morris as his subject reference.
The selection of Morris's Sir Galahad as the subject, is of particular contextual significance to Rossetti's work. The poem is in direct homage to Malory's story of the quest of the Holy Grail from Morris's beloved Morte d'Arthur, an equal passion for which must surely have been instilled in Rossetti by both Morris and Burne-Jones from the earliest days of their mutual friendship. Although Rossetti had worked with 'Arthurian' subjects before (most recently in his drawings for Moxon's illustrated edition of Tennyson's Poems,) it was not until 1857 that a considerable volume of work based specifically on Malory's Quest for the Holy Grail, began to flow from Rossetti's hand, much of which related to the project to decorate the hall of the Oxford Union Debating Society, dating from the summer and autumn of that same year. It seems that the Galahad chair may well have been the first of these works, and perhaps even the catalyst for what followed; to date it was certainly one of Rossetti's most unusual both in terms of composition and execution - this latter in itself is remarkable given that Rossetti had not painted in oil since the early 1850s.
Many of the details introduced by Rossetti in the 'Galahad' chair recur in his contemporary or immediately subsequent works. The girdle worn by The Damsel of the Sanct Greal, a watercolour of 1857, (Tate Gallery, London; Surtees, pl. 117, cat. no. 91), is decorated with an identical XOXOXO motif as that seen in the present chair; the distinctive peacock feather pattern seen here on the Lady's cloak, is repeated in Rossetti's 1857 pen and ink study for the Oxford Union project Sir Launcelot in the Queen's Chamber, (Birmingham City Museum and Art Gallery; Surtees, pl.127, cat. no. 95, reproduced bottom right); the highly decorative black and white design incorporating mythical birds, berries and sprays used here by Rossetti to such effect to adorn the Knight's sleeve and break up the somewhat empty centre of the painting, is seen again, barely changed, in the cape of the central figure in Rossetti's 1858/9 pen and ink drawing Mary Magdalene at the door of Simon the Pharisee (Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge; Surtees, pl. 156, cat. no. 109). Rossetti's much favoured spiral motif, already discussed in relation to the design of the base of chair, is also seen in the almost impasted decoration of the Lady's headdress, (and again on Gwendolen's headdress - see following lot). It re-appears frequently as a decorative motif or textile pattern in subsequent works - the attendant's sleeve in A Christmas Carol, 1857/8 (Fogg Museum of Art, Harvard University; Surtees, pl.134, cat. no. 98); the Knight's sleeve and singlet in Sir Launcelot, and the Knight's sleeve in Before the Battle, 1858, (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; Surtees, pl. 148, cat. no. 106, reproduced top right). This latter work is worthy of particular note for its composition: it follows closely that of the 'Galahad chair', with the two foreground figures similarly juxtaposed, against a background of massed heads seen in flat perspective, typical of paintings of the fifteenth century. The Galahad chair, and later Before the Battle, would appear to be the only two occasions on which Rossetti used this very distinctive composition to complement and emphasise the historical subject matter of the work. (It is hard to believe that Burne-Jones was not influenced by one or both of these works in his composition of the right hand panel on the Prioress's Wardrobe, completed in 1858).
Consideration of the form of the knight's sleeve in both the Galahad chair and Before the Battle, the use of the spiral motif in both of these and several other works, and the treatment of the Sir Galahad's drapery in the present chair may now also assist in resolving the attribution of the set of four panels in the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A exh. cat. no. J.6.), which are believed to have come from a settle made at Red Lion Square and therefore contemporary by a matter of months or even weeks with the present chair. It is presumed that Rossetti, Burne-Jones and Morris all worked on the settle, but opinion is still divided as to which panel is the work of which artist. With the stylistic evidence now presented by the 'Galahad' chair, it may be possible to attribute some if not all of them more confidently to Rossetti.
It should not be forgotten that Rossetti wrote to Allingham in December 1856 that 'He (author's italics) and I have painted the back of a chair...' Although from his description it can be deduced that this specifically referred to the Gwendolen chair (see following lot), the striking painted design on the reverse of the back and the bold stripes and chevrons on the base do not relate to any known decorative work by Rossetti. The scene depicted on the face of the chair is a complete composition in its own right, but it is not hard to understand that once this work had been finished, Rossetti would then have been content to allow Morris to complete the decoration of the chair, which was after all, Morris's own design. The vivid design on the reverse compares closely with the semi-circular chair in the William Morris Gallery (V&A exh. cat. no. J. 4), both in colour and use of foliate motifs, and, given Rossetti's acknowledgement of Morris's input in the Gwendolen chair, the attribution of the decorative work to Morris on both chairs seems appropriate. The birds incorporated in the reverse design on the present chair may yet be the work of Rossetti. They are much closer to the attentuated crested forms seen on the sleeve of Sir Galahad, and bear little relation to the rather dumpy, primitive bird on the Morris Gallery chair. As Mackail notes of Morris at this time (p. 114), 'The human figure was too much for him, and even with birds or animals in his designs he felt difficulty. So it remained afterwards'.
A final comment should be made about the leather which remains on both this and the Gwendolen chair. That (we presume) Morris finally completed the chairs by covering the uprights and seats so meticulously with leather, finely space-nailed with gilded studs, serves as a touching and eloquent reminder of the love and zeal that went into their creation.