Study of gurnards, possibly for 'The Sea Nymph'

The painting to which this study relates, A Sea-Nymph, was sold in these Rooms, 14 July 2005, lot 34. The fish the sea-nymph is holding and which leap out of the waves have been identified as gurnards, which probably appealed to Burne-Jones not because they have any symbolical significance but for their decorative possibilities. Although they look so exotic, they are not in fact a stranger to British fish-shops, and Burne-Jones appears to have acquired a specimen to make the present studies from. A study in watercolour, 1880, is in the Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester.