Pomona
Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones (Birmingham 1833 - London 1898)
Category
Art / Drawings and watercolours
Date
circa 1884
Materials
Watercolour on paper
Measurements
381 x 279 mm
Order this imageCollection
Wightwick Manor, West Midlands
NT 1287891
Summary
Watercolour on paper, Pomona by Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones (Birmingham 1833 - London 1898), circa 1884. A watercolour tapestry design of central maiden holding apples in her skirt in one hand, in the other apple tree branch, against background of scrolling foliage and carnations, grape border, by William Morris. Latin inscribed scroll top and bottom. The tapestry is in a Private Collection and was exhibited at 2 Temple Place, London, October 2011 - January 2012.
Full description
This is a design for a Morris and Company tapestry woven in 1885 and now in the Whitworth Art Gallery. The figure is by Burne-Jones (he was paid £25 for it in December 1882) and the background by Morris, an example of the collaboration between artists typical of the Morris firm. The watercolour was probably painted in the Morris workshops, but not by either Morris or Burne-Jones themselves. The inscription is unintelligible, but the tapestry has the lines: "I am the ancient apple-queen As once I was so am I now For evermore as a hope unseen Between the blossom and the bough. Ah where's the river's hidden Gold, and where the windy grove Of Troy, once come I as I came of Old from out the heart of Summer's joy."
Provenance
H. Burg, from whom purchased by the National Trust 1943
Credit line
Wightwick Manor (National Trust)
Marks and inscriptions
I am the ancient apple Queen-as once I was so am I mow,for evermore a hope unseen,between the blossom and the bough once come I as I came of old from out the heart of summers joy'.
Makers and roles
Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones (Birmingham 1833 - London 1898) , artist
References
Bell 1892 & 1898 Malcolm Bell, Edward Burne-Jones: A Record and Review, 1892, 4th ed., 1898, 1898, p.91 William Morris, Victoria and Albert Museum, exh. cat. (Linda Parry ed.), 1996, p. 291