Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones, Bt., A.R.A., R.W.S.

Given by the artist to Sir George and Lady Elizabeth Lewis,
thence by descent to the present owner

The two pages and studies for The Golden Stairs relate to both of the sleeves of the girl playing a violin, half-way down the stairs (with the features of May Morris) and to the figure holding a cymbal, seventh from left whose face is obscured in the painting by the head of another musician. The beautiful folds of fabric are testament to Burne-Jones' careful attention to detail in the preparation of his paintings. The study on the reverse of one of the sheets depicting studies of a baby's head, is a study for the figure at the top of the stairs in The Golden Stairs, modelled by Margaret Burne-Jones.

The two pages of studies of a baby were made in preparation for Terra Omniparens the painted inside-lid of a piano decorated for Burne-Jones’ friend and patron William Graham. The lid depicts Mother Earth amid a grape-vine among which a throng of infants and baby-fauns are clambering.