MORRIS, MARSHALL, FAULKNER & CO., to a design by Edward Burne-Jones

tin-glazed Dutch blanks, polychrome decoration in overglaze enamel

The scenes depict:
I: Cinderella helping her step-mother and step-sisters to prepare for the ball
II: In tears, she is found by her fairy godmother, who transforms her clothes into a gown and gives her glass slippers for the ball, warning her not to stay beyond midnight
III: Unrecognised by the assembled company, Cinderella dances with the Prince
IV: As the clock strikes midnight she runs off, losing one of the slippers, which is picked up by the Prince
V: The Prince's herald announces that his master will wed the slipper's owner
VI: The slipper fits Cinderella and she pulls the matching shoe from her pocket
VII: Wedding scene (originally designed for the related 'Sleeping Beauty' series)  

Richard and Hilary Myers, William Morris Tiles: the Tile Designs of Morris and his Fellow Workers, Somerset, 1996

A rare set of unmounted tiles depicting the fairytale Cinderella. Two tiles form a scene as is shown in the catalogue illustration. Minor old surface scratches and hairline cracks, consistent with age and material. The edges show chipped glaze, again consistent with age and material. Tile no 2 of scene II with a 2 cm. chip to the lower edge. Tile 2 of scene V with a 1.5cm chip. Tile 2 of scene VII has been broken diagonally from left to right and with an old cruse restoration. The tiles would benefit from a general cleaning. In honest condition. This rare set is ready for display. Richard and Hilary Myers, authors of 'William Morris Tiles', have examined the lot and comment: ""Over the tin-glazed Dutch blanks a layer of 'soft glaze of the firm's own composition' appears to have been applied. The tiles of the current lot all appear to have been decorated for a single commission, and there is some evidence (from the characteristics of adhesive remaining on the reverse of some tiles) that they may later have been bought back by the Morris firm, mounted in wooden frames and resold to a collector. This practice is documented and many of the tiles loaned by the firm and its customers to the 1934 Centenary of William Morris Exhibition are examples of its occurrence.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Only a handful of sets of 'Cinderella' tiles are known to have survived. The Morris firm's products came to the attention of the artist Myles Birket Foster at the 1862 International Exhibition. Birket Foster commissioned the original set of six Cinderella designs for a bedroom overmantel in his house The Hill at Witley, Surrey, with two pairs of complementary vertical panels flanking the grate itself. Burne-Jones completed these by September 1862, followed by the 'Sleeping Beauty' and 'Beauty and the Beast' for two more bedrooms in 1863 and 1864.

Later, Morris's clients would sometimes select different combinations of scenes when ordering tiles, and the inclusion of the final two tiles depicting the Wedding scene from the 'Sleeping Beauty' has been used with both 'Beauty and the Beast' and here with 'Cinderella'. Importantly, the tile from the current lot all appear to have been decorated for a single commission.

At the current time only three sets of the Cinderella series are documented. Those produced for The Hill are now in the collection of the Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool and another set is in the Sandford & Helen Berger Collection now in the Huntington Library, California. A set also featuring the final wedding scene, comprised of tiles decorated over an extended period, was sold at Christie's London, 12 May 1999, lot 227. The current lot is a fourth, previously unrecorded, set.

We would like to thank Richard and Hilary Myers for their assistance with cataloguing this lot.