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

Mrs Margaret McKail (nee Burne-Jones), the artist's daughter;
Purchased from Louis Meier, London c.1954

The first set of Holy Grail Tapestries, designed by Burne-Jones, were woven at Merton Abbey by Morris & Co following a visit by William Morris to Stanmore Hall in Middlesex in December 1888.  Stanmore Hall was the country residence of William Knox D'Arcy, a wealthy Australian mining and oil magnate, built in the neo-Gothic style.  The series of tapestries decorated D'Arcy's dining room and depict Arthurian legends from the Morte d'Arthur. The present study relates to the figure of Sir Gawaine in the panel depicting The Failure of Sir Gawaine in which Sir Gawaine, on horseback, is prevented from taking the Holy Grail by an angel who bars the doorway to the chapel that houses it.