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

Two of these studies (both on the left of each frame) relate to the figure at the top of the stairs, holding a flageolet and bearing the features of Burne-Jones’ beloved daughter Margaret. The other two studies were made for the figure of the girl seen in the doorway and for the drapery of girl at the bottom of the stairs holding a long silver horn-pipe. In the finished painting, the latter figure was painted from Mary Gladstone, daughter of the leader of the Liberal party and future Prime Minister.