Edward Burne-Jones - A Study for 'King Cophetua and the Beggar Maid'

This long-lost drawing is a study for one of the two singing in King Cophetua and the Beggar Maid (Tate Gallery), exhibited at the Grosvenor Gallery in 1884 when it was generally acknowledged to be the artist's most important work to date. The model was Philip Comyns Carr, the seven-year-old son of Joseph Comyns Carr, one of the directors of the Grosvenor and a close friend of Burne-Jones. In 1883 the boy also sat to Burne-Jones for a formal portrait (private collection) which was shown at the Grosvenor that year.

Although the drawing is dedicated to the sitter's father, his mother. Alice Comyns Carr, mentions it in her Remininiscences as having been given to her. 'Not long after this Burne-Jones asked [Phil] to pose as one of the pageboys in his 'King Cophetua and the Beggar-maid', which now hangs in the Tate Gallery. It was characteristic of the painter's kindliness that when he had finished his picture he sent me the original drawing of the boy's head.'

signed with initials, inscribed and dated 'E.B.J./1882/to/J.C.C.';
black chalk heightened white on grey paper