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Mars, a female knight sitting on a female Wolf nearing sunrise
and Sol, seated on a cloud at sunset, in front of a lion.
SIZE: MARS 1'10" x 3'7" SOL 1'10" x 3' 8.5" (Largest of the set)
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The SOL panen is offered for sale. MARS is now at LACMA - Los Angeles County Museum of Art,
Sir Edward Burne-Jones and his friend WIlliam Morris taken about 3 years before the Woodlands set was completed.
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These panels were documented in the A. Charles Sewter books,
THE STAINED GLASS OF WILLIAM MORRIS AND HIS CIRCLE.
On page 208 of the catalogue, under the heading of WOODLANDS (?)
is the following information.
| 1879 |
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FINAL DISPOSITION of Original Nine (9) |
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Venus (BJ 341)
Luna (BJ 345)
Morning Star (BJ343)
Evening Star (BJ 342)
Saturn (BJ 344)
Mars (BJ 346)
Earth (BJ 355)
Jupiter (BJ 354)
Sol (BJ 353)
[Sol is a variant on Burne-Jones'
Apollo cartoon]
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Gabreal Franklin Collection
Sol
(BJ 353) -Painted by Bowman
Mars
(BJ 346) -Painted by Egan
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| Jimmy Page Collection |
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Luna
(BJ 345) -Painted by Fletcher
Venus
(BJ 341) -Painted by Bowman
Evening Star (BJ 342) -Painted
by Bowman
Morning Star (BJ 343) -Painted by Egan
Jupiter
(BJ 354) -Painted by Fletcher
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Sadly, I did not find any hint of the
other missing two at the time,
now nearly forty years ago.
They remain missing, Unfortunately, I
fear permanently.
MISSING
Saturn (BJ 344)
Earth (BJ 355) |
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There are 3 relevant entries in Burne-Jones Account Book: (i)
dated 18 August 1878:
| (i) dated 18 August 1878: |
"1st four figures of Planets Pound 15 ea. viz. Venus, Luna, Morning
and Evening stars. Pound 60;"
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| (ii) dates 22 August 1878: |
"2 more, namely Saturn and Mars" (ed: This
design has a 'Birthdate!'
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| (iii) dated 1 November 1878: |
"Figures of Earth, Jupiter and Apollo Pound 45"
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Each entry in marginally annotated
in another hand 'Woodlands' |
This list does not quite correspond with the deatils given in the Catalogue
of Designs, having 'Apollo' instead of 'Sol'. It is possible that
this was merely a mistake on Burne-Jones part, and that the cartoon here
described as Apollo may have been used for Sol. (ed.
Mr. Sewter had not seen the panels on the left!)
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But Marillier's Index of subjects in fact includes an Apollo (BJ 360)
as well as 3 different cartoons for Venus (BJ 363), Saturn (BJ 366), and
Mars (BJ 362), which were apparently not the designs for the Woodland window,
and are otherwise un accounted for.
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The cartoon for Mars, subsequently worked on in watercolour
but left unfinished, is in BIRMINGHAM CITY ART GALLERY (20'98) |
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THE FRANKLIN COLLECTION WILL APPRECIATE ANY ASSISTANCE IN LOCATING
A PHOTO OF
BOTH THE SATURN (BJ344) AND EARTH (BJ 355) CARTOONS. |
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Two panels by William Morris Company, designed by Sir
Edward
Burne-Jones purchased as a set of 7 by The Franklin Collection.
The other 5 panels went to Jimmy Page, of LED ZEPPLIN,
owner of one of William Morris' former homes. In 2008, the 5 PAGE Panels were sold at auction in the finest Pre Raphaelite collection ever offered for sale, arranged by Mr. Paul Reeves of London.
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Panels found by Franklin in the late 1970's were:
Venus, Morning Star, Evening Star, Luna, Jupiter and the 2 best ones
he kept, Mars and Sol.
The whereabouts of the remaining two pieces (if they still exist) remains
an on going mystery. |
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Visualization of original Woodlands set, not accounting for MISSING
- EARTH and SATURN panels. Current speculation is EARTH was same size as
MARS and was on left of SOL [Center] between JUPITER and SOL, and
SATURN was right from center, between Mars and Venus, same size as JUPITER.
[See Possible Saturn Cartoon below] <<CLICK image above for
larger view>> |
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| Variant SOL Sketch by Sir Edward Burne Jones |
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SATURN Cartoon -
Likely to be very similar to one of the two (2) missing panels. |
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Subjects are (Above) Listed in the
SEUTER BOOKS as a FEMALE Character,
MARS, in armour sitting on a Female Wolf in the
night sky.
Listed in the same set, SOL, seated on a cloud,
next to a lion, over a glorious sunset landscape.
The set was nine (9) panels. an Astrological
Theme.
Listed as "Whereabouts Unknown" until discovered
by Gabreal Franklin in England.
Torre Abbey, Pictured around the turn of the Century.
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The pencil and coloured crayon sketches of "The Planets" are preparatory
studies for a set of stained glass windows designed in 1878 for Angus Holden,
several times Mayor of Bradford and later Member of Parliament for Bradford
East. Holden commissioned the windows for his family home, a large Victorian
mansion called Woodlands on the outskirts of Bradford which he had built
in 1866. They were supplied by Morris and Co. in 1879. A publication of
1885 refers to:
"... the music room, added to the north-east end of Woodlands some
years after the original construction was finished ... includes a large
window containing in its upper compartment nine stained glass figures,
the work of the celebrated artist Burne-Jones".
Each entry is marginally annotated in another hand "Woodlands". Of the
nine designs made for the window, Torre Abbey possesses seven of the studies.
The study for 'Mars' is in the collection of the Birmingham City Art Gallery
and Museum while that for "Morning Star' is at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford.
The title of "Sol" was evidently a later substitution for the original
title of "Apollo".
The Holden family left Woodlands around 1890 and moved to Nun Appleton
Hall, near York. Woodlands was demolished in 1899 but it is not known
if the Burne-Jones windows were still in the house at the time or if the
Holdens had them transferred to Nun Appleton. In any case, a large
part of Nun Appleton Hall was itself demolished in 1920 and no trace of
the windows has survived.
The design of several of the figures, notably 'Saturn', 'Venus' and
'Sol' are based on Burne-Jones' earlier works entitled 'The Seasons', painted
between 1869 and 1871.
In 1996, the Friends of Torre Abbey, to mark the 800th Anniversary of
the founding of the Abbey, commissioned a stained glass window based on
the drawing of 'Earth'.
This information was kindly sent from Dr. Michael Rhodes, Head
of Museum Services, Torre Abbey, U.K. April 7, 2008.
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