Cinderella Panel

Designerdesigned by Edward Burne-Jones (British, 1833 - 1898)

Illustrator Lucy Faulkner (British, 1839 - 1910)

Maker Morris and Company (British, 1861 - 1940)

Collections

William Morris Collection

ClassificationsDECORATIVE ARTS

Date1862-1865

Mediumoverglaze polychrome decoration on tin-glazed earthenware Dutch blanks; ebonized oak frame

Dimensions28 1/2 x 55 3/4 x 2 3/8 in. (71.8 x 141.6 x 6 cm.)

DescriptionSix panels, each of two tiles, illustrate scenes from the fairytale of Cinderella. Each panel has a daisy border, with an echo of this on the black frame in the form of a row of daisies along the top. The six scenes are in two rows of three with the top row illustrating the sisters preparing for the ball; Cinderella weeping in the kitchen at left, with the Fairy Godmother entering through a door at the right; Cinderella meeting the Prince at the ball. The bottom row shows the Prince running after Cinderella, as she leaves her shoe behind; a herald proclaiming the Prince's search for the owner of the slipper; Cinderella's foot fitting the shoe

Signedat right on l.l. panel "LF"

Credit LineThe Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens

Label TextMorris first became interested in producing ceramic tiles when he included them in the decorative scheme for Red House in the early 1860s. Most of the firm's tiles were used as either decorative panels for furniture or as wall decoration. In 1862, the firm received a commission from the painter Myles Birket Foster (1825-1899) to decorate his new Tudor-style house at Witley in Surrey. The commission included several pieces of furniture, stained glass, wallpaper, and this overmantel illustrating the story of Cinderella along with two other tile panels of fairy tale narratives. Because tile production was a novelty with the firm at this point, the tile patterns are sometimes blurred, and the figures, though charming, are slightly crude. The firm would continue to produce and retail patterned tiles, but the ceramics sold by their shop in Oxford Street were largely supplied by William De Morgan and tiles imported from the Netherlands.

Status

On view

Object number2000.5.1872