Lot 18: Elizabeth Siddal (1829-1862)

Description: Elizabeth Siddal (1829-1862)
The Descent from the Cross
pen and black ink and brown wash, on paper
7¾ x 5½ in. (19.7 x 14.0 cm.)

Notes: This is almost certainly the design listed in William Michael Rossetti's article of 1903 and again in the 1991 exhibition catalogue. It is described there as 'known only from photographic portfolio', although it had been exhibited by the Arts Council as recently as 1964.

Provenance: Dante Gabriel Rossetti.
William Michael Rossetti and by descent in his family to the present owner.

Exhibited: London, Arts Council, Ruskin and his Circle, 1964, no. 248.

Literature: William Michael Rossetti, 'Dante Rossetti and Elizabeth Siddal', Burlington Magazine, vol. I, no. 3, May 1903, p. 295.
Elizabeth Siddal: Pre-Raphaelite Artist, exh. The Ruskin Gallery, Sheffield, 1991, cat. p. 54, listed as no. 21.