One of eleven preparatory drawings for illustrations to the Kelmscott edition of Chaucer published at Hammersmith in 1896.
In the six illustrations to the short poem "The Parlement of Foules," Burne-Jones drew only a few of the many birds cited, concentrating on the subjects described in the dream of Scipio. The drawing for one of these (p. 316) is an instructive reworking Edward Burne-Jones, The Parlement of Foules: Cupids Forge, ca. 1892-95. Pencil, 5^8 x 6V2 in. (13 x 16.6 cm). Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge (1050-48) of the 1861 watercolor Cupid's Forge (private collection). Under a tree, besyde a welle, I say Cupyde our lord his arwes forge and fyle; And at his fete his bowe al redy lay, And wel his doghter temperd al the whyle In place of the soulful Rossettian figures, Cupid and his imag- ined "daughter" are given the linear animation of Burne- Jones's mature decorative style. As Sydney Cockerell's inscription records, the second drawing (reproduced here) is one of the rare designs not taken up, possibly in deference to the well-known livelier treatment of dancing girls drawn for the Romaunt of the Rose (p. 257). Ever loath to abandon a good design, Burne-Jones turned this into an independent drawing in gold on a blue ground (see cat. no. 168).