Personifications of the seasons were a popular subject for the Pre-Raphaelites and the artists of the Aesthetic movement, as they had been for the quattrocento artists who inspired them. Usually depicted as beautiful women, as here, the figures hold attributes and are placed in settings which identify their subjects. Stylistically the present group relate to The Garland, a series of six watercolours painted by Edward Burne-Jones in 1867, based on his designs for stained glass in the Green Dining Room at the South Kensington Museum, one of which was sold in these Rooms, 4 September 2014, lot 45. We are grateful to John Christian for attributing these drawings to Charles Fairfax Murray in January 2016.
This painting of an unidentified female subject may relate to the decorative panels Fairfax Murray painted for the Green Dining Room at the South Kensington Museum (now the V&A). The room was one of the first major commissions for Morris, Marshall & Faulkner & Co.. The initial panel designs were drawn by Burne-Jones but executed by several different painters. However, Morris was unhappy with the resulting variety and had all the panels repainted by Charles Fairfax Murray. A similar painting from the series was sold in An Aesthetic Odyssey: The Peter Rose and Albert Gallichan Collection; Christie's, London, 30 September 2021, lot 56 for £10,625.
Originally this panel was most likely to have been incorporated into a piece of furniture by Collinson and Lock c.1875 as one of The Seasons. Murray worked, supplying single figure panels for Collinson and Lock, from c.1874 to c.1878. In 1874 he supplied a set of the Seasons see "Collinson & Lock"" by Clive Edwards, (pub. 2022) p 109.