Morris & Co were commissioned in 1874 by the Bishop of Calcutta, Robert Milman, to make ten designs for the west windows of St Paul’s Cathedral in Calcutta to commemorate the death of Lord Mayo with Burne-Jones as the principal designer. It is thought that the commission followed a recommendation from John Lockwood Kipling, Burne-Jones’s brother-in-law. The figure of a woman in armour, holding a crown and a sword symbolises 'Justice'. The design was reused several times, including windows at St Stephen's at Gateacre in Lancashire in 1883, the Albion Congregational Church in Ashton-Under-Lyne in 1893 and again for the church of St Andrew and St Paul in Montreal in 1903.
Justice was a subject Burne-Jones depicted many times in stained glass window designs for Marshall, Morris, Faulkner & Co. Often taking very different compositions and poses, he explored the subject in relation to those it would sit alongside. The present drawing is a study for the west windows of St Paul’s Cathedral, Kolkata. Morris & Co. were commissioned in 1873 by the Bishop of Calcutta, Robert Milman, to design the west window of St Paul’s as a memorial to the 6th Earl Mayo, Viceroy of India, who died in 1872. It seems likely that Burne-Jones was recommended as the designer by his brother-in-law, John Lockwood Kipling, who was heavily involved in the world of art in India. A full-scale cartoon of the same figure, fully draped, was sold in these Rooms, 25 May 2023, lot 126. This design for Justice, as a woman in armour holding a crown and a sword, was reused by Morris & Co. several times, including for windows at St Stephen's at Gateacre in Lancashire in 1883, the Albion Congregational Church in Ashton-Under-Lyne in 1893 and for the church of St Andrew and St Paul in Montreal in 1903.