FAIR JEHANE OF CASTEL BEAU WORE HER WREATH TILL IT WAS DEAD. An original illustration for 'Golden Wings' from 'Early Poems of William Morris'.

An original painting rendered in watercolour, ink and pencil showing a woman in medieval dress and a floral garland standing amongst flowers in front of a castle. Signed to the bottom right corner. In fine condition, the colour bright and fresh. The painting measures 20 x 29.5 cm. In a later Arts and Crafts style gilt frame (measuring 35 x 45 cm).

A beautiful painting, depicting a scene from 'Golden Wings', a poem by William Morris, which tells the tragic tale of a lovelorn maiden set against the backdrop of an idyllic medieval castle. The painting was published in 1914 as one of sixteen tipped in colour plates in 'Early Poems of William Morris' by Blackie and Son. The marriage of the classic Edwardian gift book style and Pre-Raphaelite sensibilities of the illustration provide a perfect accompaniment to William Morris' work. Florence Susan Harrison (1877-1955) was born in Australia onboard a ship which was carrying emigrants from the UK to Brisbane, of which her father was the captain. She spent most of her life living in Britain, where she started her career by writing and illustrating her own volumes of children's poetry. The merit of these early works led to regular commissions from Blackie and Son, for whom she illustrated many children's nursery rhyme and fairy tale books; poetry gift books of the works of Christina Rosetti, William Morris and Alfred, Lord Tennyson; children's annuals and volumes of her own poetry. Her work displays an influence from the Pre-Raphaelite and Art Nouveau movements, often featuring rich, jewel-like colours and bold, sweeping lines. In later life Harrison converted to Catholicism and became close friends with the Irish writer Enid Dennis, for whom she regularly provided illustrations which were published in the Catholic magazine 'The Sign'. After her death Harrison suffered from a case of mistaken identity at the hands of the art and book community; it was commonly stated that she was an artist named Emma Florence Harrison who is recorded as having exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1887, about whom very little was known. It was not until the early 2000s when Mary Jacobs, a great admirer of Harrison's work, publicly set out to uncover the mystery of Harrison's life and was subsequently contacted by the artist's great niece that it was finally revealed that Florence Susan Harrison was in fact the illustrator known for the beautiful work published by Blackie, and that Emma Florence Harrison was an entirely different person.