Jane Burden
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Jane Burden (October 19, 1839 – January 26, 1914) was the embodiment of the Pre-Raphaelite ideal of beauty. She became the wife of William Morris and the inspiration, and possibly mistress, of Dante Gabriel Rossetti.
She was born in Oxford. At the time of her birth, her father, Robert Burden, was a stableman and lived with his wife (Jane's mother), Ann Burden (formerly Maizey) at St. Helen's Passages, St. Peter in the East, Oxford. Jane's mother, who was illiterate, probably came to Oxford as a domestic servant. Little is known about Jane's childhood but it was clearly one of poverty and deprivation.
In October 1857, Jane and her sister Elizabeth (known in the family as Bessie) were attending a performance in Oxford of the Drury Lane Theatre Company. Jane was noticed by the artists Dante Gabriel Rossetti and Edward Burne-Jones who were part of a group of artists painting murals in the Oxford Union based on Arthurian tales. Struck by Jane's beauty, they sought her to model for them. Jane initially sat mainly for Rossetti, who needed a model for Queen Guinivere. After this, Jane sat to Morris, who was working on an easel painting, La Belle Iseult (Tate Gallery). During this period, Morris fell in love with Jane and they were engaged.
Jane's education was extremely limited and she was probably intended to go into domestic service. After her engagement, Jane was privately educated. Her keen intelligence allowed her essentially to re-create herself. She was a voracious reader and became proficient in French and later Italian. She also became an accomplished pianist with a strong background in classical music. Her manners and speech became refined to an extent that contemporaries referred to her as "Queenly." Later in life, she would have no trouble moving in upper class circles and she appears to have been the model for Mrs Higgins in Bernard Shaw's play Pygmalion (1914).
She married William Morris at St. Michael's Church, Oxford, on April 26, 1859. Her father was at that time described as a groom, in stables at 65 Holywell Street, Oxford.
Jane Burden and William Morris lived firstly at the Red House in Bexleyheath, Kent. While at there, they had two daughters, Jane Alice (Jenny), born January 1861, and Mary (May) (March 1862 – 1938), who was the editor of her father's works. They then lived for many years at Kelmscott Manor, on the Oxfordshire-Wiltshire borders, which is now open to the public. Jane became closely attached to Rossetti and, in addition to being his muse, may have been his lover.
In 1884, Jane met the poet and political activist Wilfrid Scawen Blunt at a house party given by her close friend Rosalind Howard (later Countess of Carlisle). There appears to have been an immediate attraction between the two. By 1887 at the latest, the pair had become lovers.[1] Their sexual relationship would continue until 1894, and they remained close friends until Jane's death.
Jane Morris was an ardent supporter of Irish Home Rule.
William Morris died on 3 October 1896 at Kelmscott House, Hammersmith, London. Jane died on 26 January 1914 while staying at 5 Brock Street, Bath.
[edit] Additional images
Paintings of Jane Morris by Dante Gabriel Rossetti:
[edit] Notes
- ^ Mancoff, p.98
Possibly based on Jane Burden(Morris)/"Venus Verticordia" - oil - 1863-8. Russell-Cotes Art Gallery, Bournemouth
[edit] References
- Marsh, Jan (1986). Jane and May Morris: A Biographical Story 1839-1938. London: Pandora Press. ISBN 0-86358-026-2.
- Marsh, Jan (2000). Jane and May Morris: A Biographical Story 1839-1938, (updated edition, privately published by author), London: Jan Marsh.
- Mancoff, Debra N. (2000). Jane Morris: The Pre-Raphaelite Model of Beauty. San Francisco: Pomegranate. ISBN 0-7649-1337-9.
