Portrait of Maria Zambaco - Burne-Jones or Charles Fairfax Murray

Framed print of Maria Zambaco. Original drawing details below.  

Reference: Birmingham City Museum and Art Gallery

This drawing, most probably of Maria Zambaco due to the inscription on the reverse, may not be by Burne-Jones, but rather by his studio assistant, Charles Fairfax Murray. In 1872, Zambaco left London to stay in Paris for a while, during which time both Burne-Jones and Murray had visited her (see letters in Harry R Ransom Humanities Research Center, University of Texas at Austin). On a number of occasions Burne-Jones had asked Murray to make images both of and for Zambaco. This may be one of them, especially since it bears no likeness to any other drawings extant by Burne-Jones of Zambaco, neither at this time, before or after. It has been dated as 1872 because Zambaco was in Paris during the late spring through the summer, and returned to London in the autumn.