Edward Burne-Jones/William Morris: Verdure with Deer and Shields

detail from the Holy Grail Tapestries

The Holy Grail tapestries are a set of six tapestries depicting scenes from the legend of King Arthur and the quest for the Holy Grail. The tapestries were commissioned from Morris & Co. by William Knox D'Arcy in 1890 for his dining room at Stanmore Hall, outside London. Additional versions of the tapestries with minor variations were woven on commission by Morris & Co over the next decade.

The six original tapestries illustrate the story of the Grail quest as told in Sir Thomas Malory's Morte d'Arthur. Like other Morris & Co. tapestries, the Holy Grail sequence was a group effort, with overall composition and figures designed by Edward Burne-Jones, heraldry by William Morris, and foreground florals and backgrounds by John Henry Dearle. The narrative panels were accompanied by smaller verdure or woodland panels featuring deer, the knights' shields hung on trees, and text telling the story of the panel hung above. The sequence was worked over a period of five years, from 1891 to 1894, at Merton Abbey.

the above text appears on the back of the card
HC-1230: card size 7" x 5" (178mm x 127mm)