Fanny Cornforth: study for "Found"

Dante Gabriel Rossetti

Date: c. 1859 - 1861 

Materials: Pen and black ink, with ink wash 

Rough suggestion 

Rossetti abandoned the painting 'Found' for several years, taking an interest in it again only in 1859 on the offer of a commission from the Newcastle collector James Leathart. The immediate results, however, seem to have been a number of studies in pen and ink of the heads of the man and woman, including this sheet.

The combination in this drawing of precise detail and rough suggestion is very appealing, and must reflect Rossetti's pleasure in having a new model.

Natural choice

Exactly when he met Fanny Cornforth is unclear, but the story of their encounter is plausible enough: walking in the Royal Surrey pleasure gardens with Brown and Burne-Jones, he was attracted by her magnificent golden hair.

Barely literate, rather coarse, but full of fun, she was a natural choice to model for the fallen woman in 'Found'; although she is known to have sat for Rossetti in early 1858, this would appear to be his earliest surviving drawing of her.