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Jane Morris (née Burden)

(1839-1914), Embroiderer and artist's model; wife of William Morris

Sitter associated with 31 portraits
In 1857, Burden was spotted by artists Dante Gabriel Rossetti and Edward Burne-Jones in Oxford, and was sought by them as a model. She sat initially for Rossetti and then for William Morris. The two became engaged and married in 1859. Burden was privately educated and recreated herself from the daughter of a stablehand into a lady. She was an accomplished embroiderer and worked with her husband in their furnishings business, embroidering items that he designed. In the late 1860s, Jane began a romantic liaison with Rossetti that lasted until 1876. She was the model for some of his most famous paintings, and her striking appearance provided him with inspiration for over twenty years.

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