Adoration of the Magi

This watercolor is the design for a tapestry, originally produced for the chapel of Exeter College in Oxford in 1888. The drawing portrays the Holy Family, an angel holding the Star of Bethlehem, and the Three Kings bearing gifts for the Christ Child. The figures fill the composition like a sculptural frieze in a clear arrangement that the weavers of the tapestry could follow. This small watercolor, showing the full design, would have been used by Morris & Co. to attract patrons. The Adoration tapestry was produced eight times, and this design was later used in stained glass as well (2022).