DescriptionThe artist identified the subject on a label attached to the original frame: "Beware of her fair hair, for she excells [sic]/ All women in the magic of her locks,/ And when she twines them round a young man's neck/ she will not ever set him free again." These lines are taken from Shelley's translation of the Walpurgisnacht scene in Goethe's "Faust." Here, as in Rosetti's other drawings and paintings of Lady Lilith, the artist's mistress, Fanny Cornforth, served as the model.

Signatures, Inscriptions, and MarkingsMarks: Monogram and date
Inscriptions: [in ink on a label at the back of the frame, in Rossetti's handwriting]: Lady Lilith. Watercolor. D.G. Rossetti 1867. / "Beware of her hair, for she excells (sic) / All women in the magic of her locks / And when she twines them round a young man's neck / She will not ever set him free again."

ProvenanceWilliam Coltart (British, ca. 1820 - 1903), by 1886; R. E. Tatham (British, d. ca. 1907), sold by his estate in 1908; Christie's, London , March 7, 1908, no. 81(bought by Thomas Agnew & Son, Ltd.); Thomas Agnew & Sons, Ltd., London; Dealer: Roger Eliot Fry (British, Highgate, Middlesex 1866 - 1934 London)