According the British art scholars Allan Staley and Scott Wilcox, this sheet of studies depicting two hands is not by Burne-Jones, to whom it was given while in the McCrindle collection (email correspondence with Allan Staley, 13 October 2009; meeting with Scott Wilcox , 23 October 2009). According to Staley, the use of color in the drawing is uncharacteristic of Burne-Jones, as is the overall academically polished style. Nevertheless, the drawings may well be a yet unidentified 19th century British artist. Works cited: T. Martin Wood, Drawings of Sir Edward Burne-Jones (London: George Newnes Ltd; New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1907).
McCrindle, Joseph F., former owner.