John Henry Dearle joined Morris’s employment in 1878 as an assistant in the Oxford Street showroom of Morris & Co., before being transferred to the glass painters’ studio and becoming an apprentice tapestry weaver. He eventually went on to become Art Director of Morris & Co. upon Morris’s death in 1896. After many years of training alongside Morris, Dearle began creating distinctive patterns in his own right. ‘Daffodil’ is one of his most successful early patterns. It combines the strong diagonal repeats favoured by Morris with attractive floral motifs. ‘Daffodil’ was extremely commercially popular and was used in many interiors designed by Morris & Co.
This design was for a printed cotton which was to be created using woodblocks. To the right of the image there is an instruction to the blockmaker. The William Morris Gallery also holds 10 woodblocks for the design.
