Hand-knotted Hammersmith rug with stylised floral border enclosing a central panel of scrolling flowers and leaves. A version was exhibited at the 1899 Arts & Crafts exhibition and another commissioned from Morris’s friend by A.A. Ionedes, for his house at 1 Holland Park, London. Another example is in the Museum of Applied Arts, Budapest. The border design of ‘Little Tree’ also features on a number of other carpet designs made by Morris & Co.
This rug was given to the Gallery by Martha Wooldridge, (1863-1958) a classical dancer who purchased it around 1898 for her home, the Arts & Crafts House called ‘Wavertree’ in St Margarets, Twickenham, which she shared with the radical preacher Stewart Headlam.
