About William Morris

William Morris (1834-1896) was a revolutionary designer, craftsman, writer, social activist, and conservationist, who introduced a new and instantly recognisable visual aesthetic into British interiors. Morris pioneered a new and refreshing approach to design and manufacture, championing hand craftsmanship during a time in British history when industrial mass-production was at its peak. From furniture to stained glass and textiles, Morris’s designs have been continuously produced ever since.

No single individual in Britain has had such a lasting impact on the history of British design.

Early Years

Born in Walthamstow, Morris moved to Water House, (the building now home to the William Morris Gallery) in 1848 when he was 14, after the death of his father, a wealthy city financier. Morris went on to attend Oxford University where he developed a fascination with the past, escaping into the world of medieval history and poetry. He shared these passions with a close group of male companions, including his best friend, Edward Burne-Jones (1833–1898). Morris and Burne-Jones were deeply influenced by John Ruskin, art historian and philosopher, and his book The Stones of Venice (1853). In a chapter titled ‘The Nature of Gothic’ Ruskin rejected what he saw as the moral bankruptcy of Victorian art and society, and called for a return to the values of the medieval age. Ruskin’s views resonated with Morris’s rebellious nature and appreciation of the past, contributing to his lifelong belief in the transformative power of art.

Artistic Development: The Pre-Raphaelites and Red House

After University, Morris began an apprenticeship with the Neo-Gothic architect George Edmund Street. Growing tired of architecture, Morris abandoned his apprenticeship and, encouraged by the Pre-Raphaelite artist Dante Gabriel Rosetti (1828-1882), took up painting. Morris aided Rossetti and Burne-Jones in painting the Arthurian murals at Oxford University.

It was during this period that Morris met his future wife, Jane Burden, whom he married in 1859. Soon after, Morris called on his close friend and supervisor from his apprenticeship, Phillip Webb, to design a home for him and Jane. Morris and Webb worked together to design Red House, a medieval inspired home in Bexleyheath that was described by Burne-Jones as “the beautifullest place on earth.” The design of Red House set in motion Morris’s decision to open a decorating firm.

Morris & Co

In April 1861, Morris founded Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Co., with six partners: Burne-Jones, Rossetti, Webb, Ford Madox Brown, Charles Faulkner, and Peter Paul Marshall. After experiencing initial success, the Firm saw a severe drop in profits due to an economic recession in the late 1860s. As Morris worked hard in the 1870s to develop a more diverse range of products that would appeal to a wider customer base, business began to improve. Hand-printed textiles and comprehensive interior design schemes were sold to rich clients while a range of cheaper products were made for the less well off, such as embroidery kits and simple furniture like the Sussex rush-seated chair based on a traditional country design.

With Morris at the helm, it wasn’t long before he took sole direction of The Firm in 1864, which was renamed Morris & Co. Over the next twenty years, Morris expanded the business, opening an Oxford Street shop and showroom in 1877, a shop in Manchester, and agents across Europe, Australia, Canada and The United States. In 1881, Morris relocated production from Red Lion Square to the former silk-weaving sheds at Merton Abbey, south west London. The new workshops were vastly larger and enabled The Firm to expand into new products and techniques such as tapestry, carpet weaving and natural dyeing of yarns.

International Acclaim

Morris has often been described as a founder of the Arts and Crafts Movement, the most significant art movement in Britain from the 1880s to the end of the First World War.

William Morris’s ideas about the relationship between art and society directly inspired the Arts and Crafts movement which centred on quality, beauty and accessibility. His influence on design has also been felt internationally, inspiring artistic movements in The United States (1890-1916), Europe and Scandinavia (1880-1914) and the Mingei movement in Japan (1926-1945). Key moments in British design history take inspiration from Morris’s legacy, from the Festival of Britain in 1951, to the contemporary resurgence of interest in environmentally-sustainable design.

Morris’s unwavering emphasis on beauty and functionality, on democratic access to good design and his criticism of waste and over-production, continue to shape schools of thought today.

Political Impact

Morris is distinct for the incredible breadth of his activities and the largeness of his vision.

Beyond the field of design, Morris continues to have a wide impact on British cultural life, influencing ideas about social reform, conservation and what it means to live a fulfilling life. For Morris, his art, politics and literature were inextricably linked in his struggle against the industrial age. A leading figure in the early socialist movement, Morris made a lasting contribution to utopian thought through his fiction News from Nowhere which remains in print today. He was also an early contributor to the field of conservation, founding the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings that continues to thrive and has a wide educational reach. Morris’ cultural significance can only be truly understood by considering the entire range of his activity.

William Morris In 5 Objects

Portrait of William Morris (c.1870) Charles Fairfax Murray

Design for African Marigold printed cotton

Design for African Marigold, 1876 William Morris

News From Nowhere: Or, An Epoch of Rest, Being Some Chapters from a Utopian Romance (1893) Kelmscott Press (1891-1898)

Strawberry Thief printed cotton (design registered in 1883). William Morris

William Morris’s Satchel

Portrait of William Morris (c.1870) Charles Fairfax Murray

This portrait of William Morris, painted when he was about 36 years old, was owned by his mother, Emma. It shows a typical Victorian gentleman, sombrely dressed, regarding the viewer with thoughtful eyes. Morris had a complicated relationship with his family, whose financial interests and social conservatism were in direct opposition to his own Socialist beliefs. Emma was bitterly upset when William decided against becoming a clergyman in order to follow a career in the arts. He was aware of her feelings of disappointment, writing to her that his four brothers “shall keep up the family honour in the World and perhaps even I myself shall not utterly disgrace it”. This portrait suggests that Emma was ultimately proud of her eldest surviving son, though preferred to think of him as an educated gentleman rather than a radical artist.

Design for African Marigold, 1876 William Morris

This design for printed cotton showcases Morris’s ability to seamlessly create flowing patterns that capture the spirit and vibrancy of the natural world. The dense, vigorous swirls in this design show Morris at the height of his powers as a textile designer. Can you see that alterations have been made and lines rubbed out? Morris drew, revised and coloured a pattern on a single sheet of paper, believing that a harmonious piece of work should be done in one attempt. This design was printed using woodblocks by Wardle & Co., who were based in the town of Leek, a centre of textile production at the time. In the mid-1870s Morris was deeply involved in producing textiles of all kinds. He experimented with vegetable dyes, commissioning carpets, and creating patterns for silk and cotton fabrics. His fascination with developing techniques led to some sleepless nights and in 1876 Morris wrote to his friend Aglaia Coronio, “I am drawing patterns so fast that last night I dreamt I had to draw a sausage; somehow I had to eat it first, which made me anxious about my digestion: however I have just done quite a pretty pattern for printed work.”

News From Nowhere: Or, An Epoch of Rest, Being Some Chapters from a Utopian Romance (1893) Kelmscott Press (1891-1898)

Morris's 'News From Nowhere' was first published in serial form in The Commonweal , January - October 1890. In 1891, it was reprinted in book form by Reeves and Turner. It was from this later edition with a few corrections that the text for the Kelmscott Press edition was set up. The illustrated frontispiece, designed by Charles March Gere, shows the entrance to Kelmscott Manor, Morris's country home on the Oxfordshire/Gloucestershire border near Lechlade, after which he named his house in Hammersmith and the Press itself. 300 copies printed on paper at 2 guineas, 10 on vellum at 10 guineas.

Strawberry Thief printed cotton (design registered in 1883). William Morris

The design for ‘Strawberry Thief’ was inspired by Morris’s observations of thrushes creeping under the strawberry nets in the Garden at Kelmscott Manor. It includes subtle shades of red, blue, yellow, green, orange, pink and white which stretched the indigo discharge process to its limits. Morris endured sleepless nights at his lodgings at Merton Abbey whilst the pattern was first being printed; the use of three separate dyes meant it took several days to complete. The complexity of the design and extraordinary use of colour meant that ‘Strawberry Thief’ was one Morris & Co.’s most expensive printed cottons.

William Morris’s Satchel

This satchel belonged to William Morris; he used it to carry books or manuscripts he was reading when commuting to his business in central London . His daughter May Morris, later wrote about how she remembered her father carrying this bag, describing how 'from the worn brown satchel used for parcel-carrying [he would] produce a modest-looking volume, sometimes protected by a velvet-lined case, sometimes bare, but inside! a fairy-story, a picture-gallery in little of mediaeval life.'

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