This exhibition explores the relationship between William Morris and Thomas Wardle and their experimentation with natural dyes and printing techniques and how their interest in colour led them to the textiles of India.

Thomas Wardle, who lived from 1831 to 1909, owned a family silk dyeing business and in 1897 Queen Victoria gave him a knighthood for his services to the silk industry. His collaboration with William Morris, famously known as leader of the Arts and Crafts Movement, flourished into a friendship that lasted until Morris’ death in 1896