Garden Tulip wallpaper

Details

Date: designed 1896, printed before 1940
Object Type: wallpaper
Technique: block-printed
Catalogue number: B182
Manufacturer: Jeffrey & Co.
Designer: Dearle, John Henry (1859 - 1932)
Retailer: Morris & Co. Decorators Ltd, 449 Oxford Street, London

‘Compton’ was previously thought to have been William Morris’s last design for a wallpaper (and adapted as a pattern for fabric). This was confirmed by May Morris in her ‘Collected Works of William Morris’. However, following Linda Parry’s research it is thought to have in fact been designed by Morris & Co.’s Chief Designer Henry Dearle. Morris and Co. redesigned the residence of Laurence W. Hodson, Compton Hall near Wolverhampton in 1895-6, although Morris had a hand in some of the designs (this is confirmed in surviving letters), there is no evidence that he was sole designer for any of the house designs. Rather, he and Dearle worked together, sending designs back and forth and correcting each other’s work. The evidence to suggest this is in fact Dearle’s design, is further strengthened by its similarity to his other work, particularly ‘Leicester’ wallpaper. The original design is also in the Gallery’s collection, see A214. It was registered as a wallpaper and printed cotton on 27 February 1896.

Details

Date: designed 1896, printed before 1940
Object Type: wallpaper
Technique: block-printed
Catalogue number: B183
Manufacturer: Jeffrey & Co.
Designer: Dearle, John Henry (1859 - 1932)
Retailer: Morris & Co. Decorators Ltd, 449 Oxford Street, London
Credit notes: Presented by Mrs Edward Unwin, 1956

Details

Date: designed 1870, printed c.1950s-1980s
Object Type: wallpaper
Technique: block-printed in distemper
Catalogue number: B181
Designer: Morris, William, 1834, 1896
Manufacturer: Arthur Sanderson and Sons Ltd

This wallpaper, originaly designed by William Morris c.1870., was re-printed by Sandersons. Arthur Sanderson & Sons Ltd., acquired Morris & Co.’s original wallpaper printing blocks when they closed in 1940. A diaper is the term given to a diamond or square pattern. In his lecture Some Hints on Pattern Designing Morris said ‘…simple diapers, have been, and doubtless will always be used for external decoration of walls, and also for subsidiary decoration where the scale is large and where historical art plays the chief part.’

Details

Date: designed 1877, printed c.1960
Object Type: wallpaper
Technique: block-printed in distemper
Catalogue number: B174
Designer: Morris, William, 1834, 1896
Manufacturer: Arthur Sanderson and Sons Ltd

William Morris designed Chrysanthemum wallpaper in 1877, the original design is in the gallery’s collection (see A33). The pattern is an intricate design of pom-pom blooms and calligraphic foliage.

This version was printed by the firm Arthur Sanderson & Sons Ltd., who acquired the original wallpaper printing blocks from Morris & Co. when they closed in 1940. The pink and orange colourway is not an original Morris & Co. colourway and was probably updated by Sanderson’s in the 1960s to appeal to their modern customer.

Details

Date: designed 1913, printed c.1950s
Object Type: wallpaper
Technique: block-printed in distemper
Catalogue number: B173
Manufacturer: Arthur Sanderson and Sons Ltd
Designer: Dearle, John Henry (1859 - 1932)

Henry Dearle designed this wallpaper for Morris & Co. in 1913, it was later printed as a cotton and linen. The design of foliage and stylised flowers on a white background recalls Indian chintz patterns and is a departure from the ‘house style’ defined by William Morris. It is likely the pattern was named after the town of Brentwood in Essex, England.

This version was probably printed around 1950, using original Morris & Co. blocks by the firm Arthur Sanderson & Sons Ltd., who acquired the blocks from Morris & Co. when they closed in 1940. It is stamped down the right edge: ‘MORRIS & Co’ and ‘THE BRENTWOOD’.

Details

Date: designed 1877, printed c.1960
Object Type: wallpaper
Technique: block-printed in distemper
Catalogue number: B172
Designer: Morris, William, 1834, 1896
Manufacturer: Arthur Sanderson and Sons Ltd

William Morris designed Chrysanthemum wallpaper in 1877, the original design is in the gallery’s collection (see A33). The pattern is an intricate design of pom-pom blooms and calligraphic foliage.

This version was printed by the firm Arthur Sanderson & Sons Ltd., who acquired the original wallpaper printing blocks from Morris & Co. when they closed in 1940. The purple and turquoise colourway is not an original Morris & Co. colourway and was probably updated by Sanderson’s in the 1960s to appeal to their modern customers.

Details

Date: designed 1879, printed c.1950
Object Type: wallpaper
Technique: block-printed in distemper
Catalogue number: B171
Designer: Morris, William, 1834, 1896
Manufacturer: Arthur Sanderson and Sons Ltd

Acorn wallpaper was designed by William Morris for his firm Morris & Co., and registered 7 January 1879. The pattern combines oak leaves, acorns, willow leaves and anemone like flowers. The preliminary design is in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London (E.38-1940).

This version was printed by the firm Arthur Sanderson & Sons Ltd., who acquired the original wallpaper printing blocks from Morris & Co. when they closed in 1940. It was printed using blocks cut by Sanderson and has a smaller repeat of 45.7cm compared to Morris’s original design which had a repeat of 48.3cm. It is printed with ‘MORRIS & Co ACORN’ on the right edge.

Details

Date: designed 1877, printed c.1950
Object Type: wallpaper
Technique: block-printed in distemper
Catalogue number: B168
Designer: Morris, William, 1834, 1896
Manufacturer: Arthur Sanderson and Sons Ltd

William Morris designed this wallpaper in 1877. The pattern combines apples and scrolling acanthus leaves against a background of foliage. The wallpaper required three wood-blocks with a repeat size of 30.5 x 26.7 cm. This version is a colour match for the finished wallpaper and was probably printed using original Morris & Co. blocks by the firm Arthur Sanderson & Sons Ltd. around 1950, after they acquired the blocks from Morris & Co. when they closed in 1940. It is stamped down the right edge: ‘MORRIS & Co’ and has the pattern number B9386C.

Details

Date: designed 1877, printed before 1940
Object Type: wallpaper
Technique: block-printed in distemper
Catalogue number: B167a
Designer: Morris, William, 1834, 1896
Manufacturer: Jeffrey & Co.
Retailer: Morris & Co.

William Morris designed this wallpaper in 1877. The pattern combines apples and scrolling acanthus leaves against a background of foliage. The wallpaper required three wood-blocks with a repeat size of 30.5 x 26.7 cm. The wallpaper was printed by Jeffrey & Co., who printed all Morris & Co.’s wallpapers. On the reverse the pattern colourway number ‘Apple 97’ is written in blue crayon, although this was the identifying number for the blue colouway, green was no.98 and the brown/pink colourway no.99.

May Morris used Apple to decorate her workroom at her in Hammersmith Terrace.

Details

Date: designed 1888-89, printed c.1950
Object Type: wallpaper
Technique: block-printed in distemper
Catalogue number: B165
Designer: Morris, William, 1834, 1896
Manufacturer: Arthur Sanderson and Sons Ltd

William Morris designed Borage Ceiling wallpaper between 1888-1889. As the name suggests, the paper was intended to decorate interior ceilings and forms a square repeat of 50.8 x 50.8 cm.

This version was printed around 1950, using original Morris & Co. blocks by the firm Arthur Sanderson & Sons Ltd., who acquired the blocks from Morris & Co. when they closed in 1940. It is stamped down the right edge: ‘BORAGE CEILING PAPER’ and ‘MORRIS & Co’.

Details

Date: designed 1862, printed c.1950
Dimensions: 54.6
Object Type: wallpaper
Technique: block-printed in distemper
Catalogue number: B162
Designer: Morris, William, 1834, 1896
Manufacturer: Arthur Sanderson and Sons Ltd

William Morris designed Fruit (also referred to as Pomegranate) in 1862 and it is one of his earliest designs for wallpaper. The pattern is formed of pomegranates, oranges and limes surrounded by foliage and flowers. The original design is in the colection of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London (E.299-2009) and included olive branches which were removed in the finished wallpaper. Morris first tried printing wallpaper at his studio in Red Lion Square in oil colours from etched zinc blocks. Unsuccessful, he ordered traditional pearwood printing blocks to be cut for ‘Fruit’ and production was then subcontracted out to Jeffrey & Co. of Islington, which specialised in the production of hand-printed wallpapers and continued to print the firm’s wallpapers.

Morris & Co. originally produced the paper in cream and blue colourways, a black colourway appeared around 1917. This version was printed by the firm Arthur Sanderson & Sons Ltd., who acquired the original wallpaper printing blocks from Morris & Co. when they closed in 1940.

Details

Date: designed 1862, printed c.1950
Dimensions: 54.6
Object Type: wallpaper
Technique: block-printed in distemper
Catalogue number: B161
Designer: Morris, William, 1834, 1896
Manufacturer: Arthur Sanderson and Sons Ltd

William Morris designed Fruit (also referred to as Pomegranate) in 1862 and it is one of his earliest designs for wallpaper. The pattern is formed of pomegranates, oranges and limes surrounded by foliage and flowers. The original design is in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London (E.299-2009) and included olive branches which were removed in the finished wallpaper. Morris first tried printing wallpaper at his studio in Red Lion Square in oil colours from etched zinc blocks. Unsuccessful, he ordered traditional pearwood printing blocks to be cut for ‘Fruit’ and production was then subcontracted out to Jeffrey & Co. of Islington, which specialised in the production of hand-printed wallpapers and continued to print the firm’s wallpapers.

Morris & Co. originally produced the paper in cream and blue colourways, and this black colourway appeared later around 1917. This version was printed by the firm Arthur Sanderson & Sons Ltd., who acquired the original wallpaper printing blocks from Morris & Co. when they closed in 1940. The glazed black background was produced by Sanderson for the American marked (see. Wallpapers at Temple Newsam 1635 to the Present)

Details

Date: designed 1862
Object Type: wallpaper
Catalogue number: B9c
Designer: Morris, William, 1834, 1896
Manufacturer: Arthur Sanderson and Sons Ltd
Credit notes: Presented by Arthur Sanderson & Sons Ltd, 1950

William Morris designed Fruit (also referred to as Pomegranate) in 1862 and it is one of his earliest designs for wallpaper. The pattern is formed of pomegranates, oranges and lemons surrounded by foliage and flowers. The original design is in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London (E.299-2009) and included olive branches which were removed in the finished wallpaper. Morris first tried printing wallpaper at his studio in Red Lion Square in oil colours from etched zinc blocks. Unsuccessful he ordered traditional pearwood printing blocks to be cut for ‘Fruit’ and production was then subcontracted out to Jeffrey & Co. of Islington, which specialised in the production of hand-printed wallpapers and continued to print the firm’s wallpapers.

This version was manufactured c.1950 by the firm Arthur Sanderson & Sons, the firm acquired the original woodblocks from Morris & co. when they closed in 1940.

Details

Date: designed c.1887, printed before 1917
Dimensions: 38.1 x 53.3
Object Type: wallpaper
Catalogue number: B160
Designer: Dearle, John Henry (1859 - 1932)
Retailer: Morris & Co.
Manufacturer: Jeffrey & Co.

‘Iris’ was designed by John Henry Dearle in 1887 and was his first wallpaper design for Morris & Co. It features blue and pink iris flowers, marigolds and small birds against a background of hawthorn. The rendering of the bird’s feathers is very similar to the birds in William Morris’s earlier textile design ‘Bird and Anemone’ (1882). The wallpaper was produced in at least three colourways; this example, a white background and a dark turquoise background. This example is a loose page from a Morris & Co. sample book, used by customers in the shop to select wallpaper patterns and colourways.

Details

Date: designed 1885, printed before 1990
Dimensions: 53.2
Object Type: wallpaper
Catalogue number: B135a
Designer: Morris, William, 1834, 1896
Manufacturer: Arthur Sanderson and Sons Ltd
Credit notes: Presented by Miss H. Brooks, 1991

Garden Tulip was designed by William Morris in 1885. The pattern consists of vertical ribbons of tulip stems meandering over a background of small foliage and flowers. The pattern was also used on printed cotton and linen under the name ‘Medway’. This version of the wallpaper was printed by the firm Arthur Sanderson & Sons Ltd., who acquired the original wallpaper woodblocks from Morris & Co. when they closed in 1940.

Details

Date: designed 1874, printed c.1950
Dimensions: 105 x 57.2
Object Type: wallpaper
Technique: block-printed in distemper
Catalogue number: B32c.1
Designer: Morris, William, 1834, 1896
Manufacturer: Arthur Sanderson and Sons Ltd
Credit notes: Presented by Arthur Sanderson & Sons Ltd, 1950

William Morris designed this wallpaper of scrolling acanthus leaves in 1874 and registered the design for Morris & Co. on 22 July 1875. The size of the repeat is 66cm and required 30 woodblocks to complete one repeat, making it one of the firm’s more expensive wallpapers, retailing for 16s a roll. The original design is in Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery (1941P413) and the working drawing in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London (CIRC.297-1955).

This version was printed by the firm Arthur Sanderson & Sons Ltd., who acquired the original wallpaper printing blocks from Morris & Co. when they closed in 1940. The right edge is stamped with the diamond-shaped English Registry mark and is inscribed with the natural tone colourway ‘Acanthus 88’ in pencil in the margin.

Details

Date: designed c.1882-83, printed 1962
Object Type: wallpaper
Technique: machine printed
Catalogue number: B88a
Designer: Morris, William, 1834, 1896
Manufacturer: Arthur Sanderson and Sons Ltd
Credit notes: Presented by Arthur Sanderson & Sons Ltd, 1962

William Morris designed this wallpaper between 1882-1883. The small square repeat of flowering bramble branches against a dotted background is just 26.7 x 27.7cm. The title could be a reference to the town of Christchurch, Hampshire. In 1882, Morris was staying nearby in Bournemouth and wrote in a letter objecting to plans to renovate Priory Church in Christchurch (see Norman Kelvin’s The Collected Letters of William Morris, Volume II, Part A: 1881-1884, p.139).

This version was machine printed in 1962 by the firm Arthur Sanderson & Sons Ltd., who acquired the original wallpaper printing woodblocks from Morris & Co. when they closed in 1940. It is printed down the right edge: ‘MADE IN ENGLAND / TRIM JOIN / MORRIS & Co’ and stamped on the reverse with the Sanderson colourway number ‘AS&S 90327’.

Details

Date: designed c.1885, printed 1885-1920
Object Type: wallpaper
Material: paper
Catalogue number: B155
Designer: Morris | May | 1862 | 1938
Retailer: Morris & Co.
Manufacturer: Jeffrey & Co.
Credit notes: Presented by Mr Peter Jamieson, 2013

Horn Poppy was one of three Morris & Co. wallpapers designed by May Morris before concentrating solely on embroidery production. The pattern consists of Horned Poppy flowers against a dotted background, a decorative effect also employed by William Morris in his wallpaper designs. The repeat is 51cm.

This roll was originally purchased to decorate a house in Salisbury sometime between 1875-1920, but evidently not used.

Details

Date: designed 1887
Dimensions: 54.3 x 55.9
Object Type: wallpaper
Catalogue number: B81a
Designer: Morris, William, 1834, 1896
Manufacturer: Arthur Sanderson and Sons Ltd
Credit notes: Presented by Arthur Sanderson & Sons Ltd, 1962

‘Willow Bough’ is one of William Morris’s most enduring wallpaper designs, in continuous production since 1887. The pattern consists of willow branches that form a diagonal branch pattern over the plain background. As he eloquently expressed in his lecture ‘Hints on Pattern Designing’, a successful design should combine a degree of abstraction with a gentle reminder of the outdoors rather than a few ‘sham-real boughs and flowers, casting sham-real shadows on your walls, with little hint of anything beyond the Covent Garden in them?’. In 1874, Morris had designed a similar wallpaper called ‘Willow’, a more simple stylised representation of willow branches, ‘Willow Bough’ is a more naturalistic version of this earlier pattern with curling leaves in tones of green.

This example was printed by Arthur Sanderson & Sons who purchased Morris & Co’s designs and printing blocks when the firm closed in 1940.

Details

Date: designed 1884, printed before 1940
Object Type: wallpaper
Technique: block-printed
Catalogue number: B68a
Designer: Morris, William, 1834, 1896
Manufacturer: Jeffrey & Co.

William Morris frequently used tulips in his design for fabric and wallpaper. Here the small wild tulips form a mid ground with a foreground of ribbons of larger peonies intertwining with scrolling stems. Morris’s daughter May wrote how the character of this design was ‘all “Kelmscott” to me: the peony and the wild tulip are two of the richest blossomings of the spring garden at the Manor”. Kelmscott Manor was the Morris family’s country home in Oxfordshire.

Morris registered the design for ‘Wild Tulip’ wallpaper on 21st November 1884. The repeat is 64.8 x 26.7.

Details

Date: designed c.1896-97, printed before 1940
Object Type: wallpaper
Technique: machine printed
Catalogue number: B126
Designer: Dearle, John Henry (1859 - 1932)
Retailer: Morris & Co.
Manufacturer: Jeffrey & Co.
Credit notes: Presented by Miss H. Brooks, 1991

Henry Dearle designed this wallpaper for Morris & Co. in the late nineteenth century. The design combines roses and small birds on a spotted background. Tom tit is a shortened version of ‘Tom titmouse’, which is an old English folk name for the common garden bird the blue tit. The Morris & Co. assigned pattern colourway number was 340, coming before ‘Oak tree’ (designed c.1896) and after ‘Thistle’ (designed 1897), therfore it seems likely Dearle designed Tom Tit around the same time, c.1896-97. This example was formerly in the possession of the architect William Edward Brooks (1879-1945).

Details

Date: designed c.1868-71
Dimensions: 57.2 x 84.4
Object Type: wallpaper
Catalogue number: B154
Possibly designer: Morris, William, 1834, 1896
Possibly designer: Bodley, George Frederick (1827 - 1907)
Manufacturer: Arthur Sanderson and Sons Ltd
Credit notes: Presented by Miss H. Brooks, 1991

‘Venetian’ is one of two Morris & Co. wallpaper designs attributed to the Gothic-Revival architect George Frederick Bodley, the other is ‘Queen Anne’. Bodley became acquainted with William Morris in the late 1850s, by the 1860s he was commissioned by his firm to create designs for stained glass and ecclesiastical decoration. The wallpaper is a traditional repeating pattern of flowers and leaves and is based on a historic wallpaper design. Unlike Morris’s wallpaper designs the pattern is on just one plane, with a plain background.

The pattern repeat size is 26.7 x 57.2 cm. Amongst one of the earliest wallpapers produced by Morris, Marshal, Faulkner & Co. the first examples were printed with one colour on a white background, in later years the firm produced the pattern in an ever-increasing number of colourways. This example was printed by Arthur Sanderson & Sons, who bought the wallpaper designs and woodblocks from Morris & Co. when they closed in 1940.

Details

Date: designed c.1887-88, printed 1950-1990
Dimensions: 56.8 x 83.5
Object Type: wallpaper
Catalogue number: B150
Designer: Morris, William, 1834, 1896
Manufacturer: Arthur Sanderson and Sons Ltd
Credit notes: Presented by Miss H. Brooks, 1991

William Morris designed Bruges wallpaper between 1887-1888, and it was manufactured from 1888 onwards. The large diagonal pattern consists of decorative ribbons intertwined with large flowers and foliage.

This version was printed using original Morris & Co., woodblocks by the firm Arthur Sanderson & Sons Ltd., who acquired the blocks from Morris & Co. when they closed in 1940. It is stamped on the reverse ‘Sanderson Wallpapers British Made’.

Details

Date: designed 1872
Dimensions: 57.3 x 85
Object Type: wallpaper
Catalogue number: B144
Designer: Morris, William, 1834, 1896
Manufacturer: Arthur Sanderson and Sons Ltd
Credit notes: Presented by Miss H. Brooks, 1991

William Morris designed this wallpaper in 1872 (monochrome version) and 1874 (polychrome version). It was also used for a chintz from 1875, and for a woven damask. A related design (C1) is in the William Morris Society Collection, Hammersmith, in pencil and in black ink. It shows a rose, thistle, and leafy branch; in the final wallpaper, the thistle was replaced by a larkspur.

This version was manufactured by Arthur Sanderson & Son., the firm bought the original woodblocks from Morris & Co. when they closed in 1940.

Details

Date: designed c.1887-88
Dimensions: 57 x 83.7
Object Type: wallpaper
Catalogue number: B142
Designer: Morris, William, 1834, 1896
Manufacturer: Arthur Sanderson and Sons Ltd
Credit notes: Presented by Miss H. Brooks, 1991

Details

Date: designed 1874, printed 1950-1990
Dimensions: 57.5 x 84
Object Type: wallpaper
Catalogue number: B141
Designer: Morris, William, 1834, 1896
Manufacturer: Arthur Sanderson and Sons Ltd
Credit notes: Presented by Miss H. Brooks, 1991

‘Willow’ was designed by William Morris in 1874. The pattern is simple stylised representation of willow branches on a plain background. In 1887, Morris adpated the design to create ‘Willow Bough’ wallpaper, a more naturalistic version of this earlier pattern. ‘Willow’ was produced in a number of colourways, firstly using tonal shades on coloured backgrounds and later introducing colours on a white background. This example was printed by Arthur Sanderson & Sons who acquired the designs and wallpaper printing blocks from Morris & Co. when they closed in 1940.

Details

Date: designed 1874, reg 22 July 1875, printed 1950-1990
Dimensions: 57 x 83.7
Object Type: wallpaper
Catalogue number: B140
Designer: Morris, William, 1834, 1896
Manufacturer: Arthur Sanderson and Sons Ltd
Credit notes: Presented by Miss H. Brooks, 1991

This version was printed by the firm Arthur Sanderson & Sons Ltd., who acquired the original wallpaper printing blocks from Morris & Co. when they closed in 1940. The right edge is stamped with the diamond-shaped English Registry mark and the logo ‘MORRIS & Co.’. the reverse is stamped ‘Sanderson Wallpapers British Made’.

Details

Date: designed 1884, printed 1940-1950
Dimensions: 57.4 x 83.3
Object Type: wallpaper
Catalogue number: B139
Designer: Morris, William, 1834, 1896
Manufacturer: Arthur Sanderson and Sons Ltd
Credit notes: Presented by Miss H. Brooks, 1991

Morris registered the design for ‘Wild Tulip’ wallpaper on 21st November 1884. The repeat is 64.8 x 26.7. This example in yellow ochre was printed by the firm Arthur Sanderson & Sons, after they bought the original woodblocks and designs from Morris & Co. when they closed in 1940.

Details

Date: design reg 1879, printed c.1940-50
Dimensions: 57.1 x 83.3
Object Type: wallpaper
Catalogue number: B138
Designer: Morris, William, 1834, 1896
Manufacturer: Arthur Sanderson and Sons Ltd
Credit notes: Presented by Miss H. Brooks, 1991

William Morris registered the design for ‘Sunflower’ on 7 January 1879. The wallpaper incorporates a central sunflower head, with tulips, small flowers and a grape vine. The monochrome colourway and the vine gives the design a classical aesthetic. The firm produced it in a variety of colourways, mainly in yellow or green hues, and was one of their cheapest wallpapers making it best seller. Morris & Co. also produced the design in in oil colour on an embossed, foiled and lacquered gold background, which sold for 6 times the price. The repeat is 47 x 53.3 cm. The original design is in the collection of the William Morris Society (C4). This later version is stamped on the reverse with ‘Sanderson Wallpapers British Made’. Arthur Sanderson acquired the woodblocks from Morris & Co. when they closed in 1940 and continued to print using their name. This has the Morris & Co. diamond-shaped English Registry mark on the right edge, along with ‘MORRIS & COMPANY’ and the pattern number 51230 and price 23 shillings.

In Morris’s lecture ‘Making the Best of It’ (1880), he sets out his ideas on the most attractive flowers for the garden, of sunflowers he says “though a latecomer to our gardens, is by no means to be despised, since it will grow anywhere, and is both interesting and beautiful, with its sharply chiselled yellow florets relieved by the quaintly patterned sad-coloured centre clogged with honey and beset with bees and butterflies.”

Details

Date: designed 1862, printed 1950-1990
Dimensions: 57.1 x 83.3
Object Type: wallpaper
Catalogue number: B137
Designer: Morris, William, 1834, 1896
Manufacturer: Arthur Sanderson and Sons Ltd
Credit notes: Presented by Miss H. Brooks, 1991

This version was manufactured by the firm Arthur Sanderson & Sons, the firm acquired the original woodblocks from Morris & co. when they closed in 1940. It is stamped on the reverse ‘Sanderson Wallpapers British Made’ and ‘Morris & Co.’ on the right edge.

Details

Date: designed 1875
Dimensions: 53.2 x 111.5
Object Type: wallpaper
Catalogue number: B136
Designer: Morris, William, 1834, 1896
Credit notes: Presented by Miss H. Brooks, 1991

Morris also registered the design as a chintz later in 1875. Despite modern reproductions of Morris’s patterns being used for both wallpaper and textiles, Marigold is one of only three designs Morris specifically intended to be produced as both a textile and a wallpaper.

Details

Date: designed 1862, printed before 1940
Dimensions: 63.4 x 57
Object Type: wallpaper
Material: paper
Technique: block-printed
Catalogue number: B124
Manufacturer: Morris & Co.
Designer: Morris, William, 1834, 1896
Manufacturer: Jeffrey & Co.
Credit notes: Presented by Miss H. Brooks, 1991

William Morris designed Fruit (also referred to as Pomegranate) in 1862 and it is one of his earliest designs for wallpaper. The pattern is formed of pomegranates, peaches, oranges and lemons surrounded by the fruit tree foliage and flowers. The original design is in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London (E.299-2009) and included olive branches which were removed in the finished wallpaper. Morris first tried printing wallpaper at his studio in Red Lion Square in oil colours from etched zinc blocks. Unsuccessful he ordered traditional pearwood printing blocks to be cut for ‘Fruit’ and production was then subcontracted out to Jeffrey & Co. of Islington, which specialised in the production of hand-printed wallpapers and continued to print the firm’s wallpapers.

This example is stamped on the right edge ‘Morris & Co’.

Details

Date: designed 1875
Object Type: wallpaper
Catalogue number: B122
Designer: Morris, William, 1834, 1896
Manufacturer: Morris & Co.
Credit notes: Presented by Miss H. Brooks, 1991

Marigold was designed by William Morris and registered in 1875 as a wallpaper, but it possibly dates from c.1873, since it appears in the records of Morris & Co.’s wallpaper manufacturers Jeffrey & Co. between Jasmine (1872) and Lily (1874) wallpapers. The pattern incorporates larger marigold flowers amongst sprays of willow like leaves, on a sub-pattern of smaller foliage and flowers. The monochrome pattern was produced in a wide variety of colourways. Morris also registered the design as a chintz later in 1875. Despite modern reproductions of Morris’s patterns being used for both wallpaper and textiles, Marigold is one of only three designs Morris specifically intended to be produced as both a textile and a wallpaper.

Details

Date: designed 1874
Object Type: wallpaper
Catalogue number: B121b
Designer: Morris, William, 1834, 1896
Manufacturer: Morris & Co.
Credit notes: Presented by Miss H. Brooks, 1991

‘Willow’ was designed by William Morris in 1874. The pattern is simple stylised representation of willow branches on a plain background. In 1887, Morris adpated the design to create ‘Willow Bough’ wallpaper, a more naturalistic version of this earlier pattern. ‘Willow’ was produced in a number of colourways, firstly using tonal shades on coloured backgrounds and later introducing colours on a white background. This version on a metallic background was introduced by Morris & Co. in the twentieth century, c.1910. This example was printed by Arthur Sanderson & Sons who acquired the designs and wallpaper printing blocks from Morris & Co. when they closed in 1940.

Details

Date: designed 1874
Object Type: wallpaper
Catalogue number: B121a
Designer: Morris, William, 1834, 1896
Manufacturer: Morris & Co.
Credit notes: Presented by Miss H. Brooks, 1991

‘Willow’ was designed by William Morris in 1874. The pattern is simple stylised representation of willow branches on a plain background. In 1887, Morris adpated the design to create ‘Willow Bough’ wallpaper, a more naturalistic version of this earlier pattern. ‘Willow’ was produced in a number of colourways, firstly using tonal shades on coloured backgrounds and later introducing colours on a white background, as in this example (Morris & Co. colourway no.379).

Details

Date: designed 1887, printed after 1940
Object Type: wallpaper
Catalogue number: B120b
Designer: Morris, William, 1834, 1896
Manufacturer: Arthur Sanderson and Sons Ltd
Credit notes: Presented by Miss H. Brooks, 1991

This example was printed by Arthur Sanderson & Sons who purchased Morris & Co’s designs and printing blocks when the firm closed in 1940.

Details

Date: produced 1909
Dimensions: 49.2 x 34.3
Object Type: wallpaper
Catalogue number: B117
Designer: Knowles, Charles
Manufacturer: Charles Knowles & Co
Credit notes: Anonymous gift, 1973

Fragment of ‘Portuguese’ wallpaper design, manufactured by Charles Knowles & Son, 1909. The firm specialised in reprinting early nineteenth-century chintz designs from old woodblocks and who also made a point of using designs from inexpensive block- and machine-printed wallpapers from some of the country’s leading designers. These included Christopher Dresser, C.F.A. Voysey and George Haite, as well as the Silver Studio. The firm was bought by A. Sanderson, in 1913

Details

Date: designed 1879
Object Type: wallpaper
Catalogue number: B112a
Designer: Morris, William, 1834, 1896
Credit notes: Presented by Mrs C. de Lisle Nichols, 1970

The fragments of Morris & Co. wallpaper were taken from Leybourne House, Wormley, Godalming, Surrey. This house was built in 1850, near the site of Birket Foster’s future house, ‘The Hill’, at Witley which Morris & Co. designed the interior for.

Object Type: wallpaper

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