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.
