‘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.
