William Morris Colours
Duck Egg, China Blue, Morris Green, Weld Yellow, Chalk White, Red Ochre and Madder Red.
Inspired by the large collection of Morris’ work in the Victoria and Albert Museum, these paint shades and their names are evolved from colours he used in many different media, involving interior decoration, furniture and textiles.
Tulip and Willow Design
This design was for Morris’ second textile pattern, which was registered in December 1873. When William Morris went up to Preston to print this design he was horrified with the results. Instead of using a genuine shade of indigo, the design was printed in a Prussian blue, the nearest to indigo that could be achieved using modern aniline dyes. This led William Morris to speak out against the capitalist forces, which he considered had brought his industry to a very bad state. “Henceforward there is an absolute divorce between the commercial process and the art of printing. Anyone wanting to produce dyed textiles with any artistic quality in them must entirely forego the modern and commercial methods in favour of those which are at least as old as Pliny…”
In other words, William Morris ended his connection with Clarkson (who printed the design) and abandoned production of Tulip and Willow. He also set up a tiny dye house in the basement and scullery of his house in Queen Square, hoping that he might find his own solution to the problem. In fact it was only in 1883, after he had established himself at Merton Abbey, that he was finally able to produce a satisfactory printing of Tulip and Willow.
Preliminary Design
Morris’s intricate flower patterns, which seem so effortless and casual in their final form, were achieved after long hours of patient designing and the production of dozens of different designs. This preliminary stage was important, as Morris recognised. In a lecture called “Making the Best of It”, delivered in 1879, he offered these words of advice to potential designers: “no amount of delicacy is too great in drawing the curves of a pattern, no amount of care in getting the leading lines right from the first, can be thrown away, for beauty of detail cannot afterwards cure any shortcomings in this”.
The illustration comes from Morris’s mature years, when his designs showed increasing freedom. It has some similarities with the St James’s pattern, which Morris devised specifically for the second refurbishment programme at St James’s Palace. This was carried out between 1880 and 1882 and shows why Morris was such an important influence on the Art Nouveau movement. His flower patterns have just enough naturalism and depth to be convincing, but it is the rhythm and sweep of the stylised plants that lend them their true appeal.
Four Tiles
Little is known about these tiles. The name of the design has not been identified and they cannot be linked with any specific commission. Nevertheless, they are typical of the work that was produced by Morris and his associates at around the time of the Membland Hall commission. Small, horizontal panels of this kind were frequently installed as over mantels; they were also used to brighten up a dull item of furniture. They can often be found adorning the top of a wooden washstand.
Morris’s tile designs had developed considerably since the early days of the Firm. Initially, they reflected the widespread reawakening of interest in medieval tiles that came about as part of the Gothic revival. It is very likely that the tiles which the Firm put on show at the International Exhibition in 1862 fell into this category. By the mid-1870s, however, he was more attuned to the tastes of his well-heeled clients. Accordingly, the patterns became much closer to his textile and wallpaper designs. They take the form of leaves and tendrils, intertwining rhythmically in a foretaste of Art Nouveau.