Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful.
-William Morris
William Morris was a designer, artist, poet, writer and Socialist in England in the 1800s. He is considered the father-figure of the Arts and Crafts movement and had a great impact on 20th century design. He was committed to renewal of the arts and wanted to make aesthetically pleasing and beautifully crafted things available to as many people as possible for use in all areas of life. He grew up in a wealthy family and as a child, rode his pony through Epping Forest in a small suit of armor given to him by his father. He spent hours studying plants, birds and nearby churches. Nature is a huge influence on his designs. He was an early forerunner of modern environmentalism. Although this is the only building he ever commissioned, he is credited with over 600 designs.
He excelled at designing tapestries, textiles, wallpaper, rugs, stained glass and hand painted tiles and furniture.
In this article I want to show some his beautiful wallpaper design.
He began designing wallpapers in the 1860s which were hand printed by Jeffrey & Co. in London using wood blocks and mineral based natural pigments. Along with other designers, most notably John Henry Dearle, Morris created stunningly beautiful wallpapers with complex rhythms and movement which seemed to capture the randomness and symmetry of nature.
These same designs are produced today by machine, using surface or ‘flexographic’ rollers and modern inks at our factory in Loughborough, England, giving the appearance of the block-printed originals. Enduring favourites are sometimes given a contemporary twist by the Morris & Co. studio, and lesser known wallpapers may receive a new lease of life, creating classics for the future. Other designs, previously only found on textiles, have been translated into wallpaper, sometimes printed on Gravure machines to replicate the fine tonal textures and ‘watercolour’ effects found in Morris’s fabrics.
You can find them still available today from Sanderson & Sons and Liberty of London.
Morris designs seem to have satisfied a widespread desire for pattern in a way which the more formal and didactic designs of the reformers such as Jones and Pugin never did. The next generation of designers were conscious of working with Morris's legacy. Thanks For Shearing this post.
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