Cray was designed by William Morris in 1884, one of a series of patterns created at this time named after tributaries of the River Thames and other rivers. The cray is a chalk stream, and a tributary of the River Darent, in south-East London. The pattern consists of large stem and peony-like flowers with a secondary network of flowers and leaves against a background of curling small leaves, stems and flowerheads. The size of the repat and complexity of the pattern meant that 34 different printing blocks were required to print one pattern repeat, making it Morris’s most expensive blockprinted fabric.
This version is an in unusual colourway with yellow and green on dark green ground. Colourway no. 2109.
