The settle was once part of the furnishings of 31, Upper Bedford Place, London, home of the Revd. Stewart Headlam (1847-1924), Christian Socialist and anti-prudery campaigner, whose rooms were extensively decorated in 1886-87 by A. H. Mackmurdo and Selwyn Image. It was exhibited at Messrs. Wilkinsons’ showroom in Bond Street in 1888 along with other pieces of Century Guild furniture and illustrated in ‘The Building News’ (March 30, 1888). It was purchased from Morris & Co. c. 1893 by the donor for her house, Wavertree which she shared with Headlam and which she furnished with Morris & Co. The original curtaining was replaced by the present Morris & Co. ‘Borage’ chintzes during the 1900s.
