textile Archives - Page 4 of 9 - William Morris Gallery

Details

Dimensions: 50 x 47
Object Type: textile
Material: silk
Catalogue number: F431
Manufacturer: Morris & Co.
Credit notes: Gift of Meg Andrews, 2005

‘Eyebright’ was designed by William Morris in 1883. The original design was printed on cotton. This rare example is in silk. The small ‘net’ repeat is formed of white eyebright flowers and buttercups. The pattern was initially intended to be used as a lining for Morris & Co.’s heavy wool curtains (two widths matched the width of a curtains) but was used as a furnishing fabric in its own right. May Morris claimed that Eyebright, and another pattern Borage ‘were small patterns intended for dress’, revealing Morris’s intention to expand the business beyond interior fabrics. A dress of Eyebright printed cotton made around 1900 is in the The Art Gallery of Australia’s collection (996A38).

Details

Dimensions: 528.3 x 119
Object Type: textile
Technique: power-loom jacquard woven
Catalogue number: F420
Designer: Dearle, John Henry (1859 - 1932)
Retailer: Morris & Co.
Manufacturer: Alexander Morton & Co.
Credit notes: WMG purchase, 2000

Helena was designed by Henry Dearle and registered in 1891. It was woven for Morris & Co. by Alexander Morton & Co. of Darvel, Scotland. The pattern combines artichoke flowers with a background of acanthus leaves and fritilliary. This length was purchased by the poet John Betjaman at the 1939 sale of Kelmscott Manor (the Morris family’s country retreat in Gloucestershire). The original design is also in the Gallery’s collection (see A471); another working drawing is in the Huntington Museum, California.

Object Type: textile

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