Tulip printed cotton

Details

Date: design registered 15 April 1875
Dimensions: 140 x 97
Object Type: textile
Material: printed cotton
Technique: block-printed
Catalogue number: F210
Designer: Morris, William, 1834, 1896
Credit notes: Miss M A Sloane bequest, 1962

At Morris’s factory in Merton Abbey the printer pressed the printing block into a dye-pad and then positioned it on the fabric. The block was then tapped with a mall (a led weighted mallet) to ensure an even impression on the cloth. The printer then lifted the block, applied more colour and repeated the process down the whole length of the fabric. When the first colour had dried, the second colour was applied.