william morris arts & crafts movement

William Morris was born in Essex (hoorah) a man of the people and believed art
should be for everyone, not just the elite.
Reviving many ancient crafts,
tapestry weaving amongst them, was an opportunity to do this. I have William
Morris wallpaper in my dining room - which I have never tired of in the
thirty years it's been on the wall - so can attest to his success in achieving
this aim. Marianne Stokes one of his designers is, I'm delighted to say,
an ancestor on my mothers side. He built a high-warp loom in his bedroom
and taught himself to weave from an 18th century French craft manual.
He visited French weavers and the ailing Aubusson factory. With friends
such as Edward Burne-Jones, John Henry Dearle they formed Morris &
Co. An important part of the Arts & Crafts movement which he headed.

Their influence was spread far and wide from architecture to gardens. They designed
tapestries based on medieval styles and techniques and became a commercial
success reviving the ancient craft. Perhaps best known for his Tree of
Life tapestry shown below. Much of Morris & Co.'s design work and manufacturing
was done at Merton Abbey, a village on the River Wandle in Surrey. Despite
his ambition to be a painter and his later reputation as a writer, poet,
publisher, political thinker and activist, it is as a designer of patterns,
particularly botanical images, for which he is most well known.

Some of these designs have been resurrected by Sanderson in a range of Le Castille cushion covers  featuring William Morris classics such as the 1929 Eton Rural 'Early Tulips' and 'Tree Poppy' designs from the Sanderson William Morris archives to celebrate their 150th anniversary of design. And 'Dandelion Clocks' a classic retro design from the '50's. These were amongst many showcased for the Fashion & Textiles Museums exhibition: Very Sanderson - a 150 years of English Decoration.