Fact Sheet: William Morris

William Morris (1834-96) was the most influential designer of the 19th century. His work in decorative arts included book design, furniture, stained glass windows, tiles, tapestries, textiles and wallpapers. As if that wasnt enough he was also a writer, publisher, environmental campaigner and one of the main founders of the emerging socialist movement of the 19th century. Morris trained as an architect and had early unfulfilled ambitions to be a painter. As a student at Oxford he met the artist Edward Burne-Jones, and through this friendship he came into contact with the Pre-Raphaelite painters, such as Dante Gabriel Rossetti and others in their circle. In 1859 Morris married Jane Burden, an unconventional beauty and a favourite model for the Pre-Raphaelites. He immediately commissioned his friend, the architect Philip Webb, to build them a new home on land he had bought in Bexleyheath, Kent. Now a suburb of London, Bexleyheath was then a rural area. Morris wanted a modern home that would nevertheless be very medieval in spirit'. This is exactly what Webb gave him:

The Red House, Bexley Heath

Morris and Jane moved into Red House in 1860 and spent the next two years furnishing and decorating the interior. Morris did much of the work himself, with help from his artist friends. Prompted by the success of their efforts, they decided to start their own company.
Fact Sheet Compiled by Madeline Herbert and Clare Moloney, September 2009

Fact Sheet: William Morris

In April 1861 Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Co. was established at 8 Red Lion Square in London. It produced a range of original domestic furnishings including embroidery, tableware and furniture, stained glass and tiles. Wallpapers were soon added to the list because Morris was unable to find any he liked well enough to use in his own home. Inspired by his deep interest and respect for mediaeval art and design, Morris set about reviving and promoting the traditions of individual craftsmanship. He felt that the machine processes of the industrial revolution dehumanised the worker and he saw handcraft as a way for workers to take pride in their creativity and labour. Morriss art and working practices incorporated his socialist principals, he advocated free education, better working conditions and called for an eight hour day. He was also something of an environmental campaigner, endeavouring to use natural materials in his work and encouraged people to make things for themselves, proposing the following edict: Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful. He proposed that good quality furnishings and interiors should be available to all and not just the rich. Sadly, as hand crafted goods were much more expensive to produce and to purchase than machine made products, Morris did not achieve this aim in his lifetime.

Trellisi

Daisy ii

Fruitiii

By the mid 1860s, Morris worked mainly on his wallpaper designs, the first of these being Trellis, Daisy, and Fruit. Morris decorated his own bedroom in the Red House in Bexley Heath in the Trellis wallpaper. Curiously, Morris was unable to draw birds and his friend Philip Webb drew them for the trellis design. In 1875, Morris disbanded the firm of Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Co, and started a new company called Morris & Co, meaning that he took full artistic control. This period was considered Morriss most prolific and creative as a pattern designer.

William Morris Fact Sheet complied by Madeline Herbert and Clare Moloney, September 2009. Please note, much of this information has been extracted from the websites: www.williammorris.co.uk and www.morrissociety.org

Fact Sheet: William Morris

Carpet Weaving at Morris workshop at Merton Abbey Works

Early in 1881, finding his current working premises too cramped for his growing business, Morris decided to search for new ones. He required a large site near a river, which was suitable for vegetable dyeing, contained workshops suitable for cloth printing, textile, carpet and tapestry weaving, and also work-space for producing stained glass. He found what he needed when he visited the disused printing works at Merton Abbey, (very close to the site now occupied by the Sava-Centre) and moved Morris & Co there by the end of 1881. Morris & Co continued production on this site right up until the 1950s. In the late 1800s, Morris led the Socialist League, which advocated for the rights of every individual, for the humane treatment of everyone, and the preservation of simpler social arrangements. During this time, Morris produced literary works on the socialist cause and designed his own typeface, leading to him setting up his own publishing company Kelmscott Press in 1891. William Morris died on 3 October 1896, when he was 65 years old. At the time, one of his doctors is said to have remarked that Morris carried out the work of ten men in one lifetime and it was this prolific output that brought about his death.

Reproduced here with kind permission from William Morris Gallery, London Borough of Waltham Forest Reproduced here with kind permission from The Red House Museum Reproduced here with kind permission from Victoria & Albert Museum

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William Morris Fact Sheet complied by Madeline Herbert and Clare Moloney, September 2009. Please note, much of this information has been extracted from the websites: www.williammorris.co.uk and www.morrissociety.org