19th October 2017
Born in 1839, Jane Burden was born in Oxford, the daughter of Robert Burden, a stableman and Ann Maizey a laundress. She grew up in a poor home and had little education herself. Had she not met and gotten involved with the artists, she probably would have followed her mother into the domestic service industry. Instead, she became the ultimate embodiment of Pre-Raphaelite beauty ideal.
Jane met William in 1857 when she visited the Drury Lane Theatre Company in Oxford along with her sister Elizabeth. It was Edward Burne-Jones and Dante Gabriel Rossetti who noticed her sat in the gallery below them and asked her to model for their art. She refused at first, so much so that she didn’t even show up to her scheduled time with Rossetti who wished to paint her for her mural – she didn’t know either of them and was wary. Upon a chance second meeting bumping into Burne-Jones, she finally agreed – unknowingly signing herself up to be the face of the Pre-Raphaelite movement as the woman in many of the artists paintings. The artist that loved to paint her the most was Rossetti who became obsessed with using Jane as his model and muse.
The two were undoubtably in love by this point, but he was engaged to be married to Lizzie Siddal and so after meeting Morris when she was his painting of Queen Guinevere (La Belle Iseult) she agreed to marry him. Ironically, Guinevere was famously beautiful – and famously unfaithful.
It can be noted here that by her own admission she was not in love with Morris at this point and it was a one sided love. It was now that she received her education – to become the wife of a wealthy gentleman, it wouldn’t do that she’d received little formal education. She was privately educated to learn French, Italian and the piano, also taught etiquette. Morris himself had an influence too as Jane became a talented needle woman, creating many beautiful embroideries.
Their daughter Jenny was born in 1861, followed by her sister May in 1862. The family moved to Red House in Kent – have you been? Today it’s a National Trust house and a beautifully preserved family home – famous due to it’s constant source of inspiration to Morris. It was this home that when he looked to decorate couldn’t find any suitable furnishings and so he, along with his good friend Philip Webb, created their own. It was from this the Firm – Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Co. was formed – later leading to his own venture, Morris & Co. The house led to the Arts & Crafts movement. Later they moved to Kelmscott House – the basement and coach house remains to be where our friends at the William Morris Society are! We love visiting, it’s beauty never fails to amaze us!
Ultimately, her marriage to Morris really seemed to come to it’s end in 1871 when Morris went to Iceland to escape the affair Jane was having with Rossetti after his wife died. Their affair had led Morris to move Rossetti into their home in Kelmscott to keep their affair private. It’s important to remember that during the Victorian times, a marriage such as Jane’s to William wasn’t unusual – for girls from poor backgrounds, a marriage for class and not love was extremely common.
Her relationship to Rossetti, though it lasted until his death in 1882, wasn’t without it’s issues. He had a dependancy on chloral hydrate, a drug which was taken for insomnia. She distanced herself from him due to this. His art of her has lived on, from her own modelling in his images to him using artistic impressions of her as mythological roles such as pandora, she had a sombre face in each. Art critics and historians have projected this onto the fact it reflects Rossetti’s own troubled soul. His art of her is nevertheless iconic of the epitome of beauty of Pre-Raphaelite womanhood, which must have undoubtably been incredibly flattering for her.
Her last love came in the form of an affair with Wilfred Scawen Blunt, was a poet and political activist, which carried on until 1894. After the ending of the romance, her husband fell ill and she cared for him until his death. After this, she remained single the rest of her life, dying 16 years after Morris, aged 75.
Her lasting image, due to Rossetti’s art, are of a sombre and sullen woman, though we know her to have a much more full and round personality. It’s important to remember her many talents – she had an active role in the family business Morris & Co., was a multilingual talented musician and embroider and a home maker for her two daughters. Along with her intelligence and hobbies, she’s also captured the attention of art fans for generations as she remains to be the face of Pre-Raphaelite womanhood.
Posted in News by Laura
Did you know we offer a gift wrap service? 🎁 If you’ve got a loved one you’d like to send a floral gift to this year, you can send it straight to their door all wrapped with a note written by the Laura’s Beau elves 🎄🤶🏻 It’s an option on our website only and you can check the gift wrap box at checkout to write your gift tag that we will hand write for you (we also won’t include a reciept or anything of course, but will email it to you instead ✨) Are you giving any William Morris floral goodies to your friends and family this year? 🤍
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Anyone else started on the mince pies this weekend? 🥧 We’ve been feeling rather festive the last week or so, are you all in the festive spirit yet or waiting until December? 🎄
📸 features our William Morris Brother Rabbit blue design 🤍
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To brighten up the kitchen with florals, we love hanging our William Morris tea towels on hooks, over the oven door or kitchen sink 🌿 An easy way to add a pop of colour or design ✨ They’re a great Christmas gift this year and come in a whole range of Morris designs to suit everyone’s kitchens 🎁
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Use Code: BF15 for 15% at checkout until Monday 27th at midnight 🌛 Happy Shopping ✨ (valid on our website only; www.laurasbeau.co.uk 🌿
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🎄 A Christmas table set up using our Red Strawberry Thief licensed William Morris design ✨ We love how perfect it is dressed up for Christmas but can be used all year round accessorised for all the seasons 🌿
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#christmas #christmastable #christmastablecloth #williammorris #williammorrisfabric #williammorrisfabrics #williammorrisdesign #strawberrythief #preraphaelite
Our virtual craft market is now live! ✨ Only on our Etsy page, you can now shop a limited range different sizes of our licensed William Morris fabrics as offcuts and also, some craft bundles🧵And there is also a pretty fabulous Black Friday deal on everything on our Etsy at the moment! 🌿We`re always working to be more sustainable (you can read more about what we do on our blog) and offcuts is a great way for us to reduce waste - some are larger pieces that are various widths and lengths and some are bundles of fabric offcuts. ✨ Accurate measurements are in the listing, and you`ll find the full market under a tab on our Etsy. The bundles are brilliant gifts for crafters, quilters and those who you know would like to try a whole range of William Morris fabrics 🎁
We`ll keep this tab updated as and when we have fabric ready so keep checking back! Remember, we do sell all our fabric by the half metre if you find a new fave in a bundle 🤍
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#etsy #fabriccrafts #sewers #quilters #fabricbundle #craftmarket #williammorris #williammorrisfabric #fabrics #floralfabric #fabricstack #fabricstash
Used for a very special engagement tablescape this past weekend was our timelessly beautiful Charlotte Rose! 🥂💍✨ It’s actually a design from our French archive, we absolutely love it ☺️ If you’re starting your Christmas shopping it’s a wonderful gift idea for them to love using all year round on their table 🥂
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#tablescape #tabledecor #engagement #frenchfloral #frenchflorals #floraltable #florals #floraldesign
A wonderful addition to the table, our placemats, available in a range of licensed William Morris designs, set the scene for a whole range of celebrations sat around the table 🥂
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#williammorris #williammorrisfabrics #fabric #fabrics #williammorrisfabric #willowbough #tablescape #myfloraltable #floraltable #preraphaelite #williammorrisdesigns
These green tones together are so lovely 🌿 Can you name all of these licensed William Morris designs? Which is your favourite? ✨ If you’d like a sample of any just let us know ☺️
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#williammorris #williammorrisdesign #williammorrisfabric #williammorrisfabrics #preraphaelite #preraphaelites #fabricstash #fabricstack #ukfabric #ukfabricshop #floralfabrics
Autumn tablescapes always brighten the home up this time of year ✨ This is our William Morris Compton design, always super popular it’s got the most beautiful colours within it ✨
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#williammorris #williammorrisfabric #williammorrisdesign #morrisfabric #compton #autumntablescape #tablescape #floraltable #myfloralhome #floraltablescape
🎃 Just a little pup in his pumpkin outfit to deliver a Halloween treat for you! Get 15% off our website with code: Halloween 👻 His little Strawberry Thief bandana is so easy to make from our fabric and always looks so cute on him, we need to make him one in every design! ✨ (discount code can be used only on our website until Sunday at midnight!) 🎃
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Functional + stylish, a tea towel thrown over the cooker or sink really does brighten up the kitchen - bringing some florals inside the home! ✨ This is our licensed William Morris Sweet Briar design, we absolutely love this delicate design with soft pink flowers 🌷
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#williammorris #williammorrisfabric #sweetbriar #teatowelsofinstagram #teatowel #floralfabric #floralfabrics #florals #myfloralhome #preraphaelite #morris #morrisfabric #onlinefabric #fabricdestashuk
A fabric stack full of William Morris licensed designs, which is your favourite? ✨
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#williammorris #williammorrisfabric #williammorrisdesign #williammorrisfabric #fabricdestashuk #fabricshop #fabricseller #fabricstack #strawberrythief
Sitting at the table to admire our latest floral arrangement creation with a cuppa! ☕️ Don’t these colours look absolutely wonderful with our beautiful licensed William Morris design Compton 🧡
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#williammorris #williammorrisfabric #williammorrisfabrics #fabrics #fabricdestashuk #floralfabric #floralfabrics #compton #preraphaelite #tablescape #flowerarrangement #floraltable #flowerarranging #myfloraldays
Back in stock- wonderful Golden Lily pvc fabric 🤩 Its a wipe clean material, so is absolutely perfect for the dining table 🍴 Available by the half metre in length, its 140cm wide, so fits most tables, an easy option whilst not compromising on beautiful William Morris florals! 💐
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Can’t forget your Strawberry Thief tote if you’re off to the shops! 🛍️
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#williammorris #williammorrisfabric #williammorrisdesign #williammorrisdesigns #strawberrythief #france #totebag #totebags #floraltote
Sunday evenings in the Autumn months call out for a cosy fire and treats 🍂 Mallow Wine always looks so beautiful this time of year, the placemats are so handy for protecting surfaces from hot dishes and mugs, plus are so lovely on the tablescapes! 🤍
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#williammorris #williammorrisfabric #williammorrisdesign #williammorrisdesigns #design #floraldesign #floralfabrics #mallow #preraphaelite #morrisfabric #octoberevening
October calls for pumpkin decorations 🎃 Brother Rabbit looking completely beautiful on the table as always 🌿 It never needs a complex tablescape as the design speaks for itself! 🤍
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#williammorris #williammorrisfabric #williammorrisfabrics #williammorrisdesign #design #brotherrabbit #octobertablescape #autumntablescape #floraltable #tablecloth
Florals in the sunshine ☀️✨ Can you name all of our licensed William Morris prints? 🌿
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#williammorris #williammorrisdesign #williammorrisfabric #williammorrisfabrics #williammorrisprint #floralfabric #floralfabrics #onlinefloralfabric #upholsteryfabric #curtainfabric #curtainfabrics #fabricstash #strawberrythief
Off to the beach! 🏝️☀️ Got to have a tote with us that can fit all the snacks, books and suncream! 🦀 Golden Lily in the sun is so beautiful 🐠🐬
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#williammorris #williammorrisfabric #williammorrisfabrics #williammorristote #totebag #goldenlily #beachtote #floraltote #floraltotebag #floral