27th January 2019
“I’m a remarkable woman, always was, though none of you seemed to think so.” – May Morris.
The quote above has always brought a smile when we think of it. It was written in a letter May sent in 1936 to George Bernard Shaw, a Irish Playwright and seems to reflect the fire May had – perhaps arguably inherited from her father. We like her tenacity she showed throughout her life and this quote seems to reflect that. The fact is, she did a lot for the Arts and Crafts movement and was hugely influential in her father’s business, Morris and Co.
Though she achieved a lot, over time, her influence and prestige seems to have been lost somewhat. It’s a shame because of all she achieved – which was especially important because she was a woman. The things she achieved throughout her life are vast and we wanted to take a closer look at them in this blog. There was a wonderful exhibition at the William Morris gallery in 2017 and it was perfect to cast more of a light on May’s work and life. Our friend Helen Elletson, curator at the William Morris Gallery said, “We talk all the time about [William] Morris being a polymath, but May was multi-talented, just like her father” in a quote to the Financial Times.
The daughter of William Morris, we can only imagine the amount of creativity and political talk in the house as May and her sister Jenny grew up. Her mother Jane was a Pre-Raphaelite beauty and modelled in lots of the famous painters art. She favoured the looser more artistic dresses and dressed her daughters in such clothing. They were loose and without corsets, May wrote in her journey aged eight, “I am a great tomboy.” She was home schooled and at age sixteen, attended the National Art Training School which would later become the Royal College of Art.
When May was 23, she was put in charge of the embroidery section at Morris & Co. The whole Morris family had a love and talent for embroidery. Her mum and auntie, Bessie Burden were keen at it and were really talented. The ”Burden” stitch is named after the sisters and is a hard one to master for today’s embroiderers. May and her sister were being taught to embroider by the time they were seven and eight respectively.
From the time she was put in charge of the embroidery section, all the new designs were done by herself and John Henry Dearle. When he father died in 1896, she did continue on in the business, but only as an advisory role.
Aside from her career highlights, May also founded the Women’s Guild of Arts in 1907 and remained the president until 1935. It was a direct response to the Art Worker’s Guild; that women weren’t permitted to join until the 1960s. Despite there being many women in the arts, it’s clear they weren’t being represented and acknowledged. So it was forward thinking and blatant gumption that May was showing. May appears to be much like her father; both skilled in the arts and invested in pushing the societal boundaries.
Personally, she fell in love with George Bernard Shaw. They met when they were involved in the Socialist League but the romance wasn’t to be and she married Henry Halliday Sparling. The marriage didn’t last and she remained alone for the remainder of her life.
It’s clear May’s work ethic came from her father. May was involved in the Arts and Crafts scene throughout the 1890s and 1900s. She took on various aspects of the scene, “She designed jewellery; she wrote a play, White Lies, in 1903; she wrote articles and a book on embroidery: Decorative Needlework, published in 1893. She taught, and was then in demand on the lecture circuit – in 1910 travelling on a tour of America. She was an advisor and teacher at the Central School of Arts & Crafts and at Birmingham, where friends and old employees also taught. She was a regular exhibitor at the Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society.” – Arts and Crafts Museum.
May wrote many introductions for William Morris’ works, she spent years editing his collected works. Visiting Kelmscott Manor- Morris’ home in Oxfordshire, you will hear about the work she did for the village of Kelmscott. Working to build a village hall (designed by Ernest Gimson) to improve the lives of the workers. May was involved in the WI and many other aspects of the village. Despite her full working life then, it’s clear she took after her father in filling her life full of work and was obviously inspired by how he saw the world with his pioneering views.
There are many accounts of how well she treated her workers. On race day inviting workers to her garden parties and giving annual presents. She died a beloved member of Kelmscott village’s community. It appears she is lately also being recognised for her professional achievements. Though they were perhaps previously overshadowed by her father. At this time in particular it was a huge triumph for her to have achieved all she did as a woman.
Posted in News by Laura
Always one of our favourites, our Willow Bough blue tablecloth brings the beauty of William Morris into the home, remember our whole website is 15% off this week! Use code: springblooms 🌿
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Making everything in life its own little event, even a coffee and a cake 🫶🏻 Featuring our Strawberry Thief red William Morris design napkin and placemat 🍓
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#williammorris #williammorrisfabric #williammorrisdesign #strawberrythief #lifesmoments #atthekitchentable #smallmomentsofcalm
The easiest napkin fold is so effective 🫶🏻 Next to a dinner plate or placed on the plate with a cake fork, it’s perfect for easy yet chic presentation 🍴
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#napkinfold #napkinfolding #tablescape #atthekitchentable #williammorris #williammorrisfabric #preraphaelite #floraldesign
Our William Morris Lily design is back in stock! 🤍 A gorgeous design especially this spring/ summer it’s a timeless design we adore year after year 🌿
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Is it just us or does anyone else come across an old photo and get upset that the cake is now gone? 🍰
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Lay the table with us for Easter dinner 🐰 These rabbit napkin folds are so simple yet effective, will you give them a go this weekend? 🐣
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Us 🤝 simple napkin folding 🎀
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A really simple napkin fold for your Easter table! 🐣 We used a napkin ring but you could use ribbon or twine, whatever you’ve got! 🐰
Just fold the napkin into a triangle and roll up from the point until you can fold it in half to make the ears 🐇 You could put a little creme egg in there as an extra treat 🤎
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#napkinart #napkinfolding #napkinfolding #williammorris #williammorrisfabric #williammorrisdesign #williammorrisfabrics #eastertable #eastertablescape #fabrics #easter2025🐰🐥☀️🍹
Hopping into Easter week with a fab 10% off our website, just use code: EASTER on our website 🐣
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Have you seen our new remnants and bundle section on our website? 🪡 Perfect for quilting, sewing and crafting, they’re all in varying sizes and we’ll keep it constantly updated 🧵
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Layering florals on florals this Spring 🪻🌷
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The start of the Easter tablescapes this weekend 🐣 We cant resist a little rabbit napkin, so easy and so effective we can post a reel on how to do the napkin fold! 🐰 This is our pvc fabric in William Morris Brother Rabbit red which is perfect for on the table as it simply wipes clean so isn’t an issue for any spills 🧼
We know that seasonal tablescapes whilst looking amazing can often seem really expensive on Instagram so we wanted to prove that with a simple napkin fold and a few little inexpensive decor bits it can be wonderfully seasonal yet affordable and used every year - the carrots are from @poundland and the cute little sheep are from @sainsburys 🐑
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A gorgeous spring day today spent in the garden, anyone else unable to spend a day without a pot of mini eggs nearby? 🐣 Our pvc fabric is perfect for garden tables, a simple wipe clean and it’s ready for outdoor meals - just make sure to not leave it outside in the rain! ☔️☀️ On the table today is our William Morris Compton pvc, a year- round fave of ours 🤎
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#williammorris #williammorrisfabric #williammorrisdesign #compton #springgarden #springgardening #springtime #springsunshine☀️ #labrador #englishlab #lablife #magnolia #magnoliatree #magnoliatreesinbloom🌸🌸🌸
Spring has truly sprung this week and we’re looking forward to Easter 🐣 Our William Morris Daisy was looking gorgeous on the table with a little Easter treat 🐰
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#napkinart #easteregg #easterdecor #williammorris #williammorrisfabric #williammorrisdesign #floralfabric #printedintheuk #preraphaelite #artandcraftsmovement
One of the crafters among us couldn’t help but steal some of our new designs from work to create a gorgeous quilted bag from all our original designs to take to Chicago with them on holiday 🤍 For all of us back home in Yorkshire we’re a little jealous seeing all the holiday snaps of the bag round the city! ✨ All these designs are now available on our website 🥰
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It’s back in stock!! 🍓 Our cotton Strawberry Thief blue licensed William Morris design is now back in stock - and digitally printed 🌿 We hope you can tell how crisp the design is from this video, the details within the design are so clear in the digital print which is fabulous becuase there’s so many beautiful details within all Morris designs 🎨
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The colours of Compton 😍 did you know some of our designs are now digitally printed? 🤎 digital print gives top quality printing design with a really crisp finish that brings to life the whole design and its details, of course, we’re still printing in the UK 🇬🇧
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Pack an order with us of our new quilting fabrics 🌿 These are all our exclusive designs that are now available on our website, and each beautiful design has been faithfully resorted from our French archive, we wonder what they’ll be made into 🤍
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A tea towel hanging in the kitchen, bringing floral magic easily into the home 🌿 Can you believe William Morris designed Willow Bough in 1887? It’s such a timeless design we love imagining how many people throughout the years have chosen to have it decorating their homes 🤍
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Use code: birthday for 20% off our entire website 🌿 Includes our fabulous fabric by the half metre, tablewear & kitchenware 🤍
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