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13th November 2017
Did you know Rossetti owned his own wombat? ‘Top’ the wombat died in November 1869 and Rossetti had him stuffed!
Native to Australia, like today, they weren’t popular pets in the Victorian era. A few were brought back to live in Europe in the early 1800s, apparently Napoleon’s first wife Josephine had one in her menagerie and there was also some in London’s Regent’s Park Zoo in the early 1860s. Following the death of his wife Elizabeth Siddal in 1862, Rossetti moved to 16 Cheyne Walk in Chelsea, a property with a large garden that he transformed into a miniature zoo! Fond of visiting the wombats in the zoo, he had two of his own ‘pet’ wombats, one he bought in 1869 from Charles Jamrach.
Charles Jamrach is a fascinating man, a leading dealer in wildlife, birds and shells in 19th century London. He owned an exotic pet store in East London, the largest in the world at this time, something now that seems like something off a film! Born in Germany, his father was chief of the Hamburg river police which gave him close contact with sailors which allowed him to build a trade as a dealer in birds and wild animals, establishing branches of stores in Antwerp and London.
Following his fathers death, Charles moved to London and took over the business. He sold to noblemen, zoos, menageries and circus owner and bought animals from ships docking in ports around England and continental Europe with agents dotted around these areas. He owned a shop and a museum, called Jamrach’s Animal Emporium, there’s one story that tells of a Bengal tiger escaping the emporium in 1857 which picked up an eight year old boy and carried him away until Jamrach “came running up and, thrusting his bare hands into the tiger’s throat, forced the beast to let his captive go.” The child had approached the tiger in interest when he’d never seen a big cat before and sued Jamrach, being awarded £300 in damages. You can find the story immortalised in a bronze statue near the entrance in Tobacco Dock, near the scene! That tiger was sold to George Wombwell to be added to his menagerie.
Back to Rossetti, in his menagerie he also had kangaroos, wallabies, armadillos, a racoon and larger animals such as a zebu, he was even discussing an African elephant with Jamrach! Whilst now this seems crazy for a garden in Chelsea, it wasn’t uncommon for those in high society to own their own menagerie.
When his own wombat arrived, he described it as a “a Joy, a Triumph, a Delight, a Madness” in a letter to his brother. He named the wombat Top, named after Morris’s nickname ‘Topsy.’ Morris acquired this nickname after a character in Uncle Tom’s Cabin due to his nervous disposition and wild temper which when enraged could lead to seizures and blackouts. Rossetti was well known in his taunting of Morris to amuse himself and their friends when he got angry and flew into a rage.
Top didn’t live a long life, only lasting in England a few months and dying in November 1869, following the Wombat’s death, Rossetti had him stuffed and displayed in the entrance to his house. His self portrait mourning the loss of Top is a famous piece of work of Rossetti’s.
“Death of a Wombat” by Dante Gabriel Rossetti
1869 November 6 (Public Domain)
Posted in News by Laura
Mid week tables require; a vase of gorgeous fresh flowers, as many sweet treats as you can get your hands on, and of course, a gorgeous tablecloth set- this Willow Bough blue is one of our all time favourite William Morris designs, it’s utterly timeless and so beautiful 🌿
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The table details;
Willow Bough blue napkins- £16.99
Willow Bough tablecloths- starting at £29.99 depending on size
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A little update from us 🇬🇧
From 1st July, our product prices will be increasing due to continued rises in manufacturing and material costs.
We’ve worked hard to absorb these increases for as long as possible, but to continue providing the quality you expect from us, a small price adjustment is now necessary.
Every product we create is proudly printed and manufactured here in the UK, using high-quality materials and processes that ensure a finish we’re proud of. Our fabrics are all digitally printed to give a crisp finish.
If you’ve been thinking about placing an order, now is the perfect time — all orders placed before 1st July will be at our current prices.
To thank you for your support, we’re offering an exclusive discount before the new prices take effect.
Use code: thankyou
Enjoy 10% off your order until 14th June
This is the perfect opportunity to place your order at current prices and enjoy an additional saving before the increase.
Thank you for supporting a UK small business and for choosing quality. We truly appreciate every order ❤️
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Aren’t these the most gorgeous blooms!! 🫶🏻 This is our William Morris Compton design and it’s so underrated as a design, it’s beautiful year round because all the different details can be brought out of it, pair it with springtime greens to pop the green tones or autumnal burnt oranges during the colder months, it’s so versatile! ✨ Swipe to see my little photoshoot gatecrasher 😂
All our products are digitally printed and manufactured in the UK 🇬🇧
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Bringing nature indoors, we our gorgeous oven gloves thrown over the cooker- a chic way to make something practical beautiful too! 🫶🏻
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Gorgeous postbox 📮 If you’d like a free sample of any of our fabrics just send us a message and we’ll get them sent out to you 💌 If you’re ordering from abroad, we will always take the parcel to the post office to make sure we’re comparing different postage methods to get the best postage prices for you- we’re wanting to spread the floral goodness global! Today I pottered to the post office to send a lovely pvc apron to Australia which is amazing that Morris is well known world wide! 🐨🦘🇦🇺
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The best season is peony season 🫶🏻 Our favourite flowers, having peonies blooming in the house is always the best ✨ This is our William Morris Merton design, the most stunning blue and white pattern is so timeless ✨
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Lily is one of our favourite William Morris designs, it’s such a beautiful botanical design with all those willow leaves in the background 🌿
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Happy Strawberry Thief day! 🍓 On this day in 1883, Morris registered this beautiful design, isn’t it amazing that all these years later, it’s still as timeless as ever now more popular than ever and decorating homes across the world 🐦⬛
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We want to say a huge THANK YOU to all our lovely customers who have been so patient with us whilst our website checkout has been all in a tizzy - and thank you for your orders on another platform, we appreciate you keeping us going as a small business- but, we’re back up and running now so please use code: THANKYOU at checkout for 15% off until Sunday 🫶🏻✨ (song was me when we finally got tech issues fixed 🫠😂)
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📣 This fabric is on a big sale! 📣 Our red Strawberry Thief drill fabric is currently on sale for £15 a metre 🍓 Our drill fabric is a slightly heavier weight and weave than our heavyweight fabric and is perfect for light upholstery, curtain making and more 🪡🧵 It won’t be on sale long so grab yourself some whilst you can ✨
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Golden Lily always brings the sunshine indoors ☀️ we’ve got 15% off our website right now with code: florals 🌷
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The soundtrack to our day- our fabric cutter! 🎼 If you ever order fabric from us this is how we get our cuts so straight ☺️ Did you know that we sell our fabrics by the half meter, so however big or small your project is, we’ve got fabric for you ☺️ This is our gorgeous William Morris Strawberry Thief blue design, it’s very often on our cutting table as it’s so popular! Do you prefer it in red or in blue? 🍓
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The prettiest design; Hearts & Kisses 🤍 An original design, we’ve restored it from our late 1800- early 1900s French archive, we just love how delicate it is 💕 Would you like to see more of our archive designs? 🌷
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An Easter crafting weekend, our pvc wipe clean fabric is perfect for crafting with easy clean up!🌷🐣 Hope you’ve all had a lovely weekend, remember if you’re doing any shopping, our 15% off is still running on our website with code; EASTER 🐣
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🌟 15% off our website! 🌟 Get your tablescapes sorted for Easter (or get a treat for yourself from the Easter bunny!) with code; EASTER on our website only until Tuesday 7th 🐣🐰
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Replacing all normal eggs with chocolate ones for the foreseeable future 🐣 Brother Rabbit Green on the table always looks so beautiful, we just love this new colour way in this gorgeous William Morris design ✨
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Spring is officially here! 🌷 Take 15% off our website this weekend with code; EASTER to celebrate spring finally being here, use it to treat yourself or to get those Easter tables ready! 🐣
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Officially mini egg season, so we’ll incorporate them into every meal 🐣🌷 On the table today is our William Morris Lily design, isn’t it a stunning design 🌿
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Gorgeous flowers this weekend 🤍 We can’t get over the beautiful tulips 🌷 Brother Rabbit blue on the table, do you prefer it in the blue, red or green? 🌿
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A moment for the greens 🌿 We know sometimes it’s hard imagining different designs together for projects whether you’re quilting with tonal colours or mix matching curtains and cushions, the things you can do with our William Morris fabrics are endless, so seeing them together you can see how beautifully they pair together ✨ We’ll post the blues next so you can see them together too! 🤍 Message us if you’d like a sample of anything, we send them free in the UK 📮
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