28th May 2018
We’ve done a few blogs about William Morris now and a roundup of his life, but since we post weekly blogs, we thought it was time to recap! He had such a fascinating life so of course we can’t fit it all into one blog so here’s an introduction!
The 19th Century designer is perhaps the best known and best remembered of his time. He continues to influence interior design and catwalk fashion today including designs from Marc Jacobs and Topshop having recently used his designs in their collections.
Not just a designer, he was a poet, writer, socialist activist – the list goes on. He was a major player in the Arts & Crafts movement and dedicated his life to creating and reviving handmade production techniques that didn’t just go with the Victorian era’s focus on industrialisation. Moving away from the advancements in the printing techniques for example, he created processes such as the Indigo dye technique he perfected to create designs such as Brother Rabbit and Strawberry Thief.
But we’re getting ahead of ourselves! Born in 1834 in Walthamstow, East London, he led a privileged childhood and his inheritance actually meant that he didn’t need to earn an income – something that with socialist principles does seem a bit of a contradiction that he was aware of. Principled by a young age, on a family trip to London when he was sixteen, he refused to enter the “Great Exhibition” which championed Machine Age Design and went against his craft principles.
He studied at Oxford University and there met Edward Burne-Jones who became his lifelong friend (and he himself went on to become one of the era’s most well known painters in his own right.) It was actually Burne-Jones that introduced Morris to The Brotherhood, who had the same ideals and ideas as Morris who seemed to fit right in. It was the group who seemed to fuel Morris’ ideas and passions and cemented his belief that industrialisation was dehumanising production systems and resulted in poor-quality products. He was also made aware of the deep divisions in contemporary society by the group.
Though he went to Oxford to learn to become a member of the church, he soon realised, especially after a trip to France with Burne-Jones, that he was much more committed to art and The Brotherhood than the Church. He made the decision to study architecture and did so in the office of George Edmund Street who was the leading Neo-Gothic architect. He lasted eight months in the office before realising that whilst he loved and appreciated architecture – and campaigned for buildings to not be modernised, he didn’t himself have a talent for architecture, though it did lead him to meet a long time friend Philip Webb, who he worked with and collaborated with many times throughout their careers. After he left this apprenticeship, he began full time with his art and that’s really where his story begins! Working with Rossetti, a central and leading figure in the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, he was soon on his way to making waves in the art works, painting murals at the Oxford Union which led to bigger projects.
In his personal life, he met and married Jane Burden, a Pre-Raphaelite ideal of womanly beauty, who became a model for many of the notable artists of the time over the course of the next thirty years. Little is known of her childhood, but what is known is that it was poor and deprived. They met at a theatre performance of the Drury Lane Theatre Company in Oxford. It was initially Dante Gabriel Rossetti and Edward Burne-Jones who noticed Jane and who approached her to model for them. She modelled for Rossetti for a painting for Queen Guinevere and afterwards sat for Morris. During this time he fell in love with Jane and they were soon engaged to be married, but from her own admission, she wasn’t in love with him. Within the first few years of their marriage, she began an affair with Rossetti which lasted a number of years and was a hard blow to Morris as Rossetti was an idol and then a close friend.
In 1860, Morris commissioned close friend Philip Webb to design his home in South London; the beautiful Red House. Morris and his friends decorated the house and from this, realising that there wasn’t the furnishings he longed to buy for his home, they set up The Firm; Morris, Marshall, Faulkner and Co. The founding members of this included William Morris, Ford Madox Brown, Edward Burne-Jones, Dante Gabriel Rossetti and Philip Webb. The year following the set up of The Firm, in 1862, Morris designed their first wallpapers and over the following years saw him producing not only beautiful designs, but poetry too.
After 1870, the socialist movement became more and more Morris’ focus and it seemed to him to be the only way to solve problems at the time; poverty, unemployment, the dying arts, the growing divide between the upper and lower classes which he saw as a result of the industrial revolution. Always an advocate for these issues, his works after this point reflect this.
In 1871 – despite the ongoing affair between Jane and Rossetti, Morris and Rossetti became join tenants of Kelmscott Manor in Oxfordshire. From this time, Morris began to make trips to Iceland which produced wonderful letters and stories (including ‘Love is Enough’ by Morris) and it’s reported he began this due to the tension in the house he wished to escape from.
1875 saw Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Co. dissolved and reconstituted as Morris & Co. with Morris as sole proprietor. From this company, we know the designs he produced and the beautiful art and processes he created. These live on to be his main legacy today. We license many of his designs from this period and print these on various household textiles here in the United Kingdom.
He founded the Kelmscott Press in 1891 and published limited edition, illuminated style printed books, which he spent the last of his years creating.
Morris died on October 3rd 1896 aged 62, and remains known as one of the most significant cultural figures of Victorian Britain, well known as a poet, designer and socialist activist. His physician gave the fitting cause of death of, “simply being William Morris, and having done more work than most ten men.”
Posted in William Morris 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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#williammorris #williammorrisfabric #morrisfabric #williammorrisfabrics #strawberrythief #christmasgiftguide #christmasgifts #floralgift #myfloralhome #myfloraltable #floraltablescape #christmastablesetting
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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#williammorris #williammorrisfabric #williammorrisdesign #williammorrisdesigns #morrisdesign #brotherrabbit #floraldesign #christmastablesetting #christmastablescape #floraltablescape
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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#williammorris #williammorrisfabric #williammorrisdesign #williammorrisfabrics #floraldesigns #teatowel #christmasgiftideas #christmasgiftguide #floralgiftideas #willowbough #willowboughgreen
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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#laurasbeau #williammorris #williammorrisfabric #williammorrisfabrics #fabrics #morris #preraphaelite #floralinteriors #preraphaelite #upholsteryfabric #curtainfabric #blackfriday2023
🎄 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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#halloweendog #halloweendogsofinstagram #halloweendogcostume #labrador #labradorpuppy #labpuppy #williammorrisfabric #williammorris #morris #preraphaelite #strawberrythief
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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#williammorris #williammorrisfabric #williammorrisfabrics #morris #morrisfloral #floraltable #pvcfabric #oilclothfabric #floralfabric #florals #tablescape #tablescapeflorals #preraphaelite #fabrics #onlinefabric
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