Carpets and Curtains

M

orris designed all Morris and Co. furnishing fabrics until the late 1880s when the talented John Henry Dearle took over most of the design work. Many of the curtains represented here reflect the characteristic Morris and Co. style, combining recognisable naturalistic motifs, usually in the form of flowers and leaves, as well as birds and animals, organised decoratively into a framework.

Morris panel carpets

Morris and Co. began designing carpets in the mid 1870s. Initially the production was contracted to outside firms, but by 1879 Morris and Co. was producing its own hand-woven carpets. One-time manager of Morris & Co., George Wardle described Morris’s practice: 'In designing for carpets everything of course depended on him. He would first make a small drawing to scale, of say, one eighth of the full size, which he would colour carefully.'

The carpets in this exhibition give a good indication of the breadth of Morris & Co.’s range. They include reworkings of earlier designs as well as several new original designs.

"In designing for carpets everything of course depended on him. He would first make a small drawing to scale, of say, one eighth of the full size, which he would colour carefully."

George Wardle, one-time manager of Morris & Co.

The best designs show the remarkable skill of Morris and Dearle at combining floral motifs in highly decorative patterns. Some have repeating patterns, either small or large, in which the repeat is not integral to the overall design. This is a feature of the machine-woven carpets. The most splendid, however, are the hand-knotted Hammersmith carpets. The best designs are those in which the structure of the design covers the entire carpet. Some of these have large repeating tendrils or ogee patterns; others, a centred symmetrical floral design.

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