Morris & Co.

A Morris & Co. stained glass window to a design by Edward Burne-Jones installed in Malmesbury Abbey. The window shows characteristic themes based on Athurian legends.

Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Co. (1861-1875) and its successor Morris & Co. (1875-1940) were furnishings and decorative arts manufacturers and retailers founded by the Pre-Raphaelite artist and designer William Morris.

Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Co., "Fine Art Workmen in Painting, Carving, Furniture and the Metals," was jointly created by Morris, Ford Madox Brown, Edward Burne-Jones, Charles Faulkner, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, P. P. Marshall, and Philip Webb in 1861 to create and sell medieval-inspired, handcrafted items for the home.

In 1871 Morris & Co. were responsible for the windows at All Saints church in the village of Wilden near to Stourport-on-Severn. They were designed by Edward Burne-Jones for Alfred Baldwin, his nephew's family.

The company was dissolved in 1875 and reorganized under Morris's sole direction as Morris & Co.

Although its most influential period was during the flourishing of the Arts and Crafts Movement in Britain in the 1880s and 1890s, Morris & Co. remained in operation in a limited fashion from World War I until its closure in 1940.

Stained glass

• 
  Edward Burne-Jones and William Morris' Nativity windows (1882).
• 
  Edward Burne-Jones and William Morris' The Worship of the Magi window (1882).
• 
  Edward Burne-Jones and William Morris' The Worship of the Shepherds window (1882).
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  Detail from Edward Burne-Jones and William Morris' The Worship of the Shepherds window (1882).

Printed textiles and wallpaper

Morris & Co. repeating patterns were occasionally offered as both block-printed wallpapers and fabric during Morris's lifetime; many of the patterns still available are offered in both forms by their current manufacturers,

• 
  Jasmine wallpaper, designed by Morris 1872
• 
  Acanthus wallpaper, designed by Morris 1875
• 
  Honeysuckle fabric, designed by Morris 1876
• 
  Grafton wallpaper, Morris, 1883
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  Design for Evenlode textile, Morris, 1883
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  Evenlode indigo discharge and block-printed textile, Morris, 1883
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  Willow Bough wallpaper, Morris, 1887, repurposed for fabric c. 1895
• 
  Artichoke wallpaper, designed by John Henry Dearle, 1897

Woven textiles

• 
  Anemone jacquard-woven silk and wool or silk damask, Morris, 1876
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  Peacock and Dragon woven woollen fabric, Morris, 1878
• 
  Granada woven silk velvet brocaded with gilt thread and blue areas block-printed, Morris, 1884
• 
  Ispahan woven woollen fabric, Morris, 1888

Tapestry

Detail of Woodpecker tapestry, designed by Morris, 1885

In 1879, Morris taught himself tapestry weaving in the medieval style and set up a tapestry workship with his apprentice John Henry Dearle at Queen Square. Dearle was soon responsible for the training of all tapestry apprentices in the workshop and partnered with Morris on designing details such as fabric patterns and floral backgrounds for tapestries based on figure drawings or cartoons by Burne-Jones (some of them repurposed from stained glass cartoons).

The Vision of the Holy Grail or The Attainment tapestry. Overall design by Morris, figures by Burne-Jones, and backgrounds by Dearle Morris and Company, 1890

See also

• Art needlework
• John Henry Dearle
• Stained glass
• Stained glass - British glass, 1811-1918
• Victorian Era
• Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood

External links

• William Morris; Crafting the Useful and the Beautiful, at the Huntington Library
• Morris & Co. by David Cody, at the Victorian Web
• Merton Abbey
• Morris & Co. windows in Cumbria and New York
• The Vanderpoel Window in Saugerties, New York
• Morris & Co. at Merton Abbey
• "Trellis Wallpaper". Paintings and Drawings. Victoria and Albert Museum. Retrieved 2007-08-12.

References

• Parry, Linda, "Textiles", in The Earthly Paradise: Arts and Crafts by Wiliam Morris and his Circle in Canadian Collections, edited by Katharine A. Lochnan, Douglas E. Schoenherr, and Carole Silver, Key Porter Books, 1993, ISBN 1-55013-450-7
• Parry, Linda, ed.: William Morris, Abrams, 1996, ISBN 0-8109-4282-8
• Parry, Linda: William Morris and the Arts and Crafts Movement: A Sourcebook, New York, Portland House, 1989 ISBN 0-517-69260-0
• Parry, Linda: William Morris Textiles, New York, Viking Press, 1983, ISBN 0-670-77074-4
• Parry, Linda: Textiles of the Arts & Crafts Movement, Thames and Hudson, revised edition 2005, ISBN 0-500-28536-5
• Waggoner, Diane: The Beauty of Life: William Morris & the Art of Design, Thames and Hudson, 2003, ISBN 0-500-28434-2