The Strawberry Thief
The Victorian designer, poet and craftsman William Morris helped shape the look of 19th-century interiors with his beautiful prints taken from the natural world, and his reverence for nature remains a striking call for ecological compassion
New views
Jeremy Deller explores William Morris’s relationship with nature in The Art That Made Us: Rise of the Cities, on BBC iPlayer. bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p0bvgvtm/art-that-made-us
Although a century and a half has passed since one of Britain’s most extraordinary cultural figures, William Morris, first trod through the village of Kelmscott – describing it in a letter to his business partner Charles Faulkner, as “a heaven on Earth” – it still feels like a tranquil haven blocking out the rest of the world.
At the end of a no-through road and set among flat fields bordering the River Thames, it is clear why Morris chose this pocket of West Oxfordshire as his country retreat from the noise and industrial turmoil of London. A dozen cows graze in a small pasture, bumping up against an old house; drystone walls frame neat gardens of old farmworkers’ cottages clustered around the medieval church. The only commotion is the whispering of treetops mingled with the trills and whistles of birds and the low hum of busy insects.
Morris, a prolific designer, craftsman and decorator in the 19th century, is still renowned today as the man behind enduring patterns such as Willow Bough and Strawberry Thief. But he was also a poet, a businessman, a political activist and conservationist, and his work is as relevant today as it was 150 years ago. His great artistic, literary and political output during Victorian times was fuelled by his anger at the harm wreaked on nature by reckless consumerism and mass production and his belief that there must be more beautiful, less wasteful, fairer and greener ways to live. As we face the consequences of an environment damaged by long-term industrialisation and overconsumption, his ideas about living in harmony with the natural world remain as significant as ever.
RURAL BEAUTY
The farmstead Morris leased in Kelmscott from 1871 until his death in 1896 became a place where he was able to think deeply and imaginatively. The buildings embodied all that he cared for in architecture – the gabled Oxfordshire farmhouse, with its steep, stone-tiled roofs and mullioned windows, is layered in history and, to Morris, was beautiful in its simplicity. The house was built in 1600 and extended in the 1660s. Morris felt it spoke of working lives and rural crafts, built by people who were sympathetic to the beauty of their surroundings and who understood their materials. The garden and countryside beyond, meanwhile, were paradise to him, where he would closely observe nature. His most iconic works produced during these later years of his life were a response to this setting, to these pastures and meadows bounding the Thames. The wallpaper Willow Bough (1887) was inspired by the willow trees surrounding the property and overhanging the nearby waterways. A manmade stream runs to the Thames behind the barns and Morris would study the detail of the leaf forms and branches growing beside it. The cotton furnishing textile Strawberry Thief (1883) was dreamt up while he watched thrushes stealing soft fruits in the Kelmscott garden.
MORRIS THE POET
Although highly regarded as a decorator, in Victorian times Morris was best known as a writer. His epic poem The Earthly Paradise (1868), with its anti-industrial message, established him as one of the foremost poets of his day. As with his designs, his poetry and prose featured nature. He also wrote fantasy fiction; his novels The House of the Wolfings (1888) and The Roots of the Mountains (1889) influenced JRR Tolkien and CS Lewis. In 1890, Morris published the celebrated News from Nowhere, in which a Victorian wakes in 2102 to find himself in a pastoral paradise, where people live happily and equally. In 1891, Morris set up the Kelmscott Press (pictured).
FLOURISHING CREATIVITY
Born in Walthamstow, east London, in 1834, William Morris enjoyed a privileged childhood in Woodford Hall, a country house in what was then rural Essex, from where he would explore Epping Forest. When his father died in 1847, the family moved to the smaller Water House nearby.
He was educated at Marlborough College, before studying for the church at Oxford in 1853. After university, he changed course and trained as an architect, enchanted by the medieval buildings of Oxford as well as the great cathedrals he had seen on travels to Belgium and France. In 1859, he married Jane Burden, and developed close friendships with the Pre-Raphaelite artists Edward Burne-Jones and Dante Gabriel Rossetti (for whom Jane would model), which fired up his creativity and led him to experiment with painting, life drawing, calligraphy and embroidery.
The Morrises commissioned the architect Philip Webb to design their family home, Red House in Kent in 1860, and, unhappy with the shoddy items mass-produced in the wake of the Industrial Revolution, they set about decorating the house themselves with their friends, finding inspiration in medieval art. This project led to the founding of the business Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Co in 1861, a partnership between Morris, Burne-Jones, Webb and Rossetti, as well as Ford Madox Brown, Charles Faulkner and Peter Paul Marshall. They offered a range of decorating services and had high-profile commissions at the South Kensington Museum (now the V&A) and St James’s Palace. The firm became popular among wealthy Victorians and the style of decoration influenced interiors of this period. Morris designed tapestries, fabrics, wallpaper, furniture and stained-glass windows, and the company decorated fine houses from Cornwall to Stirlingshire.
Despite the intricacy of the firm’s commercial schemes, the rooms of Kelmscott Manor had a simplicity of style. The restful effect reflects the rural setting. Morris’s decoration was often more restrained for country-house interiors.
The first few years at Kelmscott were complicated for Morris, as Jane had a long affair with Rossetti, who coleased the manor. During this time, Morris travelled to Iceland and observed the way of life there, which spurred him in his radical rejection of the Victorian status quo. After Rosetti left Kelmscott in 1874, Morris spent more time there and the ensuing years saw him at his most creative, producing the works we know so well today. He took over the firm and changed it to Morris & Co in 1875.
Morris raised the status of craftsmanship and of good design, and for this he is considered the founding father of the Arts & Crafts Movement, which took its name from the Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society, founded in London in 1887. The movement spread in large cities, but many people moved to places such as the Lake District, Cornwall and the Cotswolds to set up craft communities.
Later in life, Morris realised his products were out of reach for most people. Increasingly concerned about social inequality, he became more active politically and formed the Socialist League. His 1890 novel, the socialist masterpiece News From Nowhere, offers a romantic vision of a world free from capitalism, isolation and industrialisation. Kelmscott Manor’s architecture is woven into the book – an old stone house stands at the end of this tale exploring utopian ideals.
After his death, Jane commissioned a pair of cottages in Kelmscott as a memorial to her late husband. Designed by Webb, Memorial Cottages feature a relief carved into the exterior by George Jack. It depicts idealist Morris sitting in a pastoral paradise. Somehow, down this lane away from our even more fragile and damaged world, in a rural idyll still intact, you can imagine, for a second, that Morris’ dream of a better future could still become a reality.
FURTHER READING
William Morris, edited by Anna Mason (Thames & Hudson/V&A, £50).
Rosanna Morris is a freelance journalist with a keen interest in the countryside, art and crafts.
When she’s not writing, she spends her time on her allotment in Somerset, painting and going on walks with her family.
GET THE WILLIAM MORRIS LOOK
BEAUVAMP
This independent lighting company in Derbyshire founded by designer Alice Moylan makes beautiful hand-stitched bespoke lampshades featuring Willow Bough fabric. beauvamp.com
PENTREATH & HALL
Architect Ben Pentreath has recoloured and updated some of the most popular Morris & Co designs, including Willow Bough. His store Pentreath & Hall in London sells cushions (above) featuring the refreshed designs. pentreath-hall.com
WINIFRED J
Devon-based designer Jeanette Barron uses William Morris prints and has an exquisite selection of handmade stockings (below) @_winifredj_
POOKY
This UK lighting brand has a range of lampshades featuring Morris & Co designs. pooky.com
MORRIS & CO
Morris & Co today sells heritage prints as well as new designs. It has a home emporium at Harrods and this year has launched a festive range. morrisandco.sandersondesigngroup.com
WHERE TO LEARN MORE
KELMSCOTT MANOR, LECHLADE
Owned by the Society of Antiquaries of London, Kelmscott Manor reopened earlier this year after major restoration. The house has furniture, pictures, textiles and objects by William Morris, his family and circle. Visitors can wander the garden and landscape that inspired Morris. sal.org.uk/kelmscott-manor
STANDEN HOUSE & GARDEN, EAST GRINSTEAD, WEST SUSSEX
Once the Sussex retreat of James and Margaret Beale, this house was designed by Philip Webb and built between 1891 and 1894. It is one of the finest examples of Arts and Crafts workmanship, featuring Morris & Co interiors. nationaltrust.org.uk/standen-house-and-garden
RED HOUSE, BEXLEYHEATH, LONDON
Commissioned and lived in by William Morris, Red House was designed by Philip Webb and built by 1860. Called “the beautifullest place on Earth” by Edward Burne-Jones, it features art by Morris and Webb, stained glass by Burne-Jones and embroidery by Jane and Elizabeth Burden. nationaltrust.org.uk/red-house
V&A, LONDON
Influenced by the Gothic Revival and medieval style, Morris and his firm created a restful, blue-green scheme for a new space at the South Kensington Museum in the 1860s, now the V&A, which has a collection of Morris works, bequeathed by his daughter May. Now known as the Green Dining Room, the room can be viewed today. vam.ac.uk
WILLIAM MORRIS GALLERY, WALTHAMSTOW, LONDON
This gallery is in the Georgian mansion Water House, where Morris lived with his widowed mother and his eight brothers and sisters from 1848 to 1856. wmgallery.org.uk