William Morris' Wallpaper Design

Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful.

                                                                           -William Morris

Jasmine, Morris 1872

Pimpernel, Morris 1876

Blackthorn, designed by William Morris in 1892

This is an example of furniture in the
 Red House that imitates the same
 design as a typical Morris wallpaper.

The Above images are a small sample William Morris vast body of work in wallpaper design. Morris was greatly inspired by historical images he found in the Victoria and Albert Museum. His wallpaper designs are characterized by the flatness and simplification of the subject matter; Morris enjoyed nature, hence why almost all of wallpaper portrayed flowers, plants, and birds in one way or another. The Japanese wood-block-like images are carefully designed so that they seamlessly connect together when repeated on walls.

At the time when Red House was just built, the furnishing inside the house was considered very simplistic when compared to other homes around the time period. Most of the Victorian houses consisted of fancy interior decoration; the Red House, however, although incorporated sometimes more than seven different wallpapers or furniture designs in a single room, Morris was able to unify the images to create rooms fresh to one's eye.



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Citation:

"William Morris & Wallpaper Design." Victoria and Albert Museum. Accessed December 6, 2012. 

     http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/w/william-morris-and-wallpaper-design/. 

Kulh, Lynne. "Morris." Pinterest (blog). Accessed December 10, 2012. http://pinterest.com/kuhlworld/ 

     morris/. 

The Furniture Designs of Philip Webb

Phillip Webb designed this dresser in the
 Red House. In this image, this piece of
 furniture is located in the Dining Room.

William Morris built the Red House so he could live a life surrounded by handcrafted artifacts. All the furniture inside the house was designed by either himself or another member of his circle of close friends, many of them artists and important cultural figures. Philip Webb, architect of the Red House, was also a skilled furniture designer whose work contributed a great deal to furnishing the Red House. Furniture designs produced by Webb within Morris' firm, Morris & Co. were highly popular in Europe and abroad.

An iconic example of Webb's furniture can be found in the Red House dining room. Pictured here, Webb's oxblood red dresser was meant to serve as a multifunctional storage unit and a viewing gallery for use by the children Morris would have with his wife, Jane Morris.

Some more examples of Webb's furniture design include the William Morris Chair. Famously distinguished by its wooden back structure at the time, Webb did this to differentiate his handcrafted furniture from the mass produced chairs made of steel in America. Handcrafted with a high degree of detailing, all of Webb's furniture evokes a feeling of the medieval era, in its construction and aestethic qualities.

Through much of his furniture, Webb set a standard the Arts & Crafts movement would strive toward.

William Morris Chair,
designed by Philip Webb.

A sideboard designed by Webb, with tons of decoration and detailing

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Citation:

Didimendum1. "'Red House, Bexley and Related Material." Flickriver: Photoset (blog). Accessed 

     December 9, 2012. http://www.flickriver.com/photos/mynameismisty/sets/72157627292853981/.

History of the Firm

The Days of Creation was a series of religious painting done by Edward Burne-Jones.

The Days of Creation was a series of religious painting done by Edward Burne-Jones.

A cartoon drawing of Morris and Burne-Jones

One of William Morris' closest life-long friend was Edward Burne-Jones, whom he met at Exeter College, Oxford. Together, the two friends studied medieval manuscripts in school, and Morris soon fell in love with the medieval lifestyle as recorded. Because of this influence, much of his later work as an architect, writer, and craftsman incorporated themes of the Medieval time.

When the Red House was built, much of the interior decoration happened as a group effort from the help of the Morris' friends. Burne-Jones and Morris' other artistic friends painted many of the murals in Red House. Morris' wife, Jane Burden, a stableman's daughter, had married the wealthy William Morris in order to help with the financial difficulties of her family.

Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Co was the firm that Morris and his friends (Rossetti, Charles Faulkner, Ford Maddox Brown, Philip Webb, and Marshall) started in 1861. The firm produced tile, wallpaper and furniture inspired by the medieval design and mystical tales. 

Although Morris is well known for his wallpaper design, he disliked the medium and only resorted to its use because it was a less expensive type of tapestry (which required much more labour and money to create, but tapestries were much more detailed and rich in narrative than wallpapers). On the other hand, Morris enjoyed making tiles and even had his own pottery company. The firm produced two distinct lines of furniture, both designed by Webb. One involved more decoration and was carved in a medieval style, like the artifacts found in the Red House. The other line of furniture was more simplistic in its aesthetic and craft, making it relatively inexpensive and allowing it to maintain its popularity over a longer period time.


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Citation:

Marsh, Jan. William Morris & Red House. London, UK: National Trust, n.d.