Paired birds alternate between perched and in-flight in this serene 1878 tapestry design from William Morris. Surprising bursts of colour emerge upon closer inspection, pulling the eye towards the original hand-driven jacquard loom production quality. William Morris designed Bird in 1878 to adorn the walls of his own drawing room in Kelmscott House. His friend and neighbour, the noted typographer Sir Emery Walker, adorned his dining room with an identical Bird tapestry after receiving an inheritance from either Morris or Philip Webb, the famous Arts & Crafts architect.
Our modern Bird tapestry retains William Morris’s high regard for craftsmanship, being woven by Morris & Co. craftspeople right here in the UK using a cotton-wool blend (80% wool).
Available in two colourways: Tump Green and Webb’s Blue.
Width: 132cm
Horizontal Repeat: 67cm
Vertical Repeat: 65.5cm
Martindale: 16000
Domestic Usage: Upholstery, Curtains and Blinds, Cushions
Contract Usage: Suitable for contract curtains, blinds and cushions
Design Code - 237311
*Please note that fabric cannot be returned
*Sold in 1-metre increments
As a political theorist, publisher, environmental campaigner, poet, as well as an outstanding designer, William Morris (1834–1896) was one of the single most influential figures of the nineteenth century. Under his direction Morris & Co. grew to the status of Arts & Crafts icon that it remains to this day.
Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Co. (1861–1875) was a furnishings and decorative arts manufacturer and retailer founded by the artist and designer William Morris with friends from the Pre-Raphaelites. With its successor Morris & Co. (1875–1940) the firm's medieval-inspired aesthetic and respect for hand-craftsmanship and traditional textile arts had a profound influence on the decoration of churches and houses into the early 20th century.
Although its most influential period was during the flourishing of the Arts and Crafts Movement in the 1880s and 1890s, Morris & Co. remained in operation in a limited fashion from World War I until its closure in 1940. The firm's designs are still sold today under licences given to Sanderson & Sons.
