Friday 27 January 2023

At Home with Jane and William Morris – A New Joint Biography

 

At Home with Jane and William Morris – A New Joint Biography

 

George Bernard Shaw called her ‘the silentest woman I ever met’.  And Henry James said she was ‘an apparition of fearful and wonderful intensity’. But these famous descriptions do Jane Morris a disservice. As a model for Gabriel Rossetti, she became Queen Guenevere, Pandora or Persephone. But should we accept that these images reflect the reality of Jane’s life and character? With the publication of her letters, edited by Jane Marsh and Frank L Sharp, we can recreate a fully rounded picture of the lives of both Jane and William Morris, their family and their close circle. As we read Jane’s words, we can reconsider the creativity of the women who pioneered the Arts and Crafts movement. Jane was an outstanding embroiderer, and ran the needlework department of Morris and Company for over a decade. She built a network of female friends and colleagues, and hosted poets, anarchists and artists at her homes in Kent, London and Oxfordshire. For the first time, we can see how she and William Morris worked together to develop a radical household. As he said, ‘the true secret of happiness lies in taking a genuine interest in all the details of daily life’.

Wednesday 11 January 2023

Emery Walker's Arts & Crafts Home

 


The World of Interiors presents Visitors’ Book from Emery Walker’s House at 7 Hammersmith Terrace. Together with William Morris, Emery Walker was a trailblazer of the arts and crafts movement during the 19th and 20th century. Emery Walker’s Georgian terrace overlooks London’s River Thames, and is preserved as a snapshot in time with Walker’s furniture and objects. 

From the drawer containing some of William Morris’ personal items to the hand-embroidered coverlet by William’s daughter, May Morris, the densely-decorated, jewel-toned interiors preserve a vibrant slice of Walker’s milieu. “Emery Walker’s house is a really unique survival of a truly authentic arts and crafts interior,” says Helen Elletson, curator of the William Morris society. Watch the full episode of Visitors’ Book as we explore Emery Walker’s charming and historic house, and view the new collection of wallpapers and fabrics from Morris & Co, which are inspired by the house.

Friday 6 January 2023

Members Only Zoom Lecture: Morris at Merton

 

Morris at Merton

A lecture from the UK by John Hawks

Sunday January 22, 2023, 12PM EST
Zoom Lecture

"The Pond at Merton Abbey" or "The Pond at William Morris's Works at Merton" by L. L. Pocock, watercolour, now in the Victoria & Albert Museum. William Morris acquired the old silk works at Merton Abbey Mills in June 1881 and relocated the workshops of Morris & Co. to Merton.


In 1881 William Morris moved his weaving, dyeing and stained glass works to picturesque old buildings in Merton, then a village in South London near Wimbledon. The works continued there for another 44 years after his death, finally closing in 1940. They were known as the “Merton Abbey works” because this had once been the historic site of a major priory - which would certainly have appealed to the passionate medievalist in Morris, though more important to him was the water quality of the River Wandle which flows through Merton, a chalk stream ideal for his traditional processes. This period of his life and achievement is described by John Hawks, a trustee of the Wandle Industrial Museum and Merton Priory Trust.