Designer of the Month: William Morris

Week 3

The reorganization of William Morris' decorative arts firm as Morris & Company in 1875 brought a period of incredible commercial success. 1875-6 was a time of incessant work at the dye-vat for Morris, during which he reinstated indigo-dyeing as a practical industry and helped to renew the use of vegetable-based dyes.[1] This was followed, in 1877-8, by a period during which he was absorbed in the production of textiles (1877-8), becoming particularly interested in the revival of carpet-weaving as a fine art.[2]

William Morris, Bird, 1878. Wool textile, manufactured by Morris & Co. Purchase by Edward C. Moore Jr. Gift, 1923. Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

Already a unofficial adviser to the the South Kensington Museums, in 1876, Morris was appointed an examiner of drawings at their School of Art, a position that confirmed his expertise as a designer and art historian and began his public lecturing career.[3] The most notable of Morris' speeches, "The Lesser Arts," quite possibly the most famous lecture ever given on the specific topic of the decorative arts, was delivered before the Trades' Guild of Learning on December 4, 1877.[4] In it, Morris argued for the link between aesthetics and quality of craftsmanship to that of social conditions, proposing that only the arts that are grounded in socialist principles could be truly noble, vital and beautiful.[5] As he explained:

To give people please in the things they must perforce use, that is one great office of decoration; to give people pleasure in the things they must perforce make, that is the other use of it...There is a great deal of sham work in the world, hurtful to the buyer, more hurtful to the seller, if he only knew it, most hurtful to the maker: how good a foundation it would be towards getting good Decorative Art, that is[,] ornamental workmanship, if we craftsman were to resolve to turn out nothing but excellent workmanship in all things, instead of having, as we too often have now, a very low average standard of work, which we often fall below.[6]

William Morris, The Forest, 1887. Tapestry, woven wool and silk on a cotton warp. Purchased with the assistance of The Art Fund. Courtesy of The Victoria & Albert Museum, London.

Of course, while Morris championed the decorative arts and the ideal of art for all, in reality, the work produced by Morris & Co. was, for the most part, handmade, and out of the reach of most. Not that this diminished Morris' enthusiasm for the socialist causes of the day at all, or changed the fact of the influence of his designs. In addition to his socialist leanings and public dissatisfaction with the state of the British Government's politics (Morris officially declared himself a socialist and joined the Democratic Federation in 1883), it was also around this time that Morris became distressed about the increased restoration of some of Britain's most significant early buildings.[7] In 1877, he founded the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings, solidifying historic preservation as become another cause that Morris would champion throughout his life.[8]


[1] J.W. Mackail, "William Morris," from The Dictionary of National Biography, Supp. vol. 3. London: Smith, Elder and Co., 1901. 197-203, reproduced by The William Morris Society in the United States, http://www.morrissociety.org/morris/bio-mackail.html (accessed October 13, 2011).


[2] Ibid.


[3] Linda Parry, "Introduction: Morris - The Man, Commercial Success, Politics and Conservation, 1875-85," from William Morris, (New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1996), 19.


[4] Carma Gorman, "William Morris, 'The Lesser Arts,'" from The Industrial Design Reader, (New York: Allworth Press, 2003), 35.


[5] Ibid., 35.


[6] William Morris, "The Lesser Arts," from The Industrial Design Reader, ed. Carma Gorman, (New York: Allworth Press, 2003), 35.


[7] Linda Parry, "Introduction: Morris - The Man, Commercial Success, Politics and Conservation, 1875-85," from William Morris, (New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1996), 20. 

[8] J.W. Mackail, "William Morris," from The Dictionary of National Biography, Supp. vol. 3. London: Smith, Elder and Co., 1901. 197-203, reproduced by The William Morris Society in the United States, http://www.morrissociety.org/morris/bio-mackail.html (accessed October 13, 2011).