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Daisy

Wallpaper
1864 (produced), 01/02/1864 (design registered)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Specimen of 'Daisy' wallpaper, a design featuring a variety of plants in a brick pattern, on a flecked ground suggestive of grass; Block-printed in distemper colours, on paper.
Part of a wallpaper pattern book containing 132 specimens (E.2734-2866-1980), mounted on a display stand, with a cloth cover.

Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleDaisy (assigned by artist)
Materials and techniques
block-printed in distemper colours, on paper
Brief description
Specimen of 'Daisy' wallpaper, a design featuring a variety of plants in a brick pattern, on a flecked ground suggestive of grass; Block-printed in distemper colours, on paper; Designed by William Morris; Published by Morris & Co.; Produced 1864; Part of a wallpaper pattern book containing 132 specimens (E.2734-2866-1980), mounted on a display stand, with a cloth cover; England; 1864.
Physical description
Specimen of 'Daisy' wallpaper, a design featuring a variety of plants in a brick pattern, on a flecked ground suggestive of grass; Block-printed in distemper colours, on paper.
Part of a wallpaper pattern book containing 132 specimens (E.2734-2866-1980), mounted on a display stand, with a cloth cover.
Style
Marks and inscriptions
'THESE PAPERS ARE PRINTED BY HAND / Hand or Block-printed Papers and Machine-printed Papers. / MORRIS AND COMPANY are often asked "What is the advantage of hand-printed papers over those printed by machine?" / HAND-PRINTED PAPERS are produced very slowly, each block used being dipped into pigment and then firmly pressed on to the paper, giving a great body of colour. This process takes place with each separate colour, which is slowly dried before another is applied. The consequence is that in the finished paper there is a considerable mass of solid colour. / MACHINE-PRINTED PAPERS are produced at a great speed, all the colours being printed at one time and rapidly dried in a heated gallery. In consequence of the speed at which they are printed, there is merely a film of colour deposited on the surface of the paper. / FOR PERMANENT USE we strongly recommend the hand-printed paper. / The machine-printed papers are placed at the end of one of the books or in a msall book by themselves. / Show Rooms: / 449, Oxford Street, London, W.' (Printed on cover sheet of stand-book.)
Credit line
Given by Shand Kydd Ltd
Object history
This was the first wallpaper designed by William Morris to be put into production. The source of the flat simple frontal motif of the pattern can be seen in a wall hanging illustrated in a fifteenth-century version of Froissart’s Chronicles, shown in an illuminated manuscript at the British Museum (BL Ms 4380, fol. 1).
Production
Part of a pattern book of wallpapers containing 132 specimens (E.2734-2866-1980) from 1880-1917.
Subjects depicted
Associated objects
Bibliographic references
  • Oman, Charles C., and Hamilton, Jean. Wallpapers: a history and illustrated catalogue of the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum. London: Sotheby Publications, in association with the Victoria and Albert Museum, 1982.
  • Saunders, Gill. Wallpaper in Interior Decoration. V&A Publications. London. 2002. pp. 118. pl 103.
  • Parry, Linda, ed. William Morris London : Philip Wilson in association with the Victoria and Albert Museum, 1996. Published to coincide with an exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum, 9 May-1 Sept. 1996, p.206.
  • Parry, Linda, ed. William Morris London : Philip Wilson in association with the Victoria and Albert Museum, 1996. Published to coincide with an exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum, 9 May-1 Sept. 1996.
Collection
Accession number
E.2742-1980

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Record createdJune 22, 2009
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