Furnishing fabric

This woven cotton and wool furnishing fabric depicts pairs of confronting birds in branches. It was designed by C. F. A. Voysey for Alexander Morton & Co. in 1898. Voysey was one of the most original and influential architects and designers of all forms of decorative art working at the end of the 19th century. In 1882 he set up his own architecture practice and from the late 1880s started to design repeating patterns for wallpaper and woven and printed textiles and carpets. Voysey's most interesting designs date from this time and are dominated by flowing patterns incorporating pastel coloured birds, animals, hearts, flowers and trees in silhouette. He sold his work to manufacturers such as G. P. & J. Baker, Thomas Wardle and Alexander Morton. Voysey's designs were well known in continental Europe, and though popular with French Art Nouveau designers, his influence was felt more dramatically by the founders of the Modern Movement.

Alexander Morton founded his textile company in Scotland in 1867 and in 1900 moved to a factory in Carlisle. Morton's son James was responsible for buying patterns from most of the leading free-lance designers of the day, including Voysey, Butterfield and the Silver Studio.