Flower Garden thumbnail 1
Flower Garden thumbnail 2
Not on display

Flower Garden

Furnishing Fabric
1879 (designed)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

The pattern on this silk is 'Flower Garden'. On 4 March 1879 William Morris described it in a letter to a friend. He wrote, 'I am...in a whirlwind of dyeing and weaving, and...rather excited by a new piece...which looks beautiful, like a flower garden'. Morris claims to have chosen the colours to 'suggest the beauties of inlaid metal'. They were almost certainly influenced by a display of items from Damascus he had studied in a dealer's shop in London in 1878. This silk cost 19/6d (97.5p) in 1919 when the V&A acquired this sample.

Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleFlower Garden (assigned by artist)
Materials and techniques
Jacquard-woven silk
Brief description
'Flowering Garden', furnishing fabric, silk, designed by William Morris for Morris & Co, England, 1879
Physical description
Handwoven in coloured silk, the pattern is in light blue, yellow and mauve on a dark green background.
Dimensions
  • Length: 86cm
  • Width: 69.2cm
Marks and inscriptions
  • Transliteration
Credit line
Given by Morris & Co.
Subject depicted
Summary
The pattern on this silk is 'Flower Garden'. On 4 March 1879 William Morris described it in a letter to a friend. He wrote, 'I am...in a whirlwind of dyeing and weaving, and...rather excited by a new piece...which looks beautiful, like a flower garden'. Morris claims to have chosen the colours to 'suggest the beauties of inlaid metal'. They were almost certainly influenced by a display of items from Damascus he had studied in a dealer's shop in London in 1878. This silk cost 19/6d (97.5p) in 1919 when the V&A acquired this sample.
Collection
Accession number
T.67-1919

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Record createdDecember 15, 1999
Record URL
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