Wallpaper
ca.1866 (produced), 01/02/1864 (design registered)
ca.1866 (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.
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 | |
| Title | (assigned by artist) |
| Materials and techniques | block-printed in distemper colours, on paper |
| Brief description | Specimen of 'Fruit' (or 'Pomegranate') wallpaper, branches of fruit trees bearing oranges, limes and pomegranates; Block-printed in distemper colours, on paper; Designed by William Morris; Published by Morris & Co.; Part of a wallpaper pattern book containing 132 specimens (E.2734-2866-1980), mounted on a display stand, with a cloth cover; England; First issued ca.1866 |
| 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 | |
| Bibliographic references |
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| Collection | |
| Accession number | E.2742-1980 |
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| Record created | June 22, 2009 |
| Record URL |
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