Strawberry Thief
Furnishing Fabric
1883 (designed), ca. 1955 (made)
1883 (designed), ca. 1955 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
William Morris was inspired to draw this design after finding thrushes stealing fruit in his garden. This original complicated and colourful pattern was printed by the indigo discharge method and took a long time to produce. Consequently, it was expensive to buy. Despite this it became one of Morris & Co.'s most commercially successful textiles and is now his most recognisable design.
This reproduction of 'Strawberry Thief' uses modern chemical dyestuffs and was not discharge printed and so looks very different from the versions originally printed to Morris's specification. It is possible however that the original blocks were used to produce this fabric, as the blocks were obtained by Stead McAlpin on the liquidation of Morris & Co. in 1940.
This reproduction of 'Strawberry Thief' uses modern chemical dyestuffs and was not discharge printed and so looks very different from the versions originally printed to Morris's specification. It is possible however that the original blocks were used to produce this fabric, as the blocks were obtained by Stead McAlpin on the liquidation of Morris & Co. in 1940.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Title | Strawberry Thief |
| Materials and techniques | Block printed cotton |
| Brief description | Furnishing fabric of printed cotton, 'Strawberry Thief', 1883, designed by William Morris, printed by Stead McAlpin, retailed by Warner & Sons, England, ca. 1955 |
| Physical description | Furnishing fabric of block printed cotton with a design of birds, flowers and strawberry plants. The technique used is not indigo discharge as in the original design. This sample has a blue/grey block printed background with the design in pale blue, pink, red, green and brown. |
| Dimensions |
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| Production type | Copy |
| Marks and inscriptions |
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| Object history | This later reproduction of 'Strawberry Thief' uses modern chemical dyestuffs and was not discharge printed and so looks very different from the original. It seems possible that the original blocks were used to produce this fabric, as the register regords that the blocks were obtained by Stead McAlpin on the liquidation of Morris in 1940. |
| Summary | William Morris was inspired to draw this design after finding thrushes stealing fruit in his garden. This original complicated and colourful pattern was printed by the indigo discharge method and took a long time to produce. Consequently, it was expensive to buy. Despite this it became one of Morris & Co.'s most commercially successful textiles and is now his most recognisable design. This reproduction of 'Strawberry Thief' uses modern chemical dyestuffs and was not discharge printed and so looks very different from the versions originally printed to Morris's specification. It is possible however that the original blocks were used to produce this fabric, as the blocks were obtained by Stead McAlpin on the liquidation of Morris & Co. in 1940. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | T.1-1978 |
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| Record created | June 24, 2009 |
| Record URL |
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