This printed cotton furnishing textile features one of the few repeating patterns used by the designer William Morris (1834-1896) for both textiles and wallpapers. This was one of three monochrome patterns designed especially by Morris to be printed by the indigo-discharge printing method, which had preoccupied him since 1875.

Existing documents suggest that experiments using indigo for these designs started in April 1881 at Morris's workshop in Queen Square in London. They were finally successfully printed after he moved into his factory at Merton Abbey, Wimbledon, London, in June the same year. This example was surface printed later in madder, a natural red plant dye. The date when this cotton was printed can be calculated through marks and labels on the sample.

The attached paper label has a 'kite mark' indicating that the pattern was registered with the Patents Office on 17 June 1882. The selvedge (finished edge of the fabric) is printed 'Morris & Company 449 Oxford Street'. This form was used between 1877 and 1917, when the shop moved to another address. An additional label marked 'Decorators Ltd' uses a term adopted by the Morris firm in 1905. This narrows the date of the sample to between 1882 and 1905.