Cartoon for Acanthus and Vine tapestry thumbnail 1
Cartoon for Acanthus and Vine tapestry thumbnail 2
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Cartoon for Acanthus and Vine tapestry

Watercolour
1879 (made)
Artist/Maker
Morris & Co. (maker)
Morris, William (designer)
Place of origin
England (made)

This is the working cartoon (pattern) for Morris's first tapestry. Morris drew the original design (also in the collection, E.45-1940), but this cartoon may have been drawn in the Morris & Co. studio. The 'Acanthus and Vine' tapestry was Morris's first attempt at tapestry weaving. He first set up a tapestry loom in 1877, and experimented before beginning 'Acanthus and Vine' on 10 May, 1877 at his home, Kelmscott House. The piece was finished on 17 September after more than 500 hours of work Both the design and the cartoon show only one half of the pattern worked out in detail

Object details

Categories
Tapestry
Designs
Drawings
Object type
Watercolour
TitleCartoon for <i>Acanthus and Vine</i> tapestry (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Pencil and watercolour on paper
Watercolour
Watercolour
Paper
Drawing
Painting
Brief description
Cartoon for Acanthus and Vine tapestry, pencil and watercolour on paper, Morris & Co. studio after a design by William Morris, 1879.
Physical description
Working cartoon for Morris's first tapestry, with half the design worked in detail depicting birds and acanthus leaves.
Dimensions
  • Sheet height: 1795mm
  • Sheet width: 1355mm
Dimensions taken from: Summary Catalogue of British Posters to 1988 in the Victoria & Albert Museum in the Department of Design, Prints & Drawing. Emmett Publishing, 1990. 129 p. ISBN: 1 869934 12 1 151 x 100.9 cm
Style
Arts and Crafts
Subjects depicted
Acanthus
Birds
Flowers
Grapes
Summary
This is the working cartoon (pattern) for Morris's first tapestry. Morris drew the original design (also in the collection, E.45-1940), but this cartoon may have been drawn in the Morris & Co. studio. The 'Acanthus and Vine' tapestry was Morris's first attempt at tapestry weaving. He first set up a tapestry loom in 1877, and experimented before beginning 'Acanthus and Vine' on 10 May, 1877 at his home, Kelmscott House. The piece was finished on 17 September after more than 500 hours of work Both the design and the cartoon show only one half of the pattern worked out in detail
Bibliographic references
  • Parry, Linda, ed. William Morris. London: Philip Wilson Publishers Limited, 1996. 384 p., ill. ISBN 0856674419
  • Victoria & Albert Museum Department of Prints and Drawings and Department of Paintings, Accessions 1932. London: HMSO, 1933.
Collection
Prints, Drawings & Paintings Collection
Accession number
E.3472-1932

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Record createdJanuary 13, 2004
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O89229/cartoon-for-iacanthus-and-vinei-watercolour-morris-william/
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