William Morris and the Trellis Wallpaper

Illustration: William Morris. Trellis wallpaper design, 1862.

Trellis was William Morris first commercially available wallpaper design. It was sold through the company of Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Co, which was later to become Morris & Co, in 1864. However, the design itself had been completed by Morris two years before in 1862.

Trellis was said to have been inspired by Morris new family home of Red House which had been designed and built, with assistance from Morris himself, by his friend and architect Philip Webb in 1859. Whether Morris was literally inspired to create this particular wallpaper design while wandering the gardens of his new home, is ultimately not particularly relevant. However, it does add to the character and legend of the designer and it is perhaps what we would presume to be typical of his creative character, and that probably is more important today, than whatever the truth may really be.

Illustration: William Morris, 1857.

Interestingly, the design itself was an inspired combination of talents, rather like the designing and building of Red House, between Philip Webb and Morris. Morris throughout his life lacked confidence in his drawing ability and while he was secure enough i his ability to produce excessive amounts of flower and foliage throughout his career, he was always less certain when it cam to anything biologically more complex. Therefore, in Trellis Webb produced the birdlife while Morris produced the rest of the design.

Compared to later design work, both for wallpaper and textiles, this early example appears much more stilted and compositionally heavy. If you have ever seen a room wallpapered in Trellis you will have some idea as to how overpoweringly busy this domineering wallpaper pattern can appear.

Illustration: William Morris. Trellis wallpaper design, 1864.

In its defence, it must be remembered that although this was the first example of a Morris wallpaper design that the market had seen, it was also very different from what was immediately available for interiors during this period. The design work is purposely naive and unsophisticated. A strategy has been taken by the designer in producing pattern work that bears little resemblance to any machine produced wallpaper of the period and this was obviously a conscious factor in Morris creative output. The flattened graphic appearance of the pattern work and the disregard for any form of naturalised three-dimensional quality sets it aside from much of the excessive floral and topographical wallpaper design work that was so much a part of mid-Victorian interiors. That many of these wallpapers are now long forgotten while Morris Trellis is still as well known and familiar today as it was one hundred and fifty years ago, says much about the designers own conviction and strategy towards the decorative arts.

Illustration: William Morris. Trellis wallpaper design, 1864.

Despite the early date of this wallpaper, it was always one of Morris favourites. It was part of the decor of his bedroom at Kemscott House during the last two decades of his life. Morris may well have been sentimental as to the perceived origin of the design. It perhaps reminded him of the period of his life where opportunities abounded. It was an era where he was starting out on a new creative career, a new marriage and a new house. However, Trellis can also be seen on a much wider scale as one of the first steps in a career that was to fundamentally change so many aspects of the English decorative arts world, much of it permanently.

Further reading links:
William Morris Wallpapers
Pimpernell, Design For Wallpaper, Morris, William Giclee Poster Print by William Morris, 18x24
William Morris. Wallpapers and Chintzes.
"Rose-90" Wallpaper Design Giclee Poster Print by William Morris, 9x12
"Mallow" Wallpaper Design Giclee Poster Print by William Morris, 12x16
Morris, William, Designs for Wallpapers
"Rose - 93" Wallpaper Design Giclee Poster Print by William Morris, 18x24
William Morris Designer - The Special Winter Number of the Studio
William Morris Full-Color Patterns and Designs (Dover Pictorial Archives)
William Morris: Patterns & Designs (International Design Library)
Designs of William Morris (Phaidon Miniature Editions)
William Morris (Temporis)
William Morris
William Morris on Art and Socialism
V&A Pattern: William Morris: (Hardcover with CD)
William Morris and Morris & Co.
The Beauty of Life: William Morris and the Art of Design
William Morris and the Arts and Crafts Home
William Morris Decor and Design

Tatar Leatherwork

Illustration: Examples Of Tatar leatherwork, 1925.

In 1925 the then Soviet Union held, amongst its various exhibitions at the Exposition Internationale des Arts Decoratifs et Industriels Modernes in Paris, a large display that highlighted the ethnic diversity of the Union as seen through various traditional craft skills. Amongst these displays was some Tatar leatherwork. The catalogue produced for the exhibition highlighted one page dedicated to the Tatar craft skill of leatherwork. The example shown here was merely named Tartar, but we can probably be certain enough to say that the items originated with the Volga Tatars of Kazan.

As well as there being Siberian, Crimean and Volga Tatars, there are also sizeable minorities of Tatars within Central Asia, the Baltic States, the Caucasus, Eastern Europe and across the Russian Federation. The total Tatar world population is presently thought to be about ten million. This broad and extensive Tatar homeland says much about the history of the Tatar people and particularly their links with their early nomadic lifestyle.

Illustration: Satellite map of the Volga River.

Leatherwork was often an important component of nomadic or semi-nomadic peoples and Volga Tatars were no different. They were extremely proficient at all levels of the craft from processing the hides to detailed cutting, dying and applique work. Whether the Tatar penchant for leatherwork really has anything to do with their nomadic past is uncertain. However, what is certain is that Volga Tatars were well known across Russia for their craft skills including ceramics, metalwork, jewellery and leatherwork. Tatars of the region were also great traders with the Volga being a great natural trade route. This helped to spread their leatherwork goods and reputation well beyond their own communities.

The decorative design on the leatherwork shown in this illustration has definite links with other Tatar groups in Europe and Asia and shows significant similarities to decorative pattern work that stretches back into Asia as far as Mongolia. Therefore, although the work shown may well have derived from Kazan, the larger Tartar community that stretches across two continents should also be considered as the greater origin of the decorative leatherwork that was shown by the Soviets at the 1925 Paris exhibition.

Illustration: Official flag of the Republic of Tatarstan.

Although Tatars are still scattered across a large geographical area and many find themselves ethnic minorities within various states and nations, the Republic of Tartarstan now within the boundaries of the Russian Federation, with its capital at Kazan, is a central focus of the Tatar culture, crafts and lifestyle. 

There are a number of online sites dealing with different aspects of Tatar culture and crafts, some of which are listed below in the Further reading links section, along with a list of relevant book titles.

Further reading links:
Official website of the Republic of Tatarstan
About Kazan
Go To Kazan
The Peremech Lounge blog
Volga Tatars: Ural Mountains, Tatars, Tatarstan, Kerä?en Tatars, Na?aybäk, Tatar Language
Kazan: Russian language, Tatar language, Types of inhabited localities in Russia, Tatarstan, Russia, Tatars, Confluence, Volga River, Kazanka, Kazan Kremlin, World Heritage Site
The Volga Tatars in Central Asia, 18th-20th centuries: From diaspora to hegemony?
Tatar Cuisine
Tatar manual: Descriptive grammar and texts with a Tatar-English glossary (Indiana University Publications. Uralic and Altaic series)

Crochet as Lace

Illustration: Crochet chair back pattern, 19th century.

Although crochet can often be closely, although inaccurately twinned with knit, it has in fact long been associated with lace rather than knit. In many respects, it could be seen as a simpler, though still effective interpretation of lace skills. Although obviously not as fine and accomplished as professional lace making, depending on the materials used and the fineness of both yarn and needle, a wide variation of crochet can be achieved.

Crochet can be produced quickly and efficiently with one hook and a continuous chain. From this relatively simple process, much more complex patterns and interpretations can be achieved as is shown in some of the examples that illustrate this article.

Illustration: Crochet collar pattern, 19th century.

In the mid-nineteenth century, the skill became particularly widespread in Ireland where extra income could be achieved with little initial outlay. Crochet pieces were produced in large numbers and were used within costume and domestic interiors for such items as collars, cuffs, pillow borders and table linen.

The Irish used cotton and silk more frequently than other materials. This, along with the combination of very fine crochet needles, produced work that was much sought after in mainland Britain and further a field. Although not strictly or technically lace, the standard of Irish crochet examples from the nineteenth century are relatively high and are now rare and much sought after.

Illustration: Crochet lace pattern, 19th century.

It is unfortunate in some respects that we tend today to judge so many of the textile craft skills by the standards of the revival and reinterpretation of the 1960s and 1970s. The revival was justified as so many textile craft skills had fallen from the heights achieved during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries when skills reached a plateau of creativity, popularity, but perhaps more importantly still one of general acceptance and critical acclaim within the fine art and decorative arts world.

However, it was perhaps the reinterpretation or re-imagining of so many traditional textile craft skills in the 1960s and 1970s that has left us with our own biased opinions concerning these skills. Crochet is a particular, but by no means unique casualty of this era. Often very fine pattern work that had been produced in the nineteenth century in order to imitate lace work was now being interpreted and reinvented with much brighter yarns, often using unsympathetic acrylics and much clumsier needles. Pattern work interpretation and finish inevitable suffered with much of the delicacy and subtlety of the original pattern work lost.

Illustration: Crochet Reticella lace pattern, 19th century.

To be fair, one of the prevailing ideas in the 1960s and 1970s as far as textile crafts was concerned, was one of the loosening of the rules and regulations that often plagued traditional crafts. However, this worthy ideal was often badly reinterpreted by self-styled experts, many with little if any design knowledge. The penchant was much more one of changing pattern work, colour and materials for the sake of the change rather than adding to the skill. Books and magazines of the period dealing with crochet would often encourage the use of thick yarns and needles in order to achieve a quick, bulky and obvious result, rather than spending labour intensive time achieving a much smaller, less showy but more accomplished result. As a consequence crochet along with many other textile craft skills have suffered decades of negative publicity.

Illustration: Crochet star pattern, 19th century.

Crochet is a delicate and fine skill. Pattern work can be extraordinarily complex and visually stunning. Perhaps in time, we will be able to see past the thick, overly bright red, orange and lime acrylic yarns and the heavy and laboured pattern work that were so much a part of the 1960s and 1970s re-imagining of this delicate skill.

Further reading links:
Identification of Lace (Shire Library)
THE DICTIONARY OF NEEDLEWORK.
Amazing Crochet Lace: New Fashions Inspired by Old-Fashioned Lace
Crochet Lace
Large Vintage Hand Crochet Lace Creamy Table Runner
Masterpieces of Irish Crochet Lace: Techniques, Patterns, Instructions (Dover Needlework Series)
Creative Crochet Lace: A Freeform Look at Classic Crochet
(Kindle) STARS IN CROCHET A Vintage Pin Cushion Cover Pattern (Doily Doilie Couvrette eBook e-book download downloadable old-fashion antique Crocheted Crocheting)
Irish Crochet Lace: Motifs from County Monaghan
Fine Irish Crochet Lace (Dover Needlework)
Victorian Lace Crochet: 38 Exquisite Designs for the Home

Uzbek Embroidery

Illustration: Large embroidered hanging from Bukhoro, Uzbekistan.

The embroidery skills and decorative pattern work of Uzbekistan are some of the most iconic of Central Asia. Although embroidery was used extensively in costume, apart from the ubiquitous cap or hat, many outside of Uzbek culture are more familiar with domestic embroidery.

Many of the best examples of Uzbek embroidery are in the form of internal hangings, bedspreads and covers. The design work is often bold both in decoration and colour choice. The origin of the various pattern designs has much to do with the geographical location of not only Uzbekistan, but of Central Asia as a whole.

Illustration: Satellite map of Uzbekistan.

The area that now comprises the 'Stans' as they are often called; previously part of Soviet Central Asia has always been a crossroads of both culture and trade. Many of the Uzbek examples of embroidery show heavy influences from as far a field as India, China, Iran and the nomadic peoples of Eurasia. The melting pot of ideas, cultures and religions, has given us the decorative printed and embroidery work that today we call Uzbek. However, perhaps even more importantly, the Central Asian region has a unique blend of countless generations of peoples and cultures that make the skills base of the region a library of historical decoration, ornament and skill that can be found nowhere else.

Illustration: Embroidery from Bukhoro, Uzbekistan, c1800.

Embroidery is often thought of as largely a skill that is urban based or at least that of settled people. Many of the numerous styles connected with Uzbekistan do tend to be associated with the major trading towns of the country. Bukhoro (Bukhara), Samarqand (Samarkand), Toshkent (Tashkent) and Farghona (Fergana) are all towns that have major embroidery styles associated with them and were indeed age old centres of schools of embroidery that were unique in many ways to their original geographical locations.

Illustration: Uzbek embroidery.

However, the influence of nomadic cultures that have always passed through and around the urban centres of Central Asia should not be marginalised. These people have always had an appreciation of and a penchant for the dynamic and energetic qualities of pattern and colour. It may well be true that the sophisticated cultures of India, China and Iran have added immeasurably to the embroidered pattern work of Uzbek culture as well as many other aspects of Uzbek craft work. However, without the dimension of the energetic liveliness of unbridled compositional pattern work and bold use of colour, Uzbek embroidery, while still exceptional, would not have been truly unforgettable.

Illustration: Embroidery of Lakai people, Uzbekistan, mid 19th century.

Sophistication has its merits, but sometimes the addition, even if only a small element of the whole can make all the difference to the dynamism of decorative pattern work. Although in many respects nomadic life has been relegated to the edges of our largely urban existence, the dynamics of nomadic culture threads its way often inextricably through many aspects of human decorative history.

There are a number of online sites selling a large variety of Uzbek printed and embroidered textiles, some of which are listed below. Also listed are a number of books dealing with Uzbek embroidery. All are within the Further reading links section below.

Further reading links:
Marla Mallet Collection
Thomas Cole Antique Rugs & Textiles
Uzbekistan Tourist info
Uztextile.com
Uzbek Craft
Uzbek Alive
Uzbek Embroidery in the Nomadic Tradition: The Jack and Aviva Robinson Collection at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts
Uzbek Silk Embroidery, 19th Century Giclee Poster Print, 18x24
A Journey Through Embroidery: Central Asian Embroideries - Ref. 12001-2
Embroidery: Traditional Designs, Techniques, and Patterns from All over the World
Embroidered Textiles: A World Guide to Traditional Patterns
Uzbek Embroidery in the Nomadic Tradition: The Jack and Aviva Robinson Collection at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts
Uzbekistan: Heir to the Silk Road