William Morris and the Daisy Wallpaper

Illustration: William Morris. Daisy wallpaper design, 1864.

The Daisy pattern, along with Pomegranate were the first William Morris wallpapers to be produced, appearing in 1864. Daisy was in fact designed in 1862, but was not released on that date because of problems Morris was having in achieving a high enough standard of production. Eventually he had to admit defeat and the printing of wallpapers was taken over by the very reliable wallpaper manufacturers Jeffrey & Co. However, Daisy was a strictly hand-produced wallpaper using the block print method and Jeffrey & Co never wavered from Morris strict and closed instructions.

The use of and insistence by Morris of hand production wherever available, had the inevitable result of raising the cost of manufacturing the wallpapers involved. This had a direct and inevitable effect on the price of Morris wallpapers in general, which resulted in limiting their access, with only the small wealthy upper class being able to afford to buy from Morris. This was in direct conflict with Morris initial attempt to produce high quality interior products for all classes and ranges of budget. It appears that Morris exacting demands and his insistence on perfection which were always a large part of his character, won the battle between quality and the masses.

Illustration: Brussels tapestry in wool and silk, 16th century.

The Daisy pattern itself was derived from late medieval styled tapestry motifs. The sixteenth century example above should give some idea as to the origin of one of Morris most successful decorative works. It was a conscious decision on the part of Morris to use both a medieval styled pattern and one that was much more naturalistic in content than was perhaps usual for the time period. Daisy fuelled Morris desire to achieve a medieval simplicity along with a form of synchronicity with the era, that while accepting the contemporary world that Morris lived in, also recognised the relevant and superior points of decorative pattern work from the late medieval, at least as Morris saw it.

Daisy came in a number of colourways and proved to be hugely successful, still being printed fifty years after its initial printing in 1864. Although perhaps less involved than some of his later wallpaper creations, Daisy has a charm all of its own. Its defined, yet easily accessible late medievalism made it an extremely attractive proposition and was particularly popular with artistic and creative circles who often saw it as both refined and naively refreshing. Morris kept over-stylisation to a gentle minimum, although the daisy motifs are far from any strict form of realism. The compositional parameters of the pattern work are both harmonious and seemingly effortless. Along with its clear, concise and well balanced colours and tones, it is easy to see why it proved to be so effective and enduring.

Illustration: William Morris. Daisy wallpaper design, 1864.

Morris himself was never convinced as to the legitimacy of wallpaper and often referred to it as a poor substitution for fabric covered walls. In his estimation of the importance and effectiveness of the different interior products that Morris & Co produced over the decades, wallpaper was consistently at the bottom. There was a certain element of snobbery on Morris part as fabric wallcoverings were always perceived, particularly in the eighteenth century as infinitely superior to that of wallpaper. However, in the nineteenth century even those wealthy enough to afford fabric wallcoverings, were buying smart and fashionable contemporary wallpapers in which to decorate their homes. That Morris continued throughout his career to both design and sell wallpaper pattern work, shows that despite his reservations he was pragmatic enough to understand both the appeal and the money it accrued for the company.

Daisy is an interesting example of Morris early work and shows clearly where his ideas and initial interests and enthusiasm lay. These became more indistinct and complex as his career progressed, but at this early stage a love of nature as seen through the lens of late medievalism, is as obvious as his very direct inspirational copying from late medieval and early renaissance textile works shows.

Further reading links:
William Morris Wallpapers and Chintzes
Wallpaper: A History of Style and Trends
Wallpaper: The Ultimate Guide
Wallpaper in America: From the Seventeenth Century to World War I
Fabrics and Wallpapers for Historic Buildings
The Papered Wall: The History, Patterns and Techniques of Wallpaper, Second Edition
Pimpernell, Design For Wallpaper, Morris, William Giclee Poster Print by William Morris, 18x24
William Morris Wallpapers
"Chrysanthemum" Wallpaper Design, 1876 Giclee Poster Print by William Morris, 18x24
"Garden Tulip" Wallpaper Design, 1885 Giclee Poster Print by William Morris, 18x24
"Acanthus" Wallpaper Design, 1875 Giclee Poster Print by William Morris, 12x16
"Trellis" Wallpaper Design, 1864 Giclee Poster Print by William Morris, 24x32
"Rose-90" Wallpaper Design Artists Giclee Poster Print by William Morris, 36x48
Morris, William, Designs for Wallpapers
"Willow Bough" Wallpaper Design, 1887 Artists Giclee Poster Print by William Morris, 36x48
Arbutus Wallpaper Design Giclee Poster Print by William Morris, 18x24
WILLIAM MORRIS: Wallpapers and Designs
William Morris Designer - The Special Winter Number of the Studio

Graslitz Lace School

 

Illustration: Graslitz Lace School. Collar in needlepoint lace, c1905.

The Graslitz Lace School was one of a series set up and maintained by the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Graslitz, which is present day Kraslice in the Czech Republic, was by no means the only school in the area that dealt with the teaching of traditional crafts. Bohemia was a particularly rich area for craft disciplines and the Austro-Hungarian authorities set up a number of schools that concentrated on furniture, stone carving, glass, metal, jewellery and ceramics craft work, as well as textile based disciplines such as weaving, embroidery, lace, rug making and basketry.

Many of the schools were founded at the end of the nineteenth century and the system itself was up and running well before 1900. However, this also means that all of the disciplines were firmly affected and influenced by the Art Nouveau movement and much of the lace work produced in the school was certainly affected by the decorative movement. However, the actual reasoning behind the craft school system was one based on the Arts & Crafts ideas and ideals of John Ruskin, whereby local sustainability and the propagation and continuation of traditional regional skills was actively encouraged. 

Illustration: Graslitz Lace School. Lace pocket handkerchief, c1905.

The schools were set in place to encourage and diversify the various craft traditions throughout the Empire. Strangely they were both provincial and central at the same time. While regional characteristics and ethnic diversity was encouraged, at least to a certain extent, most of the design work which the students used in order to practice and perfect their skills base, was sent out from Vienna where a handful of experienced artists and designers produced the design work. This is particularly true of the Graslitz Lace School where decorative pattern work used by the students was directly derived from designs by Franziska Hofmanninger, Mathilde Hrdlicka and a small number of other designers who all worked in Vienna.

Interestingly, schools like the one set up in Graslitz, did have a certain amount of independence despite the fact that they were tied into a state framework. The language that schools used for teaching for example was not necessarily the official German or Hungarian language, but could reflect the local ethnic makeup of regions. Also, in the case of Graslitz, the local Bohemian traditions and styles were incorporated as much as possible into the design work, so that although Art Nouveau designs were sent out by Central Government, they could be tempered by local lace making techniques and practices. After all, the lace produced at Graslitz was by students who would have been expected to have graduated and then worked or taught within the local Bohemian lace craft industry. 

Illustration: Graslitz Lace School. Drawn thread work, c1905.

The system was regularly monitored from Vienna, where a number of added initiatives were included such as regular touring exhibitions and libraries that kept many of the regions in contact with the latest ideas and stylistic thinking that was present in the capital. 

All of the examples shown in this article were produced by students at the Graslitz Lace School in about 1905. They do range in both style and sophistication, some of which is down to the ability of the individual student, but also that of the designer in Vienna.

Although state run initiatives tend to be problematic and prone to funding and political problems, the Austro-Hungarian applied art schools network proved to be extraordinarily successful and found praise throughout Europe, as well as North America. The fact that the authorities within the Empire actually wanted the system to work, which is not always the case with government initiatives and programmes, added to its likelihood to succeed. 

Illustration: Graslitz Lace School. Drawn thread work, c1905.

Although with the advent of the First World War and the eventual collapse and partition of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which also proved to be the end of the applied arts network, the system had worked. By producing an optimistic blueprint for the practical and successful application of craft schools in a world dominated by industrial mass production, the Austro-Hungarian government had proved that hand-craft could be both a part of the contemporary world and organised in a fashion that made it work. That this was one of the few successful attempts to highlight and emphasise the craft tradition and the art of hand-work is perhaps a reflection of the institutional neglect by successive central governments of the importance that these traditions played and still could play within the economy and larger cultural heritage of both nations and regions of a contemporary Europe.

Further reading links:

Contemporary Bohemian Lace 

Pictorial Archive of Lace Designs: 325 Historic Examples (Dover Pictorial Archive Series) 

Art & Society: The New Art Movement in Vienna, 1897-1914 

Vienna, 1890-1920 

Vienna 1900 (Memoires) 

Vojtech Preissig: Art nouveau from a flourishing period of Czech culture

Art-Nouveau Prague

Prague 1900

Identification of Lace (Shire Library) 

Pictorial Archive of Lace Designs: 325 Historic Examples (Dover Pictorial Archive Series) 

Beginner's Guide to Bobbin Lace 

Antique Lace: Identifying Types and Techniques (Schiffer Book for Collectors) 

Renaissance Patterns for Lace, Embroidery and Needlepoint (Dover Pictorial Archives) 

Guide to Lace and Linens 

Church Embroderies of the 1860s

Illustration: W Curtis Brangwyn. Embroidered Church banner, 1867.

The craft of embroidery has always been an important element within the Church, and the Church itself has been for long a keen investor in the craft system in general and textiles in particular. Embroidered Church vestments and furnishings go back centuries, even to the early days of the Church with detailed and luxurious Byzantine and Coptic textiles often produced exclusively for Church ceremonies.

The nineteenth century saw a vast expansion of Church embroideries not only in the burgeoning market of Protestant Church building, particularly in Britain where many Churches were being constructed in the new urban centres across the island, but also in the Catholic Church which was experiencing a church building campaign in Britain of its own, due to the Churches new legitimised status in 1829.

Illustration: W Curtis Brangwyn. Embroidered Church stole, 1867.

The Arts & Crafts movement which saw as part of its remit the renewal and reinvigoration of traditional crafts, infused embroidery with a new and expanded repertoire that included both domestic and ecclesiastical design and pattern work. Ecclesiastical decoration in particular became highly popular with embroiderers both professional and amateur alike. Indeed even today there are many Church embroideries both vestments and furnishings that are either still in use today or stored, many from the nineteenth and early twentieth century.

However, it was not only the Arts & crafts movement that had the monopoly on Church embroideries. Many companies either had a long-standing traditional ecclesiastical market, or had moved into that market recently. All of the illustrations shown in this article are examples shown at the 1867 Universal Exhibition in Paris. Two were produced by W Curtis Brangwyn of Bruges, an architect and designer and father of the future British artist and designer Frank Brangwyn, the other design was produced by Giani of Vienna. All were hand-produced embroidery and all are fine examples of the craft of embroidery and are probably some of the best and finest pieces available at this period. That they were produced for show and the self-promotion of the companies involved does not take away the initial creativity and workmanship that produced them in the first place.

Illustration: Giani. Embroidered Altar cloth, 1867.

Church embroideries are often neglected or thought of as poor examples of the creative expression of the contemporary world that produced them. However, both Church vestments and furnishings came in all decorative forms and many were both highly original and creative. A number of high profile artists and designers of the period were either commissioned or supplied design work for Church textiles. The role of the Church as investor, supporter and sponsor not only throughout its history, but in more recent times should never be underestimated or undervalued. The Church was responsible in its own way for fostering and encouraging the promotion of the craft system in both Britain and the wider Europe. The system of commissioning and sponsoring art and craft endeavours by the Church that continued well into the twentieth century, and to some extent, although on a much reduced scale, continues today, is a factor that should be recognised and registered.

Without the system of vestments and furnishings used by the Church in ceremony and display, craft embroidery in the nineteenth century would have been limited to domestic decoration which although serving a purpose and producing a substantial amount of decorative embroidery work, would have limited the scope that embroidery was able to achieve during this time period.

Further reading links:
Needlecraft Practical Journal #85 c.1910 - Ecclesiastical Embroidery
Embroidery in the Church
Ideas for Church Embroidery.
English Church Embroidery 1833-1953
Byzantine Tradition in Church Embroidery (Chapters in Art S)
Church Embroidery, Ancient and Modern
The dictionary of needlework, an encyclopædia of artistic, plain, and fancy needlework, Church embroidery, lace, and ornamental needlework
Designs for Church Embroideries
Embroidery for the Church (A Studio handbook)
Butterick Art & Ecclesiastical Embroidery c.1898 (Metropolitan Handy Series)
Embroidery for the church: A handbook for designers and stitchers
Weldon's 2D #78 c.1890 - Practical Church Embroidery (Weldon's Practical Needlework)
Church embroidery and church vestments: A complete and practical guide to this fascinating art