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24th March 2016
If you’ve been on Google today, you might have seen a few of the Google Doodles which are celebrating William Morris. Now, you might have noticed that we think he’s pretty great all year round, but since it’s his birthday, and we’ve seen articles discussing who he is and why his legacy lives on, we thought we’d tell you a bit about him!
Morris was born in Walthamstow on March 24th, 1834. He became a textile designer and artist, a writer, poet and a socialist who was both heavily involved and influential in the English Arts and Crafts movement, and with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood.
Originally, after being educated at Oxford, he trained as an architect, which we have spoken about in past blogs, however he was highly interested in the arts, and, after being influenced by some of the big names in the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood including Rossetti became more involved in the arts. Together with these friends, he created art that has stood the test of time, today many of the stain glass windows they designed remain in England’s churches, St James’ Palace in London being one of their first commissions; if you research into what they created together, their work is vast and rather beautiful.
He married Jane Burden in 1859, who modelled in many of the Pre-Raphaelites art work, she was an unconventional beauty, but became one of their favourite models. Philip Webb, Morris’ friend, was commissioned to build them a house on some land he had bought in Kent, which at that time was a rural area (today, Bexleyheath is a suburb of London.) If you’ve ever visited Red House, you’ll know Webb did a great job of creating the home Morris envisioned; a modern home which would be ‘medieval in spirit.’ He furnished the house himself, a visit will show you the Morris’ wallpaper and designs throughout the home. He created these with the help of a few friends, since he was particular in what he wanted and felt he couldn’t find that anywhere, from the success of this, a business was born; Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Co. This company produced a range of domestic furniture and wallpaper (again, because Morris couldn’t find any he liked enough to use in his home.)
If you’ve been looking into Morris today, curious about what today’s Google Doodle is, you might have caught that he was also a rather successful writer and poet along with his artistic talents. Quite frankly, we don’t know how he juggled so many talents at once, all with such success!
He founded SPAB, something that is still running today, which was the ‘Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings’ in 1877; which was a response to the destruction of original features of historical buildings in the name of ‘restoration.’ We have him to thank then, that so many historic buildings remain today in such a good and true construction- public and professional restorers are today taught by SPAG how to correctly restore historic buildings.
His life was much more than a handful of accomplishments written in a blog or on a news site for the day, in his lifetime he accomplished a great deal, and even more remarkably- the things he did over 100 years ago, remain today and still affect us now. The fact his designs are still being printed, bought and loved today as much as ever, show what a great and imaginative artist he was. If you fancy learning more, have a look back at our past blogs to read more about his life and those of his friends.
Happy Birthday William Morris! What is your favourite design of his? Ours (right now!) is his Willow Bough design- in blue or green, we can’t decide!
Posted in William Morris by Laura
For the keen baker or chef, a beautiful oven glove is such a perfect Christmas gift 🫶🏻🎄 This is our beautiful William Morris Daisy design ✨
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#williammorris #daisy #williammorrisfabric #williammorrisdesign #design #ovengloves #ovenglove #christmasgift #christmasgiftideas
Black Friday Giveaway! ✨ We thought we’d do a fun little giveaway of a bundle of half metres of our licensed William Morris fabrics to celebrate there being 20% off our entire website for Black Friday! 🤎 Whether you want to win them to create some beautiful crafts or to give to your favourite quilter and crafter this Christmas, we hope you enter! 🎄
To enter, just:
- make sure you’re following us
- like this post
- tag everyone you think would love this prize (every comment is an entry)
- for an extra entry, share on your stories
Winner will be chosen at random on Wednesday 4th December so be quick to enter! 🫶🏻
What’s included; a half metre of Blue Strawberry Thief, Pimpernel Green, Willow Bough blue, Sweet Briar, Brother Rabbit blue and Daisy, all cotton fabric 🪡🧵
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#williammorris #giveaway #giveaways #giveawayuk #giveawaytime #competition #cottonfabric #craftingfabric #quiltingfabric #preraphaelite
We made these little Christmas trees using our Morris fabrics a few years ago and this year altered them from a garland to ornaments for our tree 🎄 Aren’t they so cute, they add so much colour ✨
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#williammorris #williammorrisfabric #williammorrisdesign #williammorrisfabrics #fabric #florals #christmascrafts #crafts #christmastree #floral #labrador #lablife #blacklab
How to fold our favourite napkin fold of the year- a Christmas tree! 🎄 Super easy but super effective, we love putting it on the plates to lay the table with some little chocolate coins slotted in as if they’re baubles! 🎄✨ Will you try this napkin fold? ✨
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#williammorris #williammorrisfabric #williammorrisdesign #shopsmall #shopsmallbusiness #napkins #napkinfolding #napkinfolds #christmastable #christmastable
Can’t stop posting this Christmas table set up 🎄 Christmas table florals have our heart! 🫶🏻
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#flowerarranging #yorkshirebusiness #williammorris #williammorrisdesign #mallow #flowersmakethehome #florals #christmasflorals #christmastable
Free gift wrap? Oh go on then! 🎁 From now until Christmas, if you message us immediately after ordering with your order number and your gift wrap message (optional!) we will wrap your order for free ✨ We just want to make Christmas as easy as possible for everyone so if you find wrapping a faff, want us to write the tag to keep secret Santa a suprise or you’d like to send the gift straight to your loved one, we’re here to help 🎄 From our website straight under the tree, spend more time enjoying Christmas and less trying to find the sellotape 👏🏼
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#williammorris #williammorrisfabric #williammorrisdesign #williammorrisfabrics #fabric #florals #smallbusiness #familybusiness #christmasgifting #christmasgiftideas
Did you know all our fabrics are printed in the UK and all our products manufactured in the UK too? 🇬🇧 We hope you enjoy shopping small this Christmas 🎄✨
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#williammorris #williammorrisfabric #williammorrisdesign #christmastablescape #christmastablesetting #christmastable #floraldesign #shopsmall #independantbusiness
We think you’d be very popular if you made one of these beautiful Morris advent calendars for your loved ones! 🫶🏻 So easy to make, let us know if you would like a tutorial on how to make your own using our Morris fabric🎄
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#williammorris #williammorrisfabric #williammorrisdesign #fabric #adventcalendar #adventcalendars #craftersgonnacraft #crafting #smallbusiness #ukbusiness #supportsmallbusinesses #shopsmall
Isn’t this time of year so beautiful, we love our candle table floral arrangement, perfect for dressing up for dinner or down for hot chocolates! ☕️🍫
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#williammorris #floraltable #floraltablescape #florals #myfloraldays
We love the idea of setting the table with a little stocking gift hanging from everyone’s chair ✨
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#williammorrisdesign #williammorrisfabric #williammorris #williammorrisprint #florals #christmasflorals #christmastable #shopsmall #shopsmallbusiness #christmascrafts #stockings
We absolutely love setting the table this time of year, aren’t Christmas tablescapes so magical ✨ This central floral arrangement is the star of the show this week 🫶🏻🕯️ Anyone want a tutorial on how to fold these Christmas tree napkins? 🎄
On the table; William Morris Mallow Wine pvc fabric and matching napkins ✨
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#williammorris #williammorrisfabric #williammorrisdesign #williammorrisfabrics #fabric #florals #christmasflorals #candlelight #floralarrangement #floralarrangements #christmastablesetting #christmastablescape
Beautiful Strawberry Thief ovengloves are back in stock! 🍓 A perfect Christmas gift, remember you can always gift wrap your items at checkout to make Christmas a little easier, then either send it to yourself or we’ll write the tag with your message and send it straight to your loved one 🥰
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#christmasgift #christmasgifts #shopsmall #shopsmallbusiness #independant #williammorris #williammorrisfabric #williammorrisdesign #strawberrythief #ovengloves
Christmas tablescapes are a go! ✨ Our Brother Rabbit blue pvc fabric and napkins are on the table and look so beautiful paired with our dressed up garland! 🎄 If you’re planning your Christmas table, remember there’s 20% off everything right now with code: floralfriday at checkout 🌿
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#williammorris #williammorrisfabric #williammorrisdesign #williammorrisfabrics #florals #floraldesign #morris #preraphaelite #christmastable #christmastablescape
Every Morris lovers best friend needs one of our new beautiful dog bandanas! 🐾 Hand made in Yorkshire, aren’t they adorable! 🐕🦺
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#williammorris #williammorrisfabric #williammorrisfabrics #fabric #fabrics #dogbandana #dogbandanasuk #dogbandanas #labrador #christmasgiftideas #giftsfordogs #giftsfordoglovers
Beautiful Willow Bough, one of our all time fave Morris designs 🌿 The matching set is a beautiful Christmas gift to brighten up their home all year! 🫧 20% off now for Black Friday too if you use code; floralfriday 🌷
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#williammorrisdesign #williammorrisfabric #williammorris #williammorrisfabrics #morris #willowbough #floralprinteverything #floralprint
Yippee it’s here! ✨ Use code: FLORALFRIDAY at checkout on our website only for 20% off everything - including sale items! 🫧
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#williammorris #williammorrisfabric #williammorrisdesign #williammorrisfabrics #morris #blackfriday #florals #floralsyourway #myfloraldays #christmasflorals
Get ready for flower arranging class with us 🌷 Our beautiful Willow Bough William Morris pvc apron is perfect to protect your outfit from splashes when cooking, crafting or cutting your stems! 🌿🫶🏻
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#williammorris #williammorrisfabric #williammorrisdesign #williammorrisfabrics #fabric #fabrics #pvc #pvcfabric #apron #willowbough #floralapron #flowerarranging #flowerarrangingclass #labradorable #labrador
We couldn’t resist another pic of our bonfire night set up! 🫶🏻 our PVC fabric is such a popular option for the table as it’s wipe clean, so any spills can just be quickly fixed 🫧 We wouldn’t reccomend lighting sparklers in the house or over your tablecloth though! 🙃
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#williammorris #williammorrisfabric #williammorrisdesign #williammorrisprint #morrisdesign #bonfirenight #tablescape #floraltable #myfloraldays
🎆 Take 15% off our whole website for 48 hours only using code: BONFIRE at checkout 🔥 (we’ve also launched gift sets including half metre gift sets for the quilters and crafters in your life, you get a half metre free when you purchase the set and they come gift wrapped… this is is soft launching Christmas Incase everyone says we’re too early.. but also our Christmas trees are already up so we’re ready to talk about it when you are? Let us know?) 🎄
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#williammorris #williammorrisfabric #williammorrisdesign #williammorrisfabrics #fabric #florals #discountcode #bonfirenight #christmasflorals
Had to video us cutting beautiful William Morris Willow Bough today, this heavyweight fabric is off to be made into curtains, it’ll look so stunning! 🫶🏻 If you’d like a free sample just let us know ☺️
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#williammorris #williammorrisfabric #williammorrisdesign #williammorrisfabrics #fabric #florals #preraphaelite #floraldesign #fabrics #curtainfabric #ukbusiness
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