Historic Tile: Victorian, Pre-Raphaelite, Arts & Crafts, Medieval: William Morris and De Morgan Tiles
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Art made by the people for the people, as a joy to the maker and the user... ~William Morris
"Hope" is the thing with feathers...
~Emily Dickinson
This is not the spring we imagined, is it? Still, the days are beautiful and there is hope, as well as loss and fear. Here is what I know:
Hope is the thing with feathers...
How can I help when I don't know the needs or even the problem? But hope is the thing with feathers so until further notice, all birds are 40% off. Please pay it forward when you can.
"Hope" is the thing with feathers -
That perches in the soul -
And sings the tune without the words -
And never stops - at all -
And sweetest - in the Gale - is heard -
And sore must be the storm -
That could abash the little Bird
That kept so many warm -
I've heard it in the chillest land -
And on the strangest Sea -
Yet - never - in Extremity,
It asked a crumb - of me.
Update: The William Morris Birthday Party has been postponed 'til Fall. You can still see past William Morris Birthday Cakes. May Morris birthday follows on 25 March.
Edward Burne-Jones Briar Rose story tiles will appear in Pre-Raphaelite Spring Issue of Enchanted Living Magazine.
If you are in the UK, you may be able to see Light and Shade, an exhibit that highlights the lives of the women in William Morris's social circle alongside their portrait photos, for free at the William Morris Gallery.
Art is a wound turned into light. ~Georges Braque
First time here? How this Site is Organized
Abandon hopelessness, all ye who enter here...
~G.K. Chesterton
Kelmscott Manor was Morris's favorite home. The Greem Room fireplace tiles were chosen by Jane Morris while William was in iceland and Rossetti was staying at Kelmscott Manor. The Green Room fireplace tiles were designed by William Morris and made for Morris & Co. by William De Morgan.
The featured tile changes roughly once a week.
Featured tiles ship free in the U.S. See How to Order Tile.
Membland is a William Morris - William De Morgan collaboration. Six panels of an unknown number that tiled a bath at Membland Hall remain. Single tiles, backsplashes, fireplace panels, and a full-size, 66-tile panel are available. Membland single tiles have recently come down in price.
Like Alice, I've gone down a bit of a rabbit hole, starting with Morris's interest in the medieval, which I understood at first as the restoration of kraft values in workmanship. Clearly, though, it was more than that -- Arthurian themes abound in the decor at Red House, and the house itself is build along the path that Chaucher's pilgrims would have traveled. What was the fascination? I grew increasingly interested in medieval gardens, bestiaries, maps, medicinals, and the whole of the medieval worldview.
Morris, Burne-Jones, Rossetti and friends painted the Oxford Union with Arthurian themes as well, and then the Queen's College Overmantel at Cambridge, whose Labors of the Months. Zodiacal signs by Philip Webb were added in the version sold by Morris, Marshall, Faulkner and Co. This was not surprising because the zodiacal world view is a not infrequent medieval theme, perhaps best known in the Book of Hours of the Duc de Berry Labors.
Meanwhile, I began reading the letters of the Morris, Burne-Jones, Rossetti, and De Morgan. Dante Gabriel Rossetti, a mutual friend of Morris and De Morgan, and arguably the key character holding the second-wave of Pre-Raphaelites together, was open about his participation in sés. His biographer and brother, Michael Rossetti, says St. Agnes of Intercession is essentially about metempsychosis (reincarnation) and finding and losing love across time. Further well-known luminaries of the time John Ruskin, Alfred Tennyson, Robert Browning, and Walter Pater wrote openly believed in reincarnation would have been well-known to Rossetti and Morris's circle. The De Morgans, and his parents, even published books on the subject.
Edward Burne-Jones had given up his career plans to join the clery and mentions in a letter to Mary Gladstone Drew, October 1880, a medieval memory that left him wondering how often one has lived before and forgotten it all. And even more than the disparity between scientific backdrop of Victorian England and religion.
How did these God-fearing Victorians reconcile these concerns? Perhaps they didn't. Next thing I knew, I was reading William Lilly's (1647) Christian Astrology (Spoiler: Medieval astrology addresses itself more toward the nature of the body politic than the sometimes character-based subject often eschewed today.) So... welcome to the spheres. I plan to begin releasing some new tiles based on De Sphaera later in the month.
Wiliam De Morgan Persian Fish Frieze with De Morgan Fish Bowl fireplace side panels.
Baths (one new)
Kitchens (two new)
Fireplaces (one new)
Stairs and Accents (one new)
Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful. ~William Morris
The galleries are visual gateways to tiles in the general area mentioned. Options such as size, color, and other variations are shown on the individual product pages.
William Morris Tiles from Textiles
Victorian Blue and White Tiles
De Morgan Tile Borders and Backsplashes
William Morris Red House and Early Tiles
Medieval Maps and Bestiary Tiles
Medieval Book of Hours and Herbals
Scottish, Glasgow Arts & Crafts, Jessie M. King, Charles Rennie Mackintosh
Fairy Tales and Victorian Nursery
These are the most recent tiles, in reverse order. I add new tile designs less frequently during tile season.
Strawberry Thief Backsplash and Border Tiles
Thistle (attributed to Dearle, but probably Kate Faulkner)
De Morgan Borders and Backsplashes
Ongoing additions to the bestiary:
Brought back Limited Edition murals to Tres Riches Heures Labors of the Months tile set (12 months, 6 tiles).
Victorian Medieval:
Monoceros Star Map backsplash. Beware of unicorns in the sky.
Botanicals: Ladies Flower Garden of Ornamental Annuals
Edward Burne-Jones, Doorkeeper
Art Nouveau Water Lily and Lotus
Margaret Macdonald Mackintosh 'Four Queens'
But really, it's getting away from me....
I've started work on nests, kitchen herbs, and possibly fish. Kitchen herbs are probably more important but I am enjoying the nests. Meanwhile, do see the Ladies' Flower Garden of Ornamental Annuals
If these seem like a good idea, encourage me.
Victorian tea room tiles.
Accent tiles to accompany the Monoceros Star Map backsplash.
Medieval Story Tiles
I say to you that earth and heaven are not two but one; and this one is that which ye know,
and are each one of you a part of.... unless ye slay it. ~William Morris, A Dream of John Ball
william de morgan tile gallery
victorian blue and white, ships and not floral
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