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When I first knew Morris nothing would content him but being a monk, and getting to Rome, and then he must be an architect, and apprenticed himself to Street, and worked for two years, but when I came to London and began to paint he threw it all up, and must paint too, and then he must give it up and make poems, and then he must give it up and make window hangings and pretty things, and when he had achieved that, he must be a poet again, and then after two or three years of Earthly Paradise time, he must learn dyeing, and lived in a vat, and learned weaving, and knew all about looms, and then made more books, and learned tapestry, and then wanted to smash everything up and begin the world anew, and now it is printing he cares for, and to make wonderful rich-looking books — and all things he does splendidly — and if he lives the printing will have an end — but not I hope, before Chaucer and the Morte d'Arthur are done; then he'll do I don't know what, but every minute will be alive. ~Edward Burne-Jones
William Morris Morris Tiles List of Articles
Red House, the Birth of Arts & CraftsThe Arts & Crafts movement has been called the Decorative Arts wing of the Pre-Raphaelite movement. And for cause. While William Morris (born 24 March 1834) is considered the father of Arts & Crafts, many of his friends who were instrumental in its beginnings were principals in the second wave of the Pre-Raphaelite movement.
When William Morris built Red House, his first married home, it became a gathering place for a circle of Pre-Raphaelite artists, Burne-Jones, Rossetti, Lizzie Sidal, and others. Red House was designed by William Morris in collaboration with his friend, architect Philip Webb. 'The Firm' (Morris, Marshall, and Faulkner) was conceived with friends after a dinner at Red House, later dissolved, and Morris & Co. formed. Pre-Raphaelite ceramics master, William De Morgan, began his career in stained glass with William Morris but his interests and gift for ceramics inspired him to establish his own tileworks.
At the center of Arts & Crafts, is a philosophy, and a reactionary one at that: To elevate the decorative arts to the level of fine art, and to make them personal and accessible.
I specialize in William Morris tile and Morris & Co. designs, and then a slightly wider circle around that in both time and space: William De Morgan, the Rossetti Pre-Raphaelites, English and Morris-inspired next-generation Arts & Crafts, Glasgow School, Victorian themes, and William Morris interests: Chaucer and Camelot, Scandinavian, Medieval, and Forest themes. If you aren't familiar with William Morris and the Arts & Crafts movement, you might like to read my article, William Morris, The Soul of Arts and Crafts.
Style is death. Finding the measure is finding
a freedom from that death, a way out, a movement
forward. ~Robert Kelly, Prefix: Finding the Measure
For Morris, things are more than things; they carry meaning and meaning allows us to form our values. A mass-produced item that looks just like the hand-crafted thing lacks its meaning and core. Arts & Crafts items are made by people for people, not by machines for money. Morris did not want wpoor quality, cheap, and especially soulless mass-produced decoration for his first home, Red House. He was directly involved in the medieval-influenced design of Red House, designed by his friend and architect Philip Webb. He chose the site for the home along the path that Chaucer's pilgrims would have traveled, even creating a "Pilgrim's Rest" porch at Red House.
In planning and decorating Red House, Morris found the soul of decorative arts in myth and in quality of medieval craftsmen. He had the means to mass-produced medieval-style art; instead, he painted his own tiles, taught himself weaving and a host of other artisan crafts. Red House was decorated with hand-crafted and hand-painted items as a collective effort with his bride, Jane, and their friends. But Red House is not a historically accurate recreation of anything. Rather, Morris took three steps back in time in order to go forward in a new direction. It was that experiment that prompted them to form 'The Firm' (the first incarnation of what was to become Morris & Co. )
Tile was one of the first media taken up by Morris. Tile designs are "portable" and he could make something tangible and beautiful without years of apprenticeship. Designs such as Burne-Jones's fairy tale tiles were revisited in paintings, and tapestries, with designs adapting to the media.
Morris, Marshall, Faulkner, and Co. (Morris and Co.'s predecessor) was established as a decorating business of "fine art workmen" including artists Edward Burne-Jones, Ford Maddox Brown, and Dante Gabriel Rossetti. Morris and Burne-Jones were the principal designer but the entire Pre-Raphaelite community of artists worked there, as well as Arthur Hughes and William De Morgan. 'The Firm' designed objects to decorate home with the intention of elevating the decorative arts to the level of fine art.
Some tiles began as stained glass, textile designs came from tile, paintings, such as Burne-Jones's Morgan Le Fay, came from designs for embroidery and textiles. I've taken this a step farther, just as Morris did for some of his designs. Glasgow Arts & Crafts, and some art tile that speaks to the Victorian fascination with fairies, fairy tales, and the spiritual world are a current interest.
As I get older, my respect for this man, and the values he chose to live by, deepens. Betrayed by his wife and best friend, he abandoned neither, despite the affront and humiliation, despite the titters and jokes about his "cuckolding", despite a heart clearly broken on both counts. I find him particularly remarkable in this age of disposable relationships and the dehumanization of people and situations by labeling them as psychologically "toxic" when they become difficult or do not meet personal needs. And that, I think, is the attraction: Not trying to recreate a style, but returning to one's values in order to create something new from something old and real.
I make tiles for people. For this reason, I tend not to respond to requests for a "source" for mass-produced "Morris-style" designs. The web abounds with cheap knockoffs, often enlarged versions of my web images selling for prices less than my cost of materials. These can be purchased online without any human contact whatsoever.
Morris took freely from the interests of Victorian culture and combined them with his love of nature, of myth and medieval, taking what he wanted and leaving what he did not like. A design for one wall at Red House was to be a fresco of the Fall of Troy, yet Morris chose 13th century ships for the Greeks. Red House has little external decoration, preferring to let the bones of the house speak for it. Windows are not symmetrically placed or even similar when viewed from the outside; rather their placement was based on the flow of the house, and the needs of the family.
William Morris Brother Rabbit Kitchen, Eugene, Oregon
Membland Accent Tiles, Brooklyn, New York
Customer Installation Photos: Kitchens
Customer Installation Photos: Showers and Baths
Customer Installation Photos: Fireplaces, Stairs, Accents
A high level listing of William Morris tiles and visual galleries.
William Morris: Birth of Arts and Crafts (this page)
An overview of early Morris, Red House and Morris & Co. tiles, as well as Morris values, and a list of links to all Morris tiles, Morris collaborations, and Morris tiles from textiles.
William Morris: Visual Catalog
Morris and Morris & Co. Tiles. Not as exhaustive as the the text listing above. One version, or sample from most, but not all sets. For example, one swan variation is shown, but there are several.
Tiles from Textiles and Visual Gallery
Tiles from Red House, the home Morris built along the path Chaucer's pilgrims would have walked, his first married home with Jane Burden Morris.
Kelmscott Manor: Green Dining Room Fireplace Tiles
Jane Morris had blue and white Swans, Sunflowers, and Artichokes installed in the Green Dining Room, designed by William De Morgan while at Morris & Co.. Also the Ravensteijn Tulips and Carnations tiles (a traditional pattern made in the Netherlands since the 17th century) in the dining room fireplace inset.
Kelmscott Manor White Paneled Drawing Room Fireplace Tiles
Persian, really Iznik were a Morris / Pre-Raphaelite passion, from astronomy to tile. Rossetti used this room as his studio while Morris was away in Iceland in the summer of 1871.
Poppy is an early Morris design, 1870s. Morris installed the blue and white version in Kelmscott House, where he stayed when in London.
Tiles from the Kelmscott Chaucer illustrations, a collaboration with Edward Burne-Jones
Tiles from William Morris Textile Designs
May Morris 'A Garden Piece' Border Tiles
Burne-Jones Fairy Tale Fireplace Tiles
Early Webb Scrolls and Sunflower
Queen's College Labors of the Months
William Morris / De Morgan Tulip and Trellis variations
Membland Borders and Backsplashes
Membland Single Accent Tiles and Stair Risers
Kelmscott Manor Green Drawing Room Swans, Artichoke, Sunflowers
