Willow Bough

Designer William Morris British
 Manufacturer Morris & Company
Printer Jeffrey & Co. British

Not on view

William Morris designed forty-one wallpapers and five ceiling papers, working from 1862 with Morris, Marshall, Faulkner, and Company and from 1875 with Morris & Company. "Willow Bough" proved to be one of the company's most enduring patterns with interlaced green willow leaves and brown stems over a cream ground. First produced in 1887, it should be distinguished from the slightly earlier "Willow" (see 39.18.5) of 1885 where the leaves are flatter and less densely arranged. If the elegantly stylized "Willow" communicates a Japanese sensibility, "Willow Bough" offers greater naturalism.

Willow Bough, William Morris (British, Walthamstow, London 1834–1896 Hammersmith, London), Block-printed in distemper colors

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