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Willow Bough

Designer William Morris British
Manufacturer Morris & Company
Printer Jeffrey & Co. British
1887
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.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Willow Bough
  • Designer: William Morris (British, Walthamstow, London 1834–1896 Hammersmith, London)
  • Manufacturer: Morris & Company
  • Printer: Jeffrey & Co. (London)
  • Date: 1887
  • Medium: Block-printed in distemper colors
  • Dimensions: Sheet: 27 x 21 1/2 in. (68.6 x 54.6 cm)
  • Classification: Wallpaper
  • Credit Line: Purchase, Edward C. Moore Jr. Gift, 1923
  • Object Number: 23.163.4k
  • Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

More Artwork

More Artwork
Pink and Rose, William Morris British, Block-printed in distemper colors
Pink and Rose
Designer William Morris
Manufacturer Morris & Company
Printer Jeffrey & Co.
ca. 1890
Banjo, Wood, various materials, British
Banjo
British
mid-19th century
The Well at the World's End, William Morris British, Illustrations: woodcuts; one of eight vellum bound copies
The Well at the World's End
Author William Morris
Sir Edward Burne-Jones
Publisher Kelmscott Press
1896
Commemorative jug, White-glaze Parian ware porcelain, British
Commemorative jug
British
ca. 1845
Wild Tulip, William Morris British, Block-printed in distemper colors
Wild Tulip
Designer William Morris
Manufacturer Morris & Company
Printer Jeffrey & Co.
1884

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