Design for Painted by hand in oil, brushstroke by brushstroke

The dense, vigorous swirls of this design for printed cotton show Morris at the height of his powers as a textile designer. You can see that alterations have been made and lines have been rubbed out. Morris drew, revised and finally coloured a pattern on a single sheet of paper, believing that a harmonious piece of work should be done in one attempt. This design is one such example of Morris’s ability to swiftly execute flowing patterns that evoke the vitality of the natural world. The design was printed using woodblocks by Wardle & Co., who were based in the town of Leek, a centre of textile production at the time.In the mid-1870s Morris was deeply involved in producing textiles of all kinds, personally experimenting with vegetable dyes, commissioning carpets, and creating patterns for silk and cotton fabrics. This frenzy of activity led to some sleepless nights: in 1876 Morris wrote to his friend Aglaia Coronio: ‘I am drawing patterns so fast that last night I dreamt I had to draw a sausage; somehow I had to eat it first, which made me anxious about my digestion: however I have just done quite a pretty pattern for printed work.”