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William Morris Olive & Rose
c. 1880

Beautiful harmonius colours and pleasing design. Despite it being a popular design, I have only ever bought one other which is hanging in my office!

In the book below it states that Olive & Rose was one of Morris & Company's most popular embroidery panels, designed by William Morris in c 1880 and in production until 1912. It was designed eto be used as a cushion cover or for use in a firescreen.  Morris & Co produced it in kit form to be worked at home or as a finished article from their workshop.  It is illustrated as a panel and a firescreen, priced at £4.10s which included stretching and mounting customer's own embroidery under glass. There are examples in the Whitworth Gallery, Manchester and National Trust House at Wallington, Northumberland where there is one worked by Mary, Lady Trevelyan.*

 

Cataloguing

Rich thick floss silks with two pale olive branches, with pale green leaves, meeting at the centre and topped with damson shaded olives, flanked by roses within coiling pale pink briars, in shades of rust, deep and medium pink, with green bronze leaves, all on an ivory ground.

16 1/2 x 17 1/4 in; 42 x 44 cm embroidery

18 3/4 x 19 1/2 in; 47.5 x 50 cm with frame

The embroidery has been framed in a  highly suitable frame of matt black, with brown lines and with conservation grade anti reflective glass.

 

Condition

Very good condition. For once the background embroidery is in one shade - ivory.  So often on these Morris embroderies the embroiderer ran out of the background colour and substittues another slightly different. A slightly darker brown silk has been used in the briar surrounding the lower left rose which makes me feel this was worked from a kit.

Comments

* May Morris. Arts & Crafts Designer , Chapter 3. by Rowan Bain, Jenny Lister & Anna Mason.  p 72/3.

William Morris by Linda Parry  p 247, M28