Wednesday, June 9, 2010

William Morris

About a zillion years ago, my mom and I went on a day trip to Newport, RI. If you're from the East Coast you'll know that Newport is probably the beautiful Summer mansion homes of forgotten billionaires Capital of the US. It's also home to the Newport Folk Festival. And the Skoal Room, where my dad's 60s garage band used to play during the busy summer tourist season.

Anyway, my mum and I visited the Chateau-sur-Mer and I fell head over heels for a lot of the stuff in that house. So much of it was brought over the Atlantic and there was a strong theme of William Morris and the Arts and Crafts movement throughout.

The pieces in the house were beautiful, but I think I fell in love with the ideas of the movement more then anything. People were fed up with that was being produced in bulk by machines and instead wanted to shift back to original designs created by a skilled hand.

One of my very favorite blogs, The Textile Blog posted some of William Morris' original artwork and I couldn't help but re-post some of the images. They make me totally weak in the knees while pulling on every heartstring.

. . .

Rose, 1883


. . .

Honeysuckle, 1883


. . .

Jasmine, 1872

12 comments:

Amy Rhiannon said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Rosie said...

I must go to Newport at some point to see the mansions. It sounds so romantic.
Those prints are gorgeous. I just saw some pretty antique floral prints at the Salvation Army, but passed them up because they were selling them for crazy prices.

sara curnow wilson said...

first of all, i love your blog!

my parents' house is an arts and crafts house. i have always loved that style, and william morris is so interesting! he made the most wonderful wallpaper. i'm a grad student studying english and whenever i teach his writings, i throw in some stuff about the a+c movement.

Monked & Fifed said...

beautiful! Just the right mix of elements for my liking :)
a.

Molly said...

I completely agree! What a lovely pocket of history to explore and be inspired by. Beautiful blog!

reckless daughter said...

Newport is amazing. I really want to go back there someday.

these are beautiful!

Yoshi said...

They're so beautiful... I found a book on William Morris in the library at my university, it was great.

BaronessVonVintage said...

Oh, yes, Morris/the Arts & Crafts movement = wonderful!

PS: I've been meaning to tell you I'm still so surprised that someone snapped up that 20s jacket before you did. Hope you didn't feel shortchanged!!

Unknown said...

I am so not into the arts & crafts movement, but morris is amazing.

naomi.

Tilly said...

Beautiful. I'm reading A.S. Byatt's recent novel The Children's Book which is all about the arts & crafts movement and the protagonists are pals with William Morris. Highly recommended!

hannah, heart city said...

these look like they could be beautiful tattoos..

darcy dubose said...

I recently learned of William Morris' work in the History of Crafts class I took my last semester of school; and wow. I fell in love just like you. And now I see his influence everywhere!

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