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The 1880s saw a reaction against the machine age, with a revalorisation of traditionally hand-crafted pieces made by designer-makers. The new aesthetic, soon named the Arts & Crafts movement, favoured stylistic simplicity combined with high quality, in designs inspired by pre-industrial examples. May Morris was part of the first generation to study fine crafts in art schools like the National Art Training School in South Kensington, which later evolved into the Royal College of Art. Her specialisms were textiles and embroidery - notably Opus Anglicanum, a form of fine, rich needlework that developed in medieval England, used primarily for church vestments. At the age of 23, she took over management of the Morris & Co embroidery department, supervising the production of altar cloths, portières, fire screens and bed covers, commissioned by clients, all in the Morris house style.
Both hangings, shown on the picture, are of the same design, worked in different soft pastel colours and stitches, with a central tree between rosebushes and floral trails and birds against a square trellis background. The foreground of each panel includes a robin and rabbit.
The embroideries are one of only two known examples of this design, the other also by May Morris, dating from 1891, for a set of bed curtains for her father’s bed at Kelmscott Manor.
The embroideries were created for Theodosia Middlemore for her home, Melsetter House in Orkney. She and her husband were important patrons within the Arts and Crafts movement, and Melsetter was built by the leading Arts and Crafts architect W. R. Lethaby. The house was one of the most important commissions of its day and was furnished with a combination of furniture designed by the architect and purchased from Morris & Company.
Theodosia was a close friend of May Morris, and the hangings, designed by May, were worked jointly by May and Theodosia. Textiles worked by May Morris are extremely rare. Worked in natural, dyed crewel wool on hand-spun and hand-woven linen, the wools are thought to be Orcadian as May and Theodosia are known to have spun and dyed local wool at Melsetter.
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