May Morris, before 1921, National Portrait Gallery, London.
May Morris (1862-1938) was a talented embroiderer, designer, jeweller, teacher and editor. May’s father, the artist, designer and socialist William Morris (1834-1896), was an important figure in the English Arts and Crafts movement. At birth, she was given the name Mary, which eventually became May. And as she grew older, May increasingly resembled her mother, Jane Burden, whose beauty was celebrated in the paintings of the Pre-Raphaelites.
May Morris, circa 1909.
In 1885, at the age of 23, May became director of the embroidery department at her father’s business, Morris & Co. She ran the department until her father’s death in 1896, where she moved to a consulting position.
May Morris created several of her own wallpaper and textile designs. 1 She also helped to establish embroidery as a form of decorative art.
This photograph shows May’s mother, Jane Morris, in her later years with her two daughters in front of their country house in the village of Kelmscott.
May began designing jewellery at the turn of the 20th century, likely inspired by Birmingham jewellers Arthur and Georgie Gaskin, who were old family friends. May used coloured stones, often in domed shapes (cabochon cuts), and drew inspiration from the shapes and designs of European folk jewellery. Many Arts and Crafts jewellers worked in this style.
Embroidered draperies designed by May Morris, made in 1898-1902, height 191.5 cm. The curtains are almost identical in design to a set of bed curtains designed by May Morris in 1891-1892 for her father’s bed at Kelmscott Manor.
May also ensured that her father’s legacy as a leader of the Arts and Crafts Movement would be celebrated long after his death, completing an important biographical work and bequeathing his art to museum collections that could preserve and display it.
Gold pin with white opal and pearl, May Morris, circa 1903, from the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum.Gold earrings with sapphire and pearl, May Morris, circa 1900, from the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum.Gold pin with agate, pearl and emeralds, May Morris, circa 1903, from the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum.Brooch by May Morris in gold with almandines, opal, garnet and emeralds, 1903 1916.Tiara by May Morris in silver with opals, garnet and pearls, circa 1905.Silver belt with amazonite, williamsite, garnets and pearls, May Morris, circa 1906, from the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum. This belt was shown at the Arts and Crafts Exhibition in London in 1906.Silver pendant with amazonite, williamsite heart, lapis lazuli drop and loops of pearls, May Morris, circa 1903, from the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum.Arcadia wallpaper, designed by May Morris from the Morris & Co pattern book, 1886, in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum.Horn Poppy wallpaper, designed by May Morris from the Morris & Co pattern book, 1885, in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum.Embroidered drapery designed by May Morris, 1890 95.Embroidery design by May Morris, circa 1880, from the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum.Three panel mahogany screen designed by John Henry Dearle and May Morris, Morris & Co, circa 1885.Mahogany fireplace screen with embroidery, designed by May Morris, height 83 cm.Mahogany screen with finished embroidery of ‘Rose Bush’, circa 1900. Such furniture items as screens and folding screens were also produced by Morris & Co in ready-made form, with a wooden frame and embroidery.This unfinished embroidery of May Morris’s Rose Bush design from the Victoria and Albert Museum collection was sold by Morris & Co as a kit in the late nineteenth century in various stages of completion: both finished pieces and kits with marked backgrounds. The most popular kits were those with a small embroidered corner to illustrate the technique and show how to continue at home.Triple portrait of May Morris (labeled ROSA TRIPLEX) by Dante Gabriel Rossetti, 1883.Portrait of May Morris, drawing by Dante Gabriel Rossetti, 1872.
