William Morris and Arts & Crafts Tiles

Tiles Inspired by the Forest Tapestry
William Morris' Forest Tapestry was woven in 1887 and shown at the 1890 Arts & Crafts Exhibition. The animals on the tapestry were from sketches by Phillip Webb and the flowers were designed by John Dearle, both associates of Morris. The original tapestry is now hanging in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. My tiles are hand pressed from a hand made mold made from my original hand carved model. They are porcelain and are hand decorated with fired on ceramic stains. The tiles have a matte finish. They can be finished with a transparent shiny glaze if so desired.   See also my Arts & Crafts Inspired Flower Tiles.

William Morris Hare from the Forest Tapesty

William Morris Raven, the Forest Tapestry

Shown here are the Fox Tiles, the Hare Tiles, the Raven Tiles the Peacock tiles and the Lion Tiles. The tiles are available in color, with a matte brown stain or cobalt blue glaze. All the colors and stains are fired on to the tile at over 2200 degrees and will not come off. Each tile is meticulously decorated. These tiles are approximately 4 x 4" each. The Peacock is two tiles together -- at 4 x 8". The Lion is shown as a two tile set -- which together is approximately 9 x 6".

Peacock Tiles Forest Tapestry William Morris

Tiles Inspired by the Woodpecker Tapestry

Woodpecker and Yellow Bird Tiles
These tiles are inspired by William Morris' 1885 Woodpecker tapestry. Each tile is approximately 6 x 6". The Woodpecker Tapestry was designed by Morris based upon a poem by the Latin poet Ovid. It was woven under his supervision in 1885 and originally hung in a billiard room. It is now on display at the William Morris Gallery in Walthamstow, UK.

William Morris (24 March 1834 – 3 October 1896) was an English textile designer, artist, writer, and libertarian socialist associated with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and English Arts and Crafts Movement. He founded a design firm in partnership with the artist Edward Burne-Jones, and the poet and artist Dante Gabriel Rossetti which profoundly influenced the decoration of churches and houses into the early 20th century. As an author, illustrator and medievalist, he helped to establish the modern fantasy genre, and was a direct influence on postwar authors such as J. R. R. Tolkien. He was also a major contributor to reviving traditional textile arts and methods of production, and one of the founders of the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings, now a statutory element in the preservation of historic buildings in the UK. “William Morris” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., Web. Date accessed 1/18/2013.

The thing that strikes me about William Morris' designs is how beautiful they are. In this age of minimalism and squeaky clean lines, I love imagery that is enchanting and complicated. I can look at many of his tapestries and even his wallpaper designs and be swept away. I have tried to interpret them for tile. I hope you like them.