Artist: William Morris
Date: 1880
Size: 101 x 79 cm
Museum: William Morris Gallery (Walthamstow, United Kingdom)
Technique: Wool
‘Artichoke’ is the last of eight known designs Morris produced for Kidderminster carpet (a further two were designed by John Henry Dearle), which were produced for Morris & Co. by Heckmondwike Manufacturing Company Ltd., Yorkshire, beginning in the late 19th century. This particular example includes a matching border attached at the top with a narrow band featuring small pairs of birds and flowers. While Morris preferred to create products using traditional craft skills, he accepted the need to use machinery to supply affordable and practical objects. This carpet was created using a jacquard loom, which wove the textile using a system of punched cards to automatically lift the correct threads.Kidderminster carpets were comparatively cheap to produce and were previously more commonly found in corridors and servants rooms rather than drawing rooms. However, Morris & Co. contributed to the popularisation of the technique and by the 1880s Kidderminster became fashionable for large townhouses, including that of Alexander and Euterpe Ionides, art collectors and great patrons of Morris & Co., who ordered 13 yards of Kidderminster carpet “with fringing” for their house in Holland Park. Morris believed this technique favoured “a small design in which different planes… are interlocked”, and whilst ‘Artichoke’ is more complicated than other carpet designs of this time (see for example ‘Daisy’, William Morris Gallery F369) it still follows this principle with its delicately interwoven repeat pattern.
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