About this work
Ever since childhood, William Morris had been fascinated by textile design and its manufacture. He spent years experimenting with tapestries and printed textiles before embarking on the production of woven textiles in the 1870s, the most technically challenging period of his career. Morris spent time studying the woven textiles in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, and the design of his Rose and lily textile was inspired by an early seventeenth-century Italian woven silk in the museum’s collection. Morris produced his last design for woven textiles in 1888, after which John Henry Dearle became responsible for this aspect of Morris & Co.’s production.