Morris & Co., manufacturer

Arts and Crafts leader William Morris was one of many English architects, botanists, and fine artists who worked in the applied arts of textile design and manufacture in the mid-19th century. He excelled at rendering botanical subjects with a vigor and passion equal to his talent for creating repeated pattern. Design is only one of his lasting legacies; with Thomas Wardle of Leek, he spent years researching ancient dye and print manuals and experimenting with plant dyes. Morris would have likely used the roots of a walnut tree and husks of the nut for the brown dye used in this piece.