On this day (31 March) in 1875 a circular was issued announcing the final dissolution of the firm. This stated that Burne-Jones and Webb, while no longer partners, would continue to provide designs for stained glass and furniture.
'Rupes Topseia' by Dante Gabriel Rossetti, 1874
(The British Museum)
See Curator's Comment and Provenance to 1939,0513.1.
Gere 1994
The title, inscribed by Rossetti lower right, is a reference to Morris's nickname of Topsy' and to the 'Rupes Tarpeia' (the Tarpeian Rock) on the Capitoline Hill in Rome, one side of which was a precipice from which condemned criminals were thrown to their deaths. Morris's spectacles are falling with him, together with a copy of 'The Earthly Paradise' and a knife and fork (presumably in allusion to his love of food: see 1939,0513.14 and 1939,0513.15). At the top of the hill is a ruinous temple having on the broken entablature the end of an inscription ". . . & Co." In front sit a row of six figures, among them Rossetti, Burne Jones, Madox Brown and the architect Philip Webb, all partners in the firm of Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Co.; the other two are presumably their fellow-partners Paul Marshall and C.J.Faulkner. Between them they hold a banner inscribed "WE ARE STARVING". Mrs Morris in the crescent moon looks down on the scene; below her, framed by the sun, are the heads of two bearded men, one wearing spectacles and the other an eyeglass, and a dove apparently cocking a snook at Morris with its claw.
In 1874 Morris proposed to take entire control of the firm by buying out his partners, a proposal much resented by some of them, especially Rossetti and Madox Brown. In this drawing Rossetti's annoyance is humorously expressed, but Morris's action ultimately led to a permanent breach between them. The drawing cannot be fully elucidated until the two bearded heads in the sun are identified. Virginia Surtees ingeniously suggested that they might be Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, but it was not until the 1880s that Morris became seriously involved in socialist politics.
https://research.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?images=true&objectId=727390&partId=1
22:10182 William Morris and the Kelmscott Press 2017-08-03
THEGUARDIAN.COM
William Morris's country home gets £4.3m lottery grant
The designer retreated to Kelmscott Manor in the Cotswolds from 1871 to 1896
Phillip Brown發文到The William Morris Appreciation Society
One of the really spectacular aspects of Red House are the ceilings, many of which were hand-painted by Morris and his friends. Some have since been repainted by subsequent owners but the main stairwell ceiling is still original (and smoke stained).
傳主Edward Burne-Jones 在摯友 William Morris 過世時說：.....But I am sorry for the world...he could do without it, but the world's the loser.
---Edward Burne-Jones by Penelope Fitzgerald,p.275
BBC.CO.UK
William Morris, In Our Time - BBC Radio 4
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss a great cultural figure of the 19th century.
LINKS AND FURTHER READING
READING LIST:
Caroline Arscott, William Morris and Edward Burne-Jones: Interlacings (Yale University Press, 2008)
Phillippa Bennett and Rosie Miles (eds.), William Morris in the Twenty-First Century (Peter Lang, 2010)
Mark Bevir, The Making of British Socialism (Princeton University Press, 2011)
Stephen Coleman and Paddy O'Sullivan (eds.), William Morris and News from Nowhere: A Vision for Our Time (Green Books, 1990)
Stephen Coote, William Morris: His Life and Work (first published 1995; Third Millennium Press Ltd, 2018)
Peter Faulkner, Against the Age: An Introduction to William Morris(first published 1980; Routledge, 2012)
Peter Faulkner and Peter Preston (eds.), William Morris: Centenary Essays (University of Exeter Press, 1999)
Ian Felce, William Morris and the Icelandic Sagas (D. S. Brewer, 2018)
Ingrid Hanson, William Morris and the Uses of Violence, 1856-1890(Anthem, 2013)
Owen Holland, William Morris’s Utopianism: Propaganda, Politics and Prefiguration (Palgrave Macmillan, 2018)
Ruth Levitas, The Concept of Utopia (Peter Lang, 2011)
Fiona MacCarthy, William Morris: A Life for Our Time (Faber and Faber, 1994)
William Morris (ed. May Morris), The Collected Works of William Morris, 24 vols (first published 1910-15; Cambridge University Press, 2012)
William Morris (ed. Nicholas Salmon), Political Writings: Contributions to Justice and Commonweal, 1883-1890 (Thoemmes, 1994)
Linda Parry (ed.), William Morris (Philip Wilson and the V & A, 1996)
Linda Parry, William Morris: Textiles (V&A Publishing, 2013)
Tony Pinkney (ed.), We Met Morris: Interviews with William Morris, 1885-96 (Spire, 2005)
Peter Raby and Kerry Powell (eds.), Oscar Wilde in Context(Cambridge University Press, 2013), especially ‘William Morris and the House Beautiful’ by Marcus Waithe
Peter Stansky, Redesigning the World: William Morris, the 1880s, and the Arts and Crafts (first published 1985; Premier Book Marketing Ltd, 1996)
Peter Stansky, From William Morris to Sergeant Pepper: Studies in the Radical Domestic (Society for the Promotion of Science and Scholarship, 1999)
E. P. Thompson, William Morris, Romantic to Revolutionary (Merlin Press, 1977)
Pamela Todd, William Morris and the Arts & Crafts Home (Thames & Hudson, 2012)
Anna Vaninskaya, William Morris and the Idea of Community: Romance, History and Propaganda, 1880-1914 (Edinburgh University Press, 2010)
Marcus Waithe, William Morris’s Utopia of Strangers: Victorian Medievalism and the Ideal of Hospitality (D. S. Brewer, 2006)
The History of Environmental Design: Arts and Crafts
In the wake of the Industrial Revolution, a group of friends at the University of Oxford joined together with dreams of turning their society towards Romanticism. The group found contemporary, industrial culture to be barbaric and meaningless and vowed to renew a deep appreciation of beauty throughout all media. The group, known as the Arts and Crafts movement, was led by architect William Morris and painter Edward Burne-Jones.
While the Industrial Revolution introduced new construction materials like steel and concrete, which allowed structures to be put together more quickly and easily, the Arts and Crafts movement yearned to maintain tradition, fine detail, and organic qualities. They focused on the use of natural materials, exquisite craftsmanship and attention to aesthetics. John Ruskin criticized the Industrial Revolution by suggesting that social and moral health is directly related to the quality of structure and design. This inspired the Arts and Crafts movement to fight against the modernization of the Industrial Revolution. The movement that Morris started in Britain quickly spread to inspire Arts and Crafts movements around the world, including the works of Greene and Greene and Frank Lloyd Wright.
Frank Lloyd Wright’s Robie House windows, 1909.
What we can learn from the Arts and Crafts movement is the importance of creating meaningful environments. Ruskin said that the quality of structure and design can impact social and moral health, and we agree. Consider the the effects on employees who work in an office with tiny, plain cubicles, white walls and flickering fluorescent lights. Now consider the morale within a space that has been designed with all the important aspects of aesthetic, fit and function in mind where employees enjoy being present and feel comfortable. In the increasingly industrialized and technological world of the present day, bringing organic and human qualities into the design is something that the designers at The Maude Group always take into consideration. While it can be enticing to create a slick and very industrial lobby with metal finishes and clean colors, we know that bringing in a few more personal touches—be it through a fine wood reception desk or a framing system—we can create a more welcoming atmosphere for both employees and customers.
Bradley University’s Hayden-Clark Alumni Center designed by The Maude Group
As Morris viewed every detail as being important, we look at the big picture but don’t overlook the fine details. What good is a beautiful mural if the printing quality is poor? And what good is a modern reception desk if the laminate begins chipping from wear within a month after installation? While new innovations can always be beneficial, it’s important to keep an eye on the past to remember important lessons that were already learned.
