Orchard

Maker John Henry Dearle (British, 1860 - 1932)

Maker Morris and Company (London, British, 1861 - 1940)

Additional Title(s)

Design for Wallpaper

Collections

William Morris Collection

ClassificationsDRAWINGS

Dateca. 1900

Mediumwatercolor and graphite on paper

Dimensions13 1/4 x 8 1/4 in. (33.7 x 21 cm.)

DescriptionFruit trees with pink fruit, entwined with blue scrolling pattern. Verso shows designs for four panels, two quatrefoils for stained glass in graphite.

Inscribedrecto lower left: "3.4 / 1"; verso upper center: "Henley on Thames / Nettlebed Ch. / Scale 1/2" = 1'"; verso upper right in graphite by Sanford Berger: "Wallpaper Orchard / J. H. Dearle"

Credit LineThe Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens

Label TextThe straight brown trunks of the fruit trees in the Orchard pattern create a powerful vertical emphasis that is softened by the inclusion of swirling blue acanthus leaves. A pervasive motif in Morris's work, especially in his tapestry, acanthus leaves continued to be used by Dearle. The combination of trees and acanthus in Orchard is based upon the earlier embroidered wall hangings designed by Dearle and Morris's younger daughter, May, in the late 1890s.

Status

Not on view

Object number2000.5.100