Chrysanthemum
1877 · Block-printed wallpaper on paper · Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum
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About this work
- Artist
- William Morris (1834–1896)
- Year
- 1877
- Medium
- Block-printed wallpaper on paper
- Original size
- 74.5 × 55.5 cm
- Collection
- Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum
- Movement
- Arts and Crafts
Large cream chrysanthemums and curling pale blooms rise through grey-green and olive foliage over a dark ground filled with small leaves. William Morris designed Chrysanthemum in 1877, in the years between 1876 and 1882 when he produced sixteen wallpaper designs, his most productive period. The V&A describes the flowers as facing upwards to left and right in alternate rows, a device that keeps a large repeat from looking static. Morris named Chrysanthemum among the 'positive patterns' he recommended to clients who were ready for decided patterning on their walls. The paper was printed for him by Jeffrey & Co.; the V&A holds it in brighter yellow and pink, while this olive and cream colourway is in the Cooper Hewitt.
This print fills the sheet edge to edge with the pattern, cropped from a high-resolution museum scan of the original, so it reads like a panel of the wallpaper or fabric. The exhibition poster shows the whole sample. The design is in the public domain.
Where it works
Cream chrysanthemums on dark olive foliage have a muted, autumnal richness for a study, library or living room with wood furniture. Pair it with Kennet (Gold Silk) at 16×24 in natural wood.
Style, size & framing detail
- Style
- Arts and Crafts pattern
- Era
- 19th century (1877)
- Orientation
- Portrait
- Palette
- butter yellow
- Mood
- decorative, classic
- Rooms
- living room, study or library
Size. We'd hang this one at 16×24. Prints at 12×18, 16×24 in — 12×18 for a shelf, desk or a gallery-wall grid; 16×24 above a desk, console or in a hallway.
Framing. Printed edge to edge: a slim black or natural wood frame right to the pattern, or let the canvas wrap do the framing. Also available gallery-wrapped on canvas, ready to hang with no frame.
Pairing. Hangs alone or as a matched pair; three or more prints are 10% off.
