Diaper
1868–70 · Block-printed wallpaper · Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum
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About this work
- Artist
- William Morris (1834–1896)
- Year
- 1868–70
- Medium
- Block-printed wallpaper
- Collection
- Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum
- Movement
- Arts and Crafts
A grid of small cream squares, each filled with green foliage scrolls, alternates with squares holding a radiating daisy-like flower, the whole ruled by green lines like a tiled floor. Diaper is one of William Morris's early wallpapers, designed around 1870; 'diaper' is the old term for a small, regular repeat of squares or lozenges, common in medieval decoration. The V&A records that it was first produced in two colourways, yellow and olive, with seven more added in the 1870s; the Cooper Hewitt holds five combinations, including greens on light green. Morris named 'the Diapers' first among the patterns he suggested to clients who wanted to keep their walls quiet. This block-printed sheet is in the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum.
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
Green tiled squares of daisies and leaf scrolls on cream have a neat, graphic order that suits a kitchen, bathroom or hallway. Pair it with Net Ceiling at 12×18 in natural wood.
Style, size & framing detail
- Style
- Arts and Crafts pattern
- Era
- 19th century (1868–70)
- Orientation
- Portrait
- Mood
- decorative, classic
- Rooms
- kitchen, bathroom, hallway or entryway
Size. We'd hang this one at 12×18. 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.
