Kennet (Indigo)
1883 · Printed plain-weave cotton · The Cleveland Museum of Art
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About this work
- Artist
- William Morris (1834–1896)
- Year
- 1883
- Medium
- Printed plain-weave cotton
- Original size
- 90.2 × 97.8 cm
- Collection
- The Cleveland Museum of Art
- Movement
- Arts and Crafts
Large gold-edged flowers, one like a peony and one like a sunflower, ride on long diagonal stems with blue and green acanthus leaves over a background of tiny cream vines on deep indigo. William Morris designed Kennet in 1883 and named it after the River Kennet, which flows into the Thames. The Cleveland Museum of Art traces its strong diagonal movement to centuries-old Italian cut velvets, which Morris studied at the South Kensington Museum, now the V&A; he said he used that museum more than anyone alive. Kennet was sold in many colours and cloths, including cotton, velveteen, silk and Madras muslin. The V&A describes its ground as small curling grapevines. This printing on plain-weave cotton, about 1920, is in the Cleveland Museum of Art.
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
Gold-edged blooms and diagonal leaves on deep indigo bring warmth and movement to a living room, study or above a sideboard. Pair it with Kennet (Gold Silk) at 24×36 in natural wood.
Style, size & framing detail
- Style
- Arts and Crafts pattern
- Era
- 19th century (1883)
- Orientation
- Portrait
- Mood
- decorative, classic
- Rooms
- living room, dining room, study or library
Size. We'd hang this one at 24×36. Prints at 12×18, 16×24, 24×36 in — 12×18 for a shelf, desk or a gallery-wall grid; 16×24 above a desk, console or in a hallway; 24×36 as the statement piece above a sofa or bed.
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.
