Strawberry Thief

William Morris

1883 · Indigo-discharged and block-printed cotton · Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

Size2:3 ratio

Frame

$59Unframed print · made to order

📦 Free shipping on every order, arriving in 4–9 business days with production included. Express ($14.90) at checkout arrives in 4–6 business days.

🌿 Build a gallery wall: add any 3 prints and 10% comes off automatically at checkout. See sets of 3 →

Giclée-printed to order on heavyweight matte fine-art paper

Free shipping worldwide · arrives in 4–9 business days

Arrives perfect or we reprint it — free

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About this work

Artist: William Morris (1834–1896)
Year: 1883
Medium: Indigo-discharged and block-printed cotton
Original size: 48.6 × 48.9 cm
Collection: Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum
Movement: Arts and Crafts

Pairs of speckled thrushes face each other across a deep indigo ground, with red strawberries hanging between them among pink and yellow flowers and blue-green leaves in a mirrored layout. William Morris based the design on the thrushes that stole strawberries from the kitchen garden at Kelmscott Manor, his house in Oxfordshire. It was printed by the indigo-discharge method, which Morris first attempted in 1875 but mastered only after moving his works to Merton Abbey in 1881; in May 1883 he wrote of anxiously superintending its first printing. It was the first of his designs in which red and yellow were added to the blue-and-white ground. The process took days, making it one of the firm's most expensive cottons, yet it sold well. This fragment is in the Cooper Hewitt.

This print shows the whole sample, uncropped, from a high-resolution museum scan of the original. The design is in the public domain.

Where it works

Thrushes and red strawberries on deep indigo make a rich, storybook wall for a dining room, library or dark-blue bedroom. Pair it with Bird, its woven indigo counterpart, at 16×24 in black.

Style, size & framing detail

Style: Arts and Crafts pattern
Era: 19th century (1883)
Orientation: Portrait
Mood: decorative, classic
Rooms: bedroom, dining 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. The cream ground is its own mat: a slim black or natural wood frame, no extra mat.

Pairing. Hangs alone or as a matched pair; three or more prints are 10% off.

Details & materials

• Restored in-house from a museum scan of the original wallpaper or textile — cleaned and colour-trued at museum resolution • Heavyweight matte fine-art paper, giclée printed at 300 DPI • Sizes: 12×18, 16×24 in; every size also available framed • Framed option: wood frame in black or natural wood, 12 mm wide and 22 mm deep, with a plexiglass front and no mat; the print is mounted inside and the frame's outside measures the listed size • Made to order; colours may vary slightly from screen

Shipping & returns

Printed after you order at the facility nearest you, then shipped. Standard delivery is free and takes 4–9 business days from order to door in the US, UK and EU (up to 10 elsewhere); Express takes 4–6 business days. Because each print is made to order we don't take change-of-mind returns, but if it arrives damaged or flawed we'll reprint or refund it — no return needed. Full policy →

Is this the whole design, or a crop?

The whole sample, uncropped, on a cream ground with a typeset label. For the pattern edge to edge, choose the full-bleed print.

Is Strawberry Thief in the public domain?

Yes. William Morris (1834–1896) died more than 70 years ago and the design dates from before 1931, so it is public domain. This print is a reproduction made from a high-resolution scan of an original held by Cooper Hewitt.

What is it printed on?

Heavyweight matte fine-art paper with pigment inks, made to order in 12×18 and 16×24 inches; every size is also offered framed in black or natural wood, with plexiglass and no mat. Colours are matched to the scan, not brightened.

When was Strawberry Thief designed?

William Morris designed Strawberry Thief in 1883; this sample is indigo-discharged and block-printed cotton.

What size should I choose?

For Strawberry Thief we'd choose 16×24. Patterns also hang well as a pair or a row of three colourways at the same size.

About this design

Strawberry Thief by William Morris — the whole sample, uncropped, on a cream ground. Strawberry Thief · William Morris · 1883. This is a restored public-domain natural-history plate, set on a soft cream ground with a typeset caption — a self-contained gallery print, printed to order on heavyweight matte fine-art paper. Every size is offered unframed or framed in black or natural wood. Part of the Madten Animals Collection. — — — Printed to order and shipped by our production partner, Gelato.

Buy with confidence

The Madten promise

Gallery-grade archival giclée. Rich pigment inks on heavyweight fine-art paper (or gallery-wrapped canvas) — built to last, not a poster-shop print.

Arrives perfect or we reprint it — free. Every piece is made to order; if it shows up damaged or flawed we remake it, no return needed.

Free worldwide shipping. Made & shipped from the facility nearest you — most orders arrive in 4–9 business days.

Secure checkout. Payments handled by Stripe; we never see or store your card.

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