Violet and Columbine (Green)
1883 · Woven wool · The Metropolitan Museum of Art
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About this work
- Artist
- William Morris (1834–1896)
- Year
- 1883
- Medium
- Woven wool
- Original size
- 223.5 × 176.5 cm
- Collection
- The Metropolitan Museum of Art
- Movement
- Arts and Crafts
Rows of salmon, coral and rose flowers, sunflower-like heads and hanging bells alternate with blue columbines and violets over a dense dark-green ground of leaves. William Morris designed Violet and Columbine in 1883, and it was first shown that year on his firm's stand at the Foreign Fair in Boston. Morris imagined such cloths hanging in heavy folds, their flowing patterns suggesting a garden wall, and dyed them with natural dyes, which he valued because their colours remained beautiful as they faded. The cloth was also used for upholstery, including the cushions of Philip Webb's adjustable-back armchair in the V&A. This woven wool length, more than two metres long, was acquired by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1923.
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
Coral flowers and blue columbines on deep green read as a dark, rich garden for a dining room, library or green-walled study. Pair it with Flower Garden at 16×24 in natural wood.
Style, size & framing detail
- Style
- Arts and Crafts pattern
- Era
- 19th century (1883)
- Orientation
- Portrait
- Mood
- decorative, classic
- Rooms
- 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. 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.
