Chrysanthemum
1877 · Block-printed wallpaper on paper · Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum
📦 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.
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 exhibition-poster edition shows the whole sample beneath original typography set in-house. 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
- Exhibition poster of an Arts and Crafts pattern
- Era
- 19th century (1877)
- Orientation
- Portrait
- Palette
- butter yellow, cream & beige
- Mood
- decorative, classic
- Rooms
- living room, study or library, dorm room, hallway or entryway
Size. We'd hang this one at 16×24. 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. Exhibition posters sit best in a slim black frame with no mat — the typeset margin is the mat.
Pairing. Hangs alone or as a matched pair; three or more prints are 10% off.
Details & materials
Shipping & returns
Is this the whole design, or a crop?
Is Chrysanthemum in the public domain?
What is it printed on?
When was Chrysanthemum designed?
What size should I choose?
About this design
The Madten promise
The full-bleed print
The pattern printed edge to edge, filling the whole sheet like a panel of the original wallpaper or fabric.





























