Trellis
1864 · Block-printed wallpaper, distemper colours on paper · The Metropolitan Museum of Art
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About this work
- Artist
- William Morris (1834–1896)
- Year
- 1864
- Medium
- Block-printed wallpaper, distemper colours on paper
- Original size
- 68.6 × 54.6 cm (sheet)
- Collection
- The Metropolitan Museum of Art
- Movement
- Arts and Crafts
A thorny rose briar climbs a grid of pale wooden trellis, its coral-red flowers set among grey-green leaves, with blue birds perched in the branches and small insects drifting across a cream ground. Trellis was the first wallpaper William Morris designed, drawn in 1862 soon after he moved into the Red House in Bexleyheath, whose medieval-style garden had roses trained over trellises around the flowerbeds. The birds were drawn by Philip Webb, the architect of the house. Morris first tried to print it himself in oil colours from zinc plates; when that failed, pearwood blocks were cut and the paper was printed in distemper colours by Jeffrey & Co. of Islington. It was issued in 1864, the third of his papers to reach the market. This sheet was acquired by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1923.
This exhibition-poster edition shows the whole sample beneath original typography set in-house. The design is in the public domain.
Where it works
Coral roses, blue birds and a grey-green trellis on cream suit a breakfast room, garden-facing kitchen or a bright hallway. It pairs with Daisy (Cream) as an early-Morris pair at 16×24 in natural wood.
Style, size & framing detail
- Style
- Exhibition poster of an Arts and Crafts pattern
- Era
- 19th century (1864)
- Orientation
- Portrait
- Palette
- cream & beige
- Mood
- decorative, classic
- Rooms
- kitchen, hallway or entryway, dorm room
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 Trellis in the public domain?
What is it printed on?
When was Trellis 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.





























