William Morris Tapestries

medieval castles | medieval knight pictures | William Morris tapestries | Unicorn tapestry wall hangings

In 1893, William Morris, the famous designer of tapestries, wrote: "As in all decoration, the first thing to be considered in the designing of Tapestry is the force, purity and elegance of the silhouette of the objects represented and nothing vague or indeterminate is admissible". During the Industrial Revolution in the 19th century, there was a big enthusiasm for technical improvements in all aspects of life. In the trade of tapestry weaving, there was an emergence of chemical dyes. However, this coincided with a demand for a wider variety of heavy floral patterns in the fashion industry and consequently produced an aesthetic indigestion. William Morris with a team of individual weavers and educational scholars began to think impart a special excellence in weaving tapestries. They turned to the Middle Ages in search of inspiration and succeeded in designing tapestries that had all special characteristics of fully developed Medieval Art: depth of tone, richness of color, an exquisite gradation of tints, and crispness and abundance of beautiful detail. In modern day, William Morris tapestries are very popular and become an important part of home decor.