Seaweed

Maker John Henry Dearle (British, 1860 - 1932)

Maker Morris and Company (London, British, 1861 - 1940)

Additional Title(s)

Design for Wallpaper

Collections

William Morris Collection

ClassificationsDRAWINGS

Dateca. 1900

Mediumopaque watercolor over red chalk and graphite pencil on wove paper

Dimensions5 9/16 × 5 1/4 in. (14.1 × 13.3 cm.) sheet: 6 1/4 × 8 7/16 in. (15.9 × 21.4 cm.)

DescriptionLarge twining acanthus vines in green, mixes with sprays of green seaweed and small light blue flowers on deep blue ground speckled with red and blue dots.

InscribedOn mat, verso lower right: "Sketch design Seaweed / printed paper"

Credit LineThe Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens

Status

Not on view

Label TextDearle designed this wallpaper pattern for Morris & Co. around 1901. As is typical for wallpaper patterns, Seaweed began as a design drawn in pencil and watercolor. The drawing encompasses a full repeat of the pattern, which can be seen in the chalk outlines at the edges of the color work, suggesting the continuation of the design. When printed, the dense scrolling shapes of the foliage obscure any joins in the repeat. Seaweed is the only pattern designed at Morris & Co. that features ocean plants instead of the native flora of the British Isles that usually inspired Morris’s designs (2022).

Object number2000.5.4