Strawberry Thief

Designerdesigned by William Morris (British, 1834 - 1896)

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

Collections

ClassificationsDECORATIVE ARTS

Dateca. 1883

Mediumblock printed cotton

Dimensions18 5/8 x 38 1/2 in. (47.3 x 97.8 cm.)

DescriptionSinging birds in pink on blue field covered with blue and green leafy vines with pink flowers.

Credit LineThe Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens

Status

Not on view

Label TextStrawberry Thief, designed by Morris and reportedly based on his observations of thrushes in the garden at Kelmscott Manor, became one of the firm's more popular patterns. Seventeen of the nineteen patterns registered by Morris & Co. between 1882 and 1885 used the indigo discharge method, a technique that Morris developed through extensive research and experimentation. First the fabric was washed and then submerged in the indigo vats. After drying, a bleaching agent was applied with woodblocks, leaving behind a white print of the pattern. If additional colors were required, such as the yellow in this design, the cloth was washed again, partly dried, warmed, and prepared for the addition of yellow by block-printing a mordant (fixing agent) onto those parts of the pattern requiring this color. The fabric was then dunked in the vat of weld dye, a plant recommended in medieval herbals for producing yellow. This entire process would be repeated for red using madder (the only other dye requiring a mordant) and any additional color details printed with woodblocks.

Object number2000.5.523