'Manna from heaven' is how Lisa Montague, CEO of the Sanderson Design Group, describes the unfinished Morris & Co designs to which the company was unexpectedly given access a little over two years ago. After Morris & Co was liquidated in 1940, much of its archive was acquired by Arthur Sanderson & Sons (rebranded as Sanderson Design Group in 2020), which allowed the Arts and Crafts designer's work to continue to thrive. But some of it ended up in private hands, including over 2,000 documents that found their way to The Huntington museum in California. There are sketches and paintings in various stages of development for papers, textiles, carpets and glass. Some are signed and annotated by William Morris; others are by Morris & Co's art director John Henry Dearle.
Little was done with the documents after The Huntington acquired the archive in 1999, until 2022, when the museum contacted Sanderson to see if it could turn some of the designs into products for its shop. Sanderson Design Group's design director, Claire Vallis, was then given the career-defining responsibility of creating a collection based on the archive designs.
Together with her team, Claire picked up pencil and brush where Morris and Dearle had left off to turn fragments into new fabric and wallpaper designs. 'I think it's the beauty of the lines and flow, and symmetry of the patterns that keep them in our lives,' says Claire. It's little wonder there remains a fascination about the work of the craftsman and designer, who forms the focus of a new permanent exhibition at Kelmscott House, W6, to mark the 70th anniversary of The William Morris Society.
The existing Sanderson archive was also a key resource for the ‘Morris & Co The Huntington -The Unfinished Works’ collection, with the team consulting it constantly to decide how to create a repeat or draw a leaf. 'Rather than concern ourselves with how they sit together, we allowed each fragment to follow its own journey,' says Claire. The first 42 designs - papers, borders, a woodland mural and embroidered, woven and printed fabrics - launched on September 2, with wallpaper from £122 a roll and fabric from £126 a metre. The one significant stylistic departure from Morris's signature flowers are the striped designs inspired by small details from the artefacts. 'I hope that there are one or two future icons,' says Claire. 'If we have found a new "Pimpernel" or "Strawberry Thief", we'll have done our job.'
‘Practically Magic: William Morris at Home’ in Hammersmith is at The William Morris Society Museum, W6, from September 11. ‘William Morris: Pattern and Design’ (V&A/Thames & Hudson, £25) will be published on October 2.
sandersondesign.group | wmorrisandco.com | williammorrissociety.org
