6. Printed cotton by William Morris

William Morris was a poet, socialist, entrepreneur, craftsman, designer and artist. Hating the industrialisation and ugliness of the 19th century, he insisted on traditional craftwork and beauty in the home. 

This printed cotton, designed in 1883 as a furnishing fabric and printed in his factory outside London, is one of his most successful designs. It shows his mastery of flat, repeating patterns and his love of natural forms. The ideal pattern, Morris said, should have ‘unmistakable suggestions of gardens and fields’. 

The cotton was printed using the traditional indigo discharge method, a technique that was unusual in the West. Called ‘The Strawberry Thief’, it shows birds pecking at strawberries within a dense lattice of foliage.