Posts

Showing posts from July, 2016

Report on the May Morris Conference, William Morris Gallery, Walthamstow May 13 and 14, 2016

Image
May Morris, embroidered binding for Ernest Levebure Embroidery and Lace , translated by Alan S Cole  (London, 1888). Courtesy of the Grolier Club of New York The William Morris Gallery in Walthamstow, UK recently hosted a two-day conference devoted to the life and work of May Morris (1862-1938), youngest daughter of William and Jane. May’s biography has often been overlooked and her work interpreted only as an aspect of the life of her famous father. But as the conference papers revealed, she was a remarkable designer, artist, and writer whose work contributed significantly to the spread of the Arts and Crafts aesthetic. From her youth, May developed an interest in embroidery. She trained at the South Kensington School of Design and was appointed manager of the embroidery department at Morris and Company in 1885. She studied the history of embroidery and published a series of articles promoting the craft, culminating in the book Decorative Needlework (1893). In 1909-10 she embarked