Large Stem curtains by Morris & Co.
Morris & Co.
Category
Textiles
Date
1877 - 1917
Materials
Collection
Shaw's Corner, Hertfordshire
NT 1275427
Summary
A set of ten original Morris and Company Large Stem curtains which originally hung in the drawing room and hall at Shaw’s Corner. The fabric dates to the period 1877-1917. The design was copied by William Morris c.1868 after a printed cotton of the 1830s (Linda Parry, William Morris Textiles, p.203, no.2). The curtains in use today in the drawing and hall were made in 2013 using reproduction Morris & Co. Large Stem fabric (currently called “Tangley”). In addition: 1 lining (with hem only in Morris & Co. Large Stem) and curtain rings, original curtain itself has been cut away.
Full description
A set of ten Morris and Company Large Stem curtains which originally hung in the drawing room and hall at Shaw’s Corner. The fabric dates to the period 1877-1917. The design was copied by William Morris c.1868 after a printed cotton of the 1830s (Linda Parry, William Morris Textiles, p.203, no.2). The curtains in use today in the drawing and hall were made in 2013 using reproduction Morris & Co. Large Stem fabric (currently called “Tangley”). Bernard and Charlotte Shaw hung Morris & Co curtains at all the windows at Shaw’s Corner, reflecting Shaw’s friendship with William Morris, and also their shared personal taste. The Shaws used Morris textiles to personalize the interiors at Shaw’s Corner during the period of renting (1906 to 1920), and also after they bought the house. As a consequence of the actions of Shaw’s housekeeper Alice Laden, all the Morris & Co. curtains were removed and replaced sometime between late 1947 and early 1950. Morris Large Stem curtains are visible in photographs of Shaw taken in the drawing-room in 1946 (Bernard Shaw Through the Camera, p.110). By the time of Allan Chappelow’s photography (March 1950), the Morris curtains have disappeared and been replaced (Chappelow, Shaw the Villager, photograph of Shaw facing page 12, where the curtains have been changed to nondescript Sanderson fabric chosen by Laden). Alice Laden undertook a major programme of change at Shaw’s Corner after Charlotte’s death, disposing of various items. Laden would later justify this on the grounds that the curtains were too shabby. Her interventions however had a dramatic impact on the atmosphere of the house, removing important traces of Shaw’s personal connection to Morris & Company, and to William Morris himself. The Shaws had an account with Morris & Co. throughout their married lives, and were still purchasing items as late as 1936. Shaw’s photographs provide important evidence of the arrangement of the interiors during the Shaws’ occupation of the house, and in a Shaw self-portrait (NT 1715263.3) we see him posing next to Morris & Co Large Stem curtains in the drawing room, c.1911; 1/53/7150. A further portrait shows Shaw’s cousin Judy Gillmore in a similar pose with the curtains clearly visible (NT 1715263.6).(Alice McEwan, 2020)
Provenance
Purchased by the Shaws before 1911. The Shaw Collection. The house and contents were bequeathed to the National Trust by George Bernard Shaw in 1950, together with Shaw's photographic archive.
Makers and roles
Morris & Co., manufacturer William Morris (Walthamstow 1834 - Hammersmith 1896), designer