Jasmine Trellis curtains by Morris & Co.
Morris & Co.
Category
Textiles
Date
1877 - 1917
Materials
Textile
Collection
Shaw's Corner, Hertfordshire
NT 1275428
Summary
A set of three Morris and Co. Jasmine Trellis curtains which originally hung in the dining room at Shaw’s Corner. Jasmine Trellis was designed by Morris c.1868-70, his earliest known design for textiles (Linda Parry, William Morris Textiles, 204, no.5). Marks to selvedge: “Morris and Company 449 Oxford Street, London. W" which date the fabric to the period 1877-1917.
Full description
A set of three Morris & Co. Jasmine Trellis curtains which originally hung in the dining room at Shaw’s Corner. Jasmine Trellis was designed by Morris c.1868-70, his earliest known design for textiles (Linda Parry, William Morris Textiles, 204, no.5). Marks to selvedge: “Morris and Company 449 Oxford Street, London. W” date the fabric to the period 1877-1917. 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. She 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. Charlotte Shaw planted jasmine in the garden immediately outside the dining room window, mirroring the Jasmine Trellis pattern used extensively in this room. She was thus reflecting the Arts & Crafts ethos of dissolving the border between the interior and exterior in the home. Shaw was photographed with Lisa Sheridan in the dining-room at Shaw’s Corner in 1937, where the Jasmine Trellis curtains can be seen, and a chair is covered in the same fabric in this room. (Studio Lisa, 1937, Getty Images 50711424). The chair survives in the collection (now displayed in the drawing room), with the Morris & Co. fabric extant on the upholstered back only. (NT 1274805). A further photograph survives showing Shaw in the dining-room sitting in his armchair with Morris Jasmine Trellis curtains in the background, dated verso ‘May 1947’. (NT Shaw Photographs 1715211.55).(Alice McEwan, 2020)
Provenance
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