Olive and Rose fire screen
Caroline Philips, Lady Trevelyan (1849-1928)
Category
Furniture
Date
circa 1915
Materials
Silk, mahogany, glass
Measurements
105.5 x 62.5 x 30 cm
Place of origin
England
Order this imageCollection
Wallington, Northumberland
NT 582942
Summary
A Morris & Co. mahogany framed fire screen mounted with a silk embroidered panel of Olive and Rose by William Morris (1834-96) c. 1880 and worked by Caroline Philips (1849–1928), Lady Trevelyan, c.1915. The embroidery design features a symmetrical design of two olive branches intertwined with thorny rose stems worked in shades of green silk and six pink silk roses against a cream ground and is completed in darning and satin stitches. The rectangular mahogany frame with turned finials and openwork frieze is in the style of George Jack (1855-1931) for Morris & Co.
Full description
William Morris (1834-96), founder of the Arts and Crafts Movement, was one of the most influential designers of the 19th century, and his decorative schemes, based on natural subjects, have become classics of design culture. Embroidered textiles were an important part of his company Morris, Marshall, Faulkner and Co., founded in 1861. Both his wife Jane Morris (1839-1914) and his daughter May Morris (1862-1938) were talented artists and embroiderers who also managed the embroidery department at Morris and Co which sold finished pieces and embroidery kits (White, 2017). This embroidered fire screen features one of William Morris’s most popular designs, Olive and Rose, c.1880. It was still available to buy thirty years later and it is believed this example was worked by Caroline Philips (1849–1928), Lady Trevelyan, c.1915. She may have purchased it from the Morris & Co. Embroidery Work catalogue, c. 1912, which illustrated this panel and fire screen for sale at £4. 10s. The price included a kit of threads, marked up fabric and a sample of stitching for guidance, the mahogany frame and the costs of mounting the finished embroidery. A similar embroidered fire screen featuring Olive and Rose from a private collection was exhibited in ‘May Morris: Art and Life’ at the William Morris Gallery, London 7 October 2017 – 28 January 2018.
Provenance
Gift from Mrs.Pauline Dower nee Trevelyan
Makers and roles
Caroline Philips, Lady Trevelyan (1849-1928), embroiderer William Morris (Walthamstow 1834 - Hammersmith 1896), designer William Morris (Walthamstow 1834 - Hammersmith 1896), artist
References
White 2017: Catherine White, ‘Wallpapers and Embroidery’ in Marsh, Jan, et al. May Morris: Arts & Crafts Designer (London: V&A/Thames & Hudson, 2017), pp. 58-61 pp. 72-73