Strawberry Thief by William Morris: History, Design and Meaning

Strawberry Thief at a glance

The table below collects the documented facts about the design in one place. The V&A holds two furnishing fabric examples and the original printing block, and the Art Institute of Chicago holds a printed textile with a later making date. All dates below come from the museum records themselves.

One caution on dates: the records give 1883 as the design date, and the Met's record describes its example as 'design registered 1883, printed 1917-23'. No month or registration number appears in the supplied sources, so the exact first issue date cannot be stated here.

Strawberry Thief sits within a wider group of Morris printed cottons. The full Morris chintz list sets it alongside the other designs of the 1870s and 1880s.

What the pattern shows

The V&A describes the pattern as showing birds, strawberries and flowers in brown, yellow and shades of green, blue and red on a dark blue ground. That is the secure visual description: the sources name the birds, the strawberries and the flowers generically, and no plant species beyond that is identified in the evidence.

The printing block for the strawberry motif survives. It is made of pearwood and metal with felt inlay and was used to print the strawberry motif in red dye, which tells you where the red fruit in the repeat came from on the printed cloth.

The Art Institute of Chicago offers one interpretive reading: it states that Islamic textiles informed the design of the printed curtain, and that the flattened profile of the birds and the stylization of the plant forms highlight Morris's appreciation and adaptation of Islamic designs. That reading belongs to the museum's description, not to this page.

The V&A also records the practical purpose of the cloth. It was intended for curtains, draped around walls, or loose covers on furniture, so this was working furnishing fabric rather than a display piece.

The thrushes at Kelmscott Manor: what the sources say

According to the V&A, the pattern and its name come from the thrushes that repeatedly took strawberries from the kitchen garden at Kelmscott Manor in Oxfordshire. The same record calls Strawberry Thief one of Morris' best-known designs.

The Art Institute of Chicago gives a close version of the story: it states that William Morris reportedly fashioned the pattern after watching birds steal strawberries from his kitchen garden. The word 'reportedly' matters, because it marks the story as received rather than documented in Morris's own hand.

No direct statement by Morris himself about Strawberry Thief appears in the sources used here. The origin story therefore rests on the two museum records, which agree on the essentials: thrushes, a kitchen garden, stolen strawberries.

The Art Institute of Chicago adds an interpretive note on the design's appeal: it states that these small birds invading a strawberry patch have charmed consumers for more than 120 years, making Strawberry Thief one of the most recognizable and popular Morris & Co. designs.

How Strawberry Thief was printed: the indigo discharge method

The V&A states that the pattern was printed by the indigo discharge method, an ancient technique used for many centuries mostly in Asia, and that Morris admired the depth of colour and crispness of detail it produced. The crisp outlines the method allowed, the museum says, let Morris create a series of exuberantly complex designs.

On timing, the V&A states that Morris first attempted to print by the indigo discharge method in 1875, and that it was not until 1881 that the record continues further. The supplied excerpt is truncated at that point, so what happened in 1881 cannot be reported here beyond the date itself. In 1883, the V&A states, Morris used the complex indigo-discharge print method to produce Strawberry Thief.

The printing block evidence fills in the workshop side. The V&A describes the Strawberry Thief block as possibly designed by William Morris and made by Barrett's for Morris & Co., London, in 1883. The word 'possibly' is the museum's own, and the full name and role of Barrett's are not given in the sources.

The block's later history is documented. The V&A acquired it in 1980 from Stead and McAlpin & Co., who had acquired the Morris & Co. print blocks from Morris & Co. in 1940, along with the full range of Morris & Co. print blocks for textile designs. Stead and McAlpin produced Morris & Co. printed textiles for companies including Liberty, Cavendish Textiles and the John Lewis Partnership, by whom they were eventually taken over.

The V&A also records a post-1940 alteration: parts of the block group T.125:F&G-1980 (dark blue) and T.125:P to S-1980 (light blue) appear to have been cut after 1940 by Stead & McAlpin to change the blue printing technique. This is a factual note on the blocks themselves, not a claim about when the design was first printed.

For a fuller technical explanation of the process, see our guide to indigo discharge printing, which covers the slow method behind this group of cottons.

Cost and popularity with clients

The V&A states that despite being one of the most expensive printed furnishings available from Morris & Co., Strawberry Thief became a firm favourite with clients. The same record calls it one of the company's most successful designs in 1883.

No price figures appear in the sources, so the size of the extra cost over other printed furnishings cannot be stated. What the record establishes is the combination: high cost, strong demand.

The success of the indigo-discharge cottons did not stop with this design. The V&A notes that in 1884 Morris produced Wandle, the largest repeat he attempted at 98.4 x 44.5cm, and Cray, his last significant design for a printed textile.

Other printed cottons from the same years show the range of the technique. more on Brother Rabbit and Snakeshead in detail cover two neighbouring designs in the group.

Where examples survive: museum holdings

The table below lists the documented examples with their object numbers and dates exactly as the museum records give them. The Met and Art Institute of Chicago records carry later printing dates for their examples, which is the factual way to note later printing without inventing a reissue history.

The Art Institute of Chicago textile is a plain weave, block printed textile with wool trim and tassels, purchased with funds provided by John H. (the record is truncated here) and the Textile Society, and it is public domain. The full credit line is not given in the supplied excerpt.

A V&A caption reads: 'Strawberry Thief, furnishing fabric, designed by William Morris, made by Morris & Co., 1883, England.' It is a compact summary of the attribution the records support.

Strawberry Thief prints for your wall

It is a print of the design, not an original 1883 textile, and it suits the same uses the V&A describes for the cloth: wall display in place of curtains or hangings.

For colour and room ideas built around the pattern, see styling Strawberry Thief, which pairs the design with palettes that work with the dark blue ground.

If you are comparing designs before choosing, a closer look at Honeysuckle covers another printed cotton from the same chintz group.