William Morris's Tulip and Willow Chintz: History and Design

Tulip and Willow at a glance

The two V&A object records are the main documentary source for this design. Both give a primary date of 1873. The record for O266146 attributes the design to William Morris as designer for Morris & Co., while the record for O78104 shows Morris as primary maker. The record for O266146 also notes a stamp on the fabric reading 'Morris & Company 449 Oxford Street London W', which ties the surviving piece to the firm's Oxford Street address.

The records also agree that the fabric is a printed cotton made with discharge and block printing techniques, though they word the technique slightly differently. Where they differ is on the production date range and on whether the design was Morris's first or second printed textile, both of which are covered below.

What the fabric shows

The title itself is the clearest evidence of what the pattern contains, and the records' descriptions do not add further named plants or motifs.

It is worth being plain about the limits here. No source in the evidence identifies additional flowers, birds or animals in the pattern, and no source records any symbolic meaning for the design. Any description beyond tulips and willow branches would be guesswork, so this page does not offer one.

The V&A captions the fabric as a furnishing fabric designed by William Morris, made by Morris & Co., dated 1873 and made in England. That caption confirms the object's function: it was intended for furnishing use rather than dress.

Morris's first printed fabric, or his second?

The two V&A records disagree on where Tulip and Willow sits in Morris's work as a textile designer. The record for O266146 states that it was Morris's first design for a printed fabric. The record for O78104 states that it was the second textile designed by Morris.

Both statements come from the same institution, so this is a disagreement within the V&A's own records rather than between institutions. The evidence available here does not resolve it, and no other source in the evidence takes a position. What can be said is that the V&A record O78104 states this was the second textile designed by Morris, and that the design belongs to the very beginning of Morris's work in printed textiles, in or around 1873.

The production dates in the two V&A records differ in the same way. The record for O266146 gives 1873 and a range running to 1919, while the record for O78104 gives 1873 and 1883.

Getting the design printed: Clarkson, Wardle and the problem of blue

The V&A record O78104 preserves the most detailed account of how the design reached the cloth. According to that record, Morris commissioned Thomas Clarkson of Bannister Hall, described as one of the leading manufacturers of printed textiles, to print the design because he had no means to do it himself.

The same record notes a letter from Morris to Wardle complaining about the blue dyes. The evidence gives the fact of the letter but not its full text, so nothing more can be quoted from it.

Putting these statements together with the record's note that the pattern took some years to reach commercial production gives a rough sequence: a design of 1873, a commission to Clarkson, and a slow route to the market. What the records do not state is where the surviving examples were actually printed, whether at Clarkson's works or elsewhere. That question remains open.

The original watercolour design for the pattern has its own recorded history. The V&A record O78104 states that it is in the collection of the City Museum and Art Gallery, Birmingham. The sources supplied do not give an object number for it.

Where to see Tulip and Willow

Two examples are documented in this evidence, both at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. The table below lists them with their object numbers so that a researcher or curator can locate the records directly.

Beyond the two cloths, the original watercolour design is recorded as belonging to the City Museum and Art Gallery, Birmingham. No object number for the watercolour appears in the evidence, so anyone planning a visit should check with the museum directly.

Tulip and Willow among Morris's printed textiles

Tulip and Willow belongs to the first wave of Morris's printed fabrics. Printed and woven textiles developed as parallel lines in the firm's output through the 1870s.

The full run of Morris's printed cottons is covered on the Morris chintz list, which sets each design alongside its date and technique. For another printed textile from the same period of experiment, the profile of Brother Rabbit traces a chintz with its own production story.

Uncertainties the records leave open

Several questions that readers naturally ask cannot be answered from the evidence behind this page. They are listed here so that the limits of the record are as clear as its contents.

The following are not established by the sources used here:

• Whether the design was registered, and if so when. No registration date appears in the evidence.
• Any later reissues of the pattern. The evidence documents none, though the production date ranges given by the V&A records extend beyond 1873.
• Dimensions and colourway details for either V&A example. The record excerpts supplied do not state them.
• Any documented statement by Morris specifically about Tulip and Willow. The evidence contains none.
• Where the surviving examples were printed.