Illustration: William Morris. Trellis wallpaper design, 1862.
Trellis was William Morris first commercially available wallpaper design. It was sold through the company of Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Co, which was later to become Morris & Co, in 1864. However, the design itself had been completed by Morris two years before in 1862.
Trellis was said to have been inspired by Morris new family home of Red House which had been designed and built, with assistance from Morris himself, by his friend and architect Philip Webb in 1859. Whether Morris was literally inspired to create this particular wallpaper design while wandering the gardens of his new home, is ultimately not particularly relevant. However, it does add to the character and legend of the designer and it is perhaps what we would presume to be typical of his creative character, and that probably is more important today, than whatever the truth may really be.
Illustration: William Morris, 1857.
Interestingly, the design itself was an inspired combination of talents, rather like the designing and building of Red House, between Philip Webb and Morris. Morris throughout his life lacked confidence in his drawing ability and while he was secure enough in his ability to produce excessive amounts of flower and foliage throughout his career, he was always less certain when it came to anything biologically more complex. Therefore, in Trellis Webb produced the birdlife while Morris produced the rest of the design.
Compared to later design work, both for wallpaper and textiles, this early example appears much more stilted and compositionally heavy. If you have ever seen a room wallpapered in Trellis you will have some idea as to how overpoweringly busy this domineering wallpaper pattern can appear.
Illustration: William Morris. Trellis wallpaper design, 1864.
In its defence, it must be remembered that although this was the first example of a Morris wallpaper design that the market had seen, it was also very different from what was immediately available for interiors during this period. The design work is purposely naive and unsophisticated. A strategy has been taken by the designer in producing pattern work that bears little resemblance to any machine produced wallpaper of the period and this was obviously a conscious factor in Morris creative output. The flattened graphic appearance of the pattern work and the disregard for any form of naturalised three-dimensional quality sets it aside from much of the excessive floral and topographical wallpaper design work that was so much a part of mid-Victorian interiors. That many of these wallpapers are now long forgotten while Morris Trellis is still as well known and familiar today as it was one hundred and fifty years ago, says much about the designers own conviction and strategy towards the decorative arts.
Illustration: William Morris. Trellis wallpaper design, 1864.
Despite the early date of this wallpaper, it was always one of Morris favourites. It was part of the decor of his bedroom at Kemscott House during the last two decades of his life. Morris may well have been sentimental as to the perceived origin of the design. It perhaps reminded him of the period of his life where opportunities abounded. It was an era where he was starting out on a new creative career, a new marriage and a new house. However, Trellis can also be seen on a much wider scale as one of the first steps in a career that was to fundamentally change so many aspects of the English decorative arts world, much of it permanently.
Further reading links:
William Morris Wallpapers
Pimpernell, Design For Wallpaper, Morris, William Giclee Poster Print by William Morris, 18x24
William Morris. Wallpapers and Chintzes.
"Rose-90" Wallpaper Design Giclee Poster Print by William Morris, 9x12
"Mallow" Wallpaper Design Giclee Poster Print by William Morris, 12x16
Morris, William, Designs for Wallpapers
"Rose - 93" Wallpaper Design Giclee Poster Print by William Morris, 18x24
William Morris Designer - The Special Winter Number of the Studio
William Morris Full-Color Patterns and Designs (Dover Pictorial Archives)
William Morris: Patterns & Designs (International Design Library)
Designs of William Morris (Phaidon Miniature Editions)
William Morris (Temporis)
William Morris
William Morris on Art and Socialism
V&A Pattern: William Morris: (Hardcover with CD)
William Morris and Morris & Co.
The Beauty of Life: William Morris and the Art of Design
William Morris and the Arts and Crafts Home
William Morris Decor and Design
