Illustration: Edward Burne-Jones. Sleeping Beauty ceramic tile panel, 1865.
Illustrated in this article are six tile panels made up of two ceramic tiles per panel. They are representations of the fairy tale Sleeping Beauty and were produced by William Morris company Morris, Marshall, Faulkner and Co in 1865. In all there were originally nine panels set in further floral and swan border panels with a text near the bottom that read: Of a certain Prince who delivered a King's daughter from a sleep of a hundred years, wherein she and all hers had been cast by enchantment. It is believed that Edward Burne-Jones designed the panels, although it is said that William Morris was also involved in the creative procedure and might well have designed some of the background details, particularly the wallcoverings. The tiles were hand-painted, though not by Burne-Jones.
Illustration: Edward Burne-Jones. Sleeping Beauty ceramic tile panel, 1865.
This particular ceramic tile panel was in fact part of a larger commission for Morris, whereby two other ceramic tile panels were produced, one depicting Beauty and the Beast and the other Cinderella, along with stained glass windows and other furnishings. They were intended for the home of the fine artist Myles Birket Foster for his new house at Witley in Surrey.
All three tile panels were destined for bedrooms, to be used as overmantels. They are relatively early examples of the collaboration between both Morris and Burne-Jones and clearly shows how successful the partnering was to be. Although Burne-Jones was by no means an employee of Morris company and had an incredibly successful solo career in his own right, it is very often the collaborative work produced for and with Morris that has proved as popular today as it was in the second half of the nineteenth century.
Illustration: Edward Burne-Jones. Sleeping Beauty ceramic tile panel, 1865.
The Sleeping Beauty tiles shown here are an interesting example of the changing of styles and tastes during the mid-nineteenth century. Whereas the story itself has no real style marker setting it in any particular era or decorative style, Burne-Jones and Morris have set it specifically in an idealised medieval period, along with medieval styled costumes and interiors. Another period than that of the mid-nineteenth century might well have portrayed the story in an entirely different decorative format. It is to be noted that many of the fairy tales such as Sleeping Beauty, Beauty and the Beast and Cinderella have tended to use a vague eighteenth century setting, particularly when thinking of the relatively recent interpretations by Disney, for example.
However, the 1860s was a period that saw the Gothic Revival probably at its most popular and therefore at its most extensive. The early years of the Revival had seen medievalism used mainly within an ecclesiastical context, A W N Pugin being a prime example of this early phase. However, with his death in 1852, the Gothic Revival appeared to break out of the constraints that, although not imposed by Pugin, still seemed framed by the architect and designers often biting criticism for any form of unecessary affectation outside of the realms of church services.
Illustration: Edward Burne-Jones. Sleeping Beauty ceramic tile panel, 1865.
By the 1860s, Gothic themed domestic work could be found being produced by varying companies across Britain, not all of them successfully so. Anything and everything seemed to have a medieval dimension, from stained glass through to wallpaper, ceramics, textiles, furniture, glass, books and more. There seemed no limitation to the decorative style and in some respects this was to eventually destroy it as a functioning format. The all pervasiveness of medievalism led to innovations in other style periods and the public eventually moved on from Gothic, though having said that medieval styled furniture was still being produced, all be it on a much reduced scale, as late as the 1920s.
In this respect it is hard perhaps to see Morris company being quite as innovative and creatively separate as it sometimes appears to us today. While there is no doubt that Morris and his company had particularly exacting standards, more so than many, it is perhaps unwise to see him as being quite as unique within his own period. Morris clearly identified himself as a businessman, particularly so within his earlier career, and this is a fact that is sometimes underplayed. The Gothic revival and medievalism in general was such a pervasive decorative style during the mid-nineteenth century that it would have been near impossible to have produced work in any other successful and fashionable style, particularly when running a decorative arts business.
Illustration: Edward Burne-Jones. Sleeping Beauty ceramic tile panel, 1865.
This is not to say that Morris was not innovative within his company. Procuring commissions through the work of such artists as Burne-Jones helped enormously. However, Morris did struggle to fill order books, particularly during the earlier phase of the company as Morris, Marshall, Faulkner and Co. He was after all, but one of many companies offering decorative interior accessories, a number of whom had much lengthier and more prestigious connections than his own. Many were also supplying goods in the same decorative style as Morris, and more successfully.
However, it is perhaps the early years of Morris and his company that appeals to us today. Much of the work including the six ceramic tile panels shown here, have an element of naivety and charm that was perhaps lacking in some of the more professional styled companies that rivalled Morris, Marshall, Faulkner and Co. It is after all the attention to hand detailing and hand production, rather than medievalism itself that was to eventually mark Morris and Co as a uniquely separate identity later in the century, and these early pieces give a good indication of the direction that that creative styling was to take.
Illustration: Edward Burne-Jones. Sleeping Beauty ceramic tile panel, 1865.
Anyone interested in seeing the complete Sleeping Beauty panel might like to take a look at this Victoria and Albert Museum link where the full set is now kept.
Further reading links:
Edward Burne-Jones: The Earthly Paradise
Burne-Jones: The Life and Works of Sir Edward Burne-Jones (1833-1898)
Sir Edward Burne-Jones (Pre-Raphaelite painters series)
Hidden Burne-Jones: Works on Paper by Edward Burne-Jones from Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery
Edward Burne Jones
Burne-Jones: An Illustrated Life of Sir Edward Burne-Jones (Shire Library)
William Morris, Edward Burne-Jones and the Kelmscott Chaucer
Tate British Artists: Edward Burne-Jones
William Morris and Edward Burne-Jones: Interlacings (Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art)
William Morris and Morris & Co.
Morris & Co.
William Morris
