Pigments, Pattern and Paint

Our archivist shares the latest research into the historical wallpaper and how these findings helped inform the creation of an authentic Morris & Co. paint palette.

For our paint collection, we’ve returned to a unique source within our archive - William Morris’ logbooks. Our wallpaper logbooks reveal the stories behind the pigments, which William Morris used to print his wallpapers in the early days. 

The logbooks once lived in the wallpaper workshop of the commission printer, Jeffrey & Co., where they were used to record the first and subsequent printings of each new design. Five hundred pattern swatches contained in the books record the evolution of our wallpaper, from the earliest designs drawn by William Morris in 1862 to the last designs by his favourite apprentice, John Henry Dearle, printed in 1928. 

Other designers, including May Morris, Kate Faulkner and Kathleen Kersey are also represented in their pages. In total, more than 100 different designs in varying colours launched over a 60 year period document this important area of the firm’s production.

WORKING WITH ALLYSON MCDERMOTT

Our in-house design team began the process of research by working with heritage wallpaper conservator Allyson McDermott, taking a scientific approach to researching the Morris & Co. paint range. 

Allyson took tiny colour samples from the surface of a selection of the logbook swatches. These were examined under a microscope to reveal the chemical signature of the nineteenth century pigments. This is the first time these historically important wallpapers have been examined in this way, bringing new evidence and information about Morris’s working process.