May Morris, the subject of Emery Walker’s House’s next online
talk, may have been overshadowed for many years by her famous father William,
but recently she has stepped into the limelight and been acknowledged as an outstanding
artist in her own right.
This skill led May to be in charge of the embroidery side of her
father’s business, Morris & Co for which she employed West London residents,
including Lily Yeats (sister of WB Yeats), at the Hammersmith workshops in Upper
Mall, Iffley Road and her home at 8 Hammersmith Terrace.
Hammersmith had become a hotbed of Arts & Crafts artists, who
collaborated and congregated at the Morris’s home at Kelmscott House for weekly
Socialist meetings in the coach house. May’s friends included the playwright George
Bernard Shaw who moved into Hammersmith Terrace with her and her husband, Emery
Walker’s family next door at number 7, and designers Eric Gill and Edward
Johnston.
“What distinguishes her from her designer father William Morris and
her mother Jane, who was a skilled needlewoman, is that May could both design
and embroider, and was amazingly skilled at both,” explains Helen Elletson,
Senior Curator at
Emery Walker's House and Curator of Research and Development at the William
Morris Society. Helen, who will be giving the talk explains,
“Like her father, she was multitalented and could design and make
jewellery, write books on needlework, and lecture on embroidery both here and
abroad.”
“You can detect from the ways that she puts her colours together that
she had an extensive knowledge of nature and medieval embroidery.”
Medieval England had been feted throughout the
world for its exquisite embroidery. Opus Anglicanum, Latin for 'English
work', was first coined in the 13th century to describe the highly-prized and decorative
masterpieces made of silk and gold and silver. However, by Victorian times needlework
had gone into a steep decline. Berlin wool work had become the norm, a much
more prosaic form of needlework typically executed with wool yarn on canvas worked
in a single stitch such as cross stitch.
May's knowledge of needlework, her talent for
designing and her brilliance with the needle led to her helping to re-establish
the status of embroidery to fine art in Britain and the talk will focus on her designs
and completed embroideries, demonstrating why she was one of the most
significant artists of the Arts and Crafts movement.
This live, interactive talk is part of a programme of monthly events via Zoom organised by Emery Walker’s House Trust. Entry is by donation. Please prebook via Emerywalker.org.uk.
The Emery Walker Trust is a registered charity
which aims to preserve and open the House for as many people to enjoy as
possible. The Trust also aims to improve knowledge of the Arts & Crafts
movement and the life and work of Sir Emery Walker. Emery Walker's House has
been closed since March 2020, so their usual visitor numbers and income from
tickets and giftshop purchases for this period have plummeted from 90% bookings
to zero. The Trust has made available a virtual and guided tours of the house
and riverside garden on their website. Emerywalker.org.uk
also has a wealth of information on the house and the people who lived there,
and an online shop selling embroidery kits, handmade gift cards and other
items, so do drop in for a virtual visit during closure. emerywalker.org.uk
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