A visit to the William Morris Museum

Yesterday John and I travelled to Walthamstow in north London to visit the William Morris Museum. The day was perfect, with clear blue skies and a few fluffy clouds. The walk from the station took about 15 minutes and gave us a chance to see the local shops. The museum is housed at Water House, a substantial Grade II* listed Georgian home. The extensive grounds of the building are now a public park, known as Lloyd Park.

The posters by the gate for the Women in Print exhibition.

There is no charge to visit the museum or the exhibition. We started our visit in the rooms dedicated to William Morris. Morris (24 March 1834 - 3 October 1896) was an English textile designer but also a whole lot more. He was a poet, a writer, an artist and also a socialist activist with the Arts and Crafts movement. I didn't take many photos in this part of the museum but here are the few I did take. 

I enjoyed seeing this fabric hanging from the ceiling in the area of the museum where the process of dying and printing fabrics was considered.

Below is the mahogany Saville armchair that was introduced into the furniture range in the early 1890s. 

There several examples of wallpaper on display but I liked this one as it wasn't too dark.

To find out more about William Morris you can follow this link  There was a lot to see and learn about his friends, family and his work. I enjoyed finding out about the man behind the name. However we had come to see the Women in print exhibition and I've got quite a few photos to share with you.

The exhibition was conceived in partnership with Liberty Fabrics as part of the design house’s 150th anniversary. This exhibition highlights the role and contributions of women textile designers. The blerb states that women are often stereotyped only as consumers of clothing and textiles but this exhibition was showing the key role they played and still play in keeping Liberty at the forefront of fashion.

The Prado Biba Trouser suit by Barbara Hulanicki (b 1936) for Biba and the Liberty fabric designed by Olive Fisher (dates unknown) Biba were known for their bright colours and bold prints. This fabric was a favourite of Barbara Hulanicki. Unfortunately very little is known about the fabric designer. The fabric was screen printed Varuna wool (1968)

I have to say I loved Biba and I still own a Biba handbag. I don't use it very often unfortunately.

The next dress is a wedding dress made using 12 Liberty prints. Made in 1978 using cotton and lace by Lizzie Houghton Puddifoot (b. 1948) for her own wedding. I enjoyed spotting the different fabrics and I love that it isn't a traditional white dress.

Kandura (Mukhawar)  Mukhawar is a style of Emirati Kandura dress which is often embroidered or beaded. The fabric was designed by Polly Mason (b. 1975) Unfortunately you can't see the beadwork or embroidery very well in the photo.

The workspace below would certainly brighten the office up!

An embroidered book cover. Unfortunately the photo of the attached information is very out of focus so I can't tell you who designed it.

I love this catalogue cover from the 1900's.

I did manage to take photos of some of the information boards without getting the focus wrong!

Dress by an unknown maker but fabric designed by Madeline Lawrence (1896 - 1952) This fabric was produced in a range of fashionable colours. The design is printed on linen. 1935.  This syle of dress was still going strong when I was young i.e. during the middle to late 1950's.

A photograph of Althea Monish in her West Green Road studio in 1966

A sample book by Monish.

A mary Quant design. I used several of her patterns to make myself dresses in the late 60's and early 70's. Unfortunately I could never afford to use the liberty fabric. The label below is out of focus and unfortunately I can't read it

Somewhere I have a photo of me wearing a similar dress but different fabric.

I still have a few photos but this post is very photo heavy so I'm going to stop for now.  Here in the UK tomorrow is a Bank Holiday and we haven't decided yet how we are going to spend it. Most bank holidays tend to be rainy so it may be a sewing day but I also need to get out into the garden. Oh if only decision making was easier.

Take care

Lyndsey