Willow

William Morris

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

William Morris designed forty-one wallpapers and five ceiling papers, working from 1862 with Morris, Marshall, Faulkner, and Company and from 1875 with Morris & Company as sole owner. "Willow's" light, elegantly interaced leaves and stems stand out against a darker tone. First produced in 1885, the pattern should be distinguished from the slightly later "Willow Bough" (see 23.163.4k) of 1887 where the curled leaves are more densely arranged, and printed in colors that distinguish leaf from stem. If the elegantly stylized "Willow" conveys a Japanese sensibility, "Willow Bough" communicates greater naturalism.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Department’s vast collection of works on paper comprises approximately 21,000 drawings, 1.2 million prints, and 12,000 illustrated books created in Europe and the Americas from about 1400 to the present day. Since its foundation in 1916, the Department has been committed to collecting a wide range of works on paper, which includes both pieces that are incredibly rare and lauded for their aesthetic appeal, as well as material that is more popular, functional, and ephemeral. The broad scope of the department’s collecting encourages questions of connoisseurship as well as those pertaining to function and context, and demonstrates the vital role that prints, drawings, and illustrated books have played throughout history.

Metropolitan Museum of Art