The launch of the Emery Walker’s House collection from Morris & Co.

You might remember from a previous blog post that we were fortunate to get a sneak preview of the brand new Emery Walker’s House collection from Morris & Co, during their launch event at Kelmscott Manor. The collection has now launched, and we are excited to be able to share it with you, along with our experiences at Kelmscott - the home of William Morris. 

The collection features four brand new patterns and six reintroduced patterns based on extensive research into the Morris archives and preserved articles at 7 Hammersmith Terrace, the home of Morris’s close friend Emery Walker. Renowned typographer Walker was a great asset to the Morris skillset, enabling high-quality arts and crafts collaborations of mutual benefit to the duo. 

Morris established the Kelmscott Press for book printing, and the two also supported the local Hammersmith brand of the socialist league, and the Arts & Crafts Exhibition Society. 

Walker decorated his house throughout with Morris designs and furnishings, a look that has been preserved by his daughter Dorothy and her friend and co-habitant Elizabeth De Haas (and latterly Emery Walker’s House Trust). This makes it a fantastic archive of beautifully preserved Morris history, prompting a lot of research and inspiration for this collection. 

We were fascinated to hear from lead designer Jessica Clayworth about the research process and how each design was inspired, colour-matched and produced. 

“As a designer, expanding the archive of patterns first bequeathed by William Morris has been an enormous privilege, and we’re thrilled to add four designs each with a story to tell. Dorothy’s Kilim, for instance, draws from Dorothy Walker’s Middle Eastern travels and is only the second Kilim-inspired design in production by Morris & Co. 

May’s coverlet offers a tale closer to home, bringing to light the incredible needlework talent of May Morris, William’s daughter.” 

There are six designs that have returned to the Morris collection, inspired by the original decoration and features of Walker’s house. ‘Rose’ from 1883 is a creative response to Walker’s traditional Victorian-style garden. 

The typographic influence of Emery Walker is clear in The Beauty Of Life print, which takes its name from the lecture title of Morris’s passionate appeal against the effects of industrialised capitalism. 

Whilst some more contemporary colourways have been added to the collection, great care has been taken to adhere to original printing and weaving techniques to maintain a high level of quality craftsmanship. 

In most cases the original colourways are also offered, through careful colour-matching processes and research into several archival sources. 

There are 28 wallpapers and 28 fabrics in this collection, and you can speak to us about supplying them and having them made into beautiful curtains, blinds and upholstered pieces.