'Acanthus' wallpaper

William Morris designed this wallpaper of large-scale scrolling acanthus leaves in 1874 and registered the design for Morris & Co. on 22 July 1875. The size of the repeat is 66cm x 53.3cm and required 30 woodblocks to complete one repeat, making it one of the firm's more expensive wallpapers, retailing for 16s a roll.

Acanthus leaves are an ancient decorative motif: their strong, scrolling leaf shapes making them ideal for use in pattern making. Morris used them many times in his wallpaper and textile designs.

This fragment came from a former bedroom in Temple Newsam House, near Leeds, when it was being redecorated in April 1952. A larger example of the same wallpaper is in Temple Newsam's collection (2013.0001.0168). It was probably chosen by resident Emily Meynell Ingram in the 1880s and 90s, perhaps around 1894 when the Duke and Duchess of York stayed at Temple Newsam, requiring the bedroom to be redecorated.