Circular drawing room table

The working drawing for the inlay design of tulip flowers is also in the William Morris Gallery's collection (catalogue no. A194 a-c), bequeathed by A H Mackmurdo. The same floral motif also appears on a Century Guild box, now in the Colchester & Essex Museum and was previously attributed to Selwyn Image. However, there is little stylistic similarity between this and other designs by Image for embroidery, stained glass and textual decoration in 'The Hobby Horse' the Century Guild's magazine. It is more probable that the floral motif design is by Mackmurdo himself, or his associate Herbert Horne, who designed decoration on other items of Century Guild furniture; see William Morris Gallery G14 and for other Guild commissions, such as the ceiling inset with painted panels designed by Horne, formally at Pownall Hall, Cheshire. The motif of flower sprays is in fact stylistically quite close to some designed by Horne as decorative tail-pieces on pages in 'The Hobby Horse.'