'Windrush' printed cotton

In 1883 William Morris embarked upon his most ambitious project in textile design; a series of gently flowing patterns inspired by tributaries of the Thames. The ‘Windrush’ pattern is part of this series that also included ‘Evenlode’, ‘Kennet’, ‘Wey’, ‘Wandle’ and ‘Medway’. These designs are much more complex that his earlier printed textiles and often include different layers of large and small flowers and stems.

This pattern features large flower-heads that resemble peonies overlapping with smaller plants and scrolling foliage. This version, bought when Morris & Co. went into voluntary liquidation in 1940, shows the pattern in yellow, black and green on white cloth.

Morris had a great affinity for the river Thames and enjoyed many boat trips on its numerous tributaries. He drew upon these frequently in his poetry such as in the introductory verses of the June stories in ‘The Earthly Paradise’: "By this sweet stream that knows not of the sea, That guesses not the city’s misery, This little stream whose hamlets scarce have names, This far-off, lonely mother of the Thames?"

In August 1880 Morris embarked on a boat journey along the Thames from Kelmscott House in Hammersmith to Kelmscott Manor in Oxfordshire. Morris greatly enjoyed this trip and references it heavily in his utopian novel 'News from Nowhere' published in 1890.