A fierce foe of modernity, William Morris (English, 1834–1896) drew inspiration from the Middle Ages, when artist and craftsman were considered equals. He believed that decoration, in its finest form, gives pleasure to those who use it as well as to those who make it. So after training as an architect, he founded a decorating company with friends to produce glasswork, metalwork, and countless other crafts, including many textiles he designed himself. The gorgeous floral and foliate wallpaper designs on these notecards were selected from a sample book of William Morris and Company published around the turn of the 20th century. Contains five each of the following notecards: Single Stem pattern (detail), before 1917 Orchard pattern (detail), before 1917 Seaweed pattern (detail), before 1917 Pimpernel pattern (detail), before 1917
