£1,125
Auction: Design Since 1860
block-printed paper, framed
Provenance: St. James Palace, London
Literature: Clark, Fiona (editor) William Morris: Wallpapers and Chintzes, Academy Editions 1974, p. 15 and 36, no. 28 illus.
Note: Morris & Co. only undertook two public commissions, and this rare repeat fragment of wallpaper comes from one of them - St James’s Palace, London. It was removed during a renovation. The other commission was for the South Kensington Museum. The two are possibly connected “through the influence of Richard Redgrave, who was both on the staff at South Kensington and, in his capacity as Surveyor of the Queen’s Pictures, was reorganising the paintings at St. James’ from 1864 onwards.”