May Morris: Crafting a Legacy
This exhibition is a celebration of the wide-ranging creative output of Arts and Crafts designer and maker, May Morris, the younger daughter of William Morris. A vibrant display of embroideries, wallpapers, watercolour designs, costume and jewellery will showcase her many talents.
Today she is regarded as one of the most pioneering artists of the Arts and Crafts movement. A talented designer and needleworker, she elevated the embroiderer’s craft from a trivial hobby to a serious art form worthy of recognition. But in her lifetime her nature-inspired designs were often misattributed to her father, resulting in the underestimation of her artistic influence.
In 1885, aged just 23, she became the manager of Morris & Co’s embroidery department. She designed kits and special commissions for the firm’s British and overseas clients while supervising her small team of employees. At a time when the Victorian textile industry was notorious for exploitation, May provided fair pay and shorter working hours. She recruited and trained women from diverse communities and backgrounds, and her high standards ensured top quality handwork.
When her father died in 1896, May stepped down from this role to pursue her own career as a designer, maker, embroidery tutor, lecturer, editor and writer. A vigorous advocate for women artists, she co-founded the Women’s Guild of Arts in 1907. This created a much-needed professional forum for women, decades before they were admitted to the Art Workers’ Guild. May went on to advocate traditional craft practice to a wider audience, delivering influential lectures across the USA on the history of jewellery and medieval embroidery.
A remarkable woman, May Morris devoted her life to crafting a legacy which continues to inspire designers, makers and educators today. This beautiful exhibition celebrates that legacy and brings together loans of artwork from various UK collections, including Leicestershire Museums, The William Morris Society, the William Morris Gallery, and the Victoria and Albert Museum. Arts and Crafts metalwork from National Museums Liverpool’s collection will also be on display.
Caption: May Morris embroidery, Maids of Honour, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Further information:
- Opening hours: Tuesday – Sunday, 10.00 am – 4.00 pm; closed Mondays, except bank holidays;
- Free entry
- Location Lady Lever Art Gallery, Port Sunlight Village, Wirral CH62 5EQ
- Getting there: By Car: if you are travelling from Liverpool, use the Birkenhead (Queensway) tunnel. From elsewhere, leave the M53 at junction 4 and follow the signs for Port Sunlight village; By Bus: 464 bus to Bebington Road (from Sir Thomas St in Liverpool) 38 bus to Bebington rail station (runs between Clatterbridge Hospital and West Kirby station). For more information please call 0151 478 4136
