Aesthetic Movement Iconic adjustable armchair Ebonised mahogany designed by Philip Webb For Morris & Co.
First designed 1866 Original horse hair cushions.
Recovered in Tulip and Rose triple wool fabric Woven by Heckmondike Manufacturing Company designed by William Morris 1876

Aesthetic Movement Morris & Company ebonised settee with rush seat design attributed to Ford Maddox Brown c1880

Aesthetic Movement pair of chairs ebonised chairs with rush seats by Morris & Co

Born in Walthamstow, Essex, to a wealthy middle-class family, Morris came under the strong influence of medievalism while studying Classics at Oxford University, there joining the Birmingham Set. After university, he trained as an architect, married Jane Burden, and developed close friendships with the Pre-Raphaelite artists Edward Burne-Jones and Dante Gabriel Rossetti and with the Neo-Gothic architect Philip Webb. Webb and Morris designed a family home, Red House, then in Kent, where the latter lived from 1859 to 1865, before moving to Bloomsbury, central London. In 1861, Morris founded a decorative arts firm with Burne-Jones, Rossetti, Webb, and others: the Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Co. Becoming highly fashionable and much in demand, the firm profoundly influenced interior decoration throughout the Victorian period, with Morris designing tapestries, wallpaper, fabrics, furniture, and stained glass windows. In 1875, Morris assumed total control of the company, which was renamed Morris & Co