Morris & Co

William Morris founded the firm in 1861 as Morris, Marshall, Faulkner and Co, and set out to revolutionise British design. It was renamed Morris and Co in 1875. Early commissions included the Green Dining Room at what was then the South Kensington Museum and is now the Victoria and Albert, and the Armoury and Tapestry rooms at St James's Palace.

After Morris died in 1896 his protege John Henry Dearle, who had come up from shop assistant through a tapestry apprenticeship, took over as creative director. In 1940 the company entered voluntary liquidation and was bought by Arthur Sanderson and Sons for 400 pounds. It passed to Walker Greenbank in 2003, the group that renamed itself Sanderson Design Group in 2020.

The archive holds historical log books, samples of every wallpaper, printed and woven textiles, and the original wooden printing blocks. The brand designs from a London studio at Voysey House in Chiswick and manufactures in the group's own UK factories.

Morris designs earn their place on furniture in a way very few patterns do, because they were drawn for a flat surface and a long life. On a chair we have stripped to the frame and rebuilt by hand, it is about as coherent a pairing as this trade offers.