This is Morris and Co’s showroom in 1917. Morris had bought out the other partners in Morris, Marshall, Faulkner and Co in the 1870s, and one of the first things he did to expand the business was to open a shop in Oxford Street, near Liberty’s and other up-market shops in London’s West End. The company carried on after Morris’s death in 1896, moving in 1917 from Oxford Street to nearby Hanover Square.
The showroom was designed to let customers see how Morris and Co’s products might look in their own homes. There are piles of swatch books, and lengths of wallpaper displayed next to fabrics which set them off to full advantage. The shop also sold goods by other designers which complemented the house style, such as the ceramic vase on the display cabinet.
