William Morris designed this wallpaper of scrolling acanthus leaves in 1874 and registered the design for Morris & Co. on 22 July 1875. The size of the repeat is 66cm x 53.3cm and required 30 woodblocks to complete one repeat, making it one of the firm’s more expensive wallpapers, retailing for 16s a roll. The original design is in Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery (1941P413) and the working drawing in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London (CIRC.297-1955).
This fragment came from a former bedroom in Temple Newsam House, nr. Leeds, when it was being redecorated in April 1952. A larger example is in Temple Newsam’s collection (2013.0001.0168). It was probably hung by Emily Meynell Ingram in the 1880s and 90s, perhaps c.1894 when the Duke and Duchess of York stayed at Temple Newsam.
