Honeysuckle Fire Screen

1880·Cotton or linen ground, silk floss·109.2 × 59.7 × 32.7 cm (43 × 23 1/2 × 12 7/8 in.)

The two fire screens in the collection [2018.845 and 2018.846] illustrate the variety of ways in which one could purchase objects from Morris & Co. The Flowerpot Fire Screen was likely embroidered, assembled, and sold completed as seen here. May Morris herself stitched several versions of the Flowerpot panel. The Honeysuckle design may have been a kit that was sold for amateurs to embroider themselves, as the stitching is less precise. Both of these designs could also be made into cushions, and they continued to be sold as kits decades after they were introduced.

Catalogue

Year: 1880
Medium: Cotton or linen ground, silk floss
Dimensions: 109.2 × 59.7 × 32.7 cm (43 × 23 1/2 × 12 7/8 in.)
Collection: Art Institute of Chicago
Artist: May Morris

Artist

May Morris

Installation

Mary "May" Morris was an English artisan, embroidery designer, jeweller, socialist, and editor. She was the younger daughter of the Pre-Raphaelite artist and designer William Morris and embroiderer and artists' model Jane Morris.

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