William Morris Gallery
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 Location within Greater London
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| Established | 1950 |
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| Location |
Walthamstow London, E17 |
| Coordinates | 51°35′28″N 0°01′16″W / 51.59099°N 0.021129°W |
| Type | Museum and exhibitions |
| Director | Waltham Forest Council |
| Public transit access |
  Walthamstow Central
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| Website | wmgallery |
The William Morris Gallery, opened by Prime Minister Clement Attlee in 1950, is the only public museum devoted to English Arts and Crafts designer and early socialist William Morris. The gallery is located at Walthamstow in Morris's family home from 1848 to 1856, the former Water House, a substantial Grade II* listed Georgian dwelling of about 1750 which is set in its own extensive grounds (now Lloyd Park). The gallery underwent major redevelopment and reopened in August 2012; in 2013 it won the national prize for Museum of the Year.
The gallery's collections illustrate Morris's life, work and influence. They include printed, woven and embroidered fabrics, rugs, carpets, wallpapers, furniture, stained glass and painted tiles designed by Morris himself and by Edward Burne-Jones, Philip Webb, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Ford Madox Brown, and others who together founded the firm of Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Company in 1861.
Outstanding exhibits include: Morris's medieval-style helmet and sword, made as 'props' for the Pre-Raphaelite murals at the Oxford Union; the original design for the Trellis wallpaper (the earliest of Morris's many wallpapers); the Woodpecker tapestry woven at Morris's Merton Abbey workshops; the Beauty and the Beast and Labours of the Months tile panels; and The Works of Geoffrey Chaucer printed at Morris's Kelmscot Press. Other exhibits – such as the satchel in which Morris carried his Socialist pamphlets, or the coffee cup he used on his weekly visits to the Burne-Joneses – provide a more personal glimpse of his busy life.
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Wikipedia