Above, Acanthus Reborn by Emma Bossons is available for the next two weeks in the Moorcroft Potters Holiday Sale
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William Morris designed several wallpapers, all with repeating patterns, based on natural forms – with Willow, Honeysuckle, Chrysanthemum, Larkspur, and Acanthus championed above all. Undoubtedly, the most famous of these was Acanthus, reborn many times throughout Arts & Crafts design. The first known example of the acanthus leaf as a decorative architectural element was in the Corinthian capital, originating in Greece in the 5th century BC where their sharp points, deeply carved corners and sharp ridges between the lobes, created clear shadow lines that were visible from a distance - and so it was in the Moorcroft design harnessed by Emma Bossons, Acanthus Reborn.
Corinthian column.
For Spring 2024, Moorcroft designer, Kerry Goodwin, poured out her creativity onto the Arts & Craft flagship leaf with the ideas emanating from Morris in her mind - that a large, repeat pattern was more restful to look at than a small one. Perhaps this is why Acanthus was hung in one of the bedrooms of the famous Arts & Crafts house, Wightwick Manor as shown in the image below.
Morris’s Acanthus wallpaper was printed for Morris's company by the London firm Jeffrey & Co., who specialised in high quality 'Art' wallpapers. It required thirty wood blocks to print the full repeat, and used fifteen subtly different colours (more than any previous design by Morris). 'Acanthus' was issued in two colour combinations - one in shades of green and the other in predominantly reddish-brown tones.
Simply named, Acanthus, Moorcroft believe Kerry’s handmade, limited-edition jug is something that Morris himself would cherish. It has to be said that the sensuousness and naturalistic inspiration found in Arts & Crafts design oozes from this small, limited edition, as intertwined acanthus leaves in shades of blue and green, set against a sophisticated dark blue ground, calm the soul as written into the bedroom fireplace at Wightwick Manor – and like the blue vases found in the manor house itself, hold multiple shades of blue like the vast oceans themselves.
Above Acanthus JU3 Jug (limited edition 15)
Acanthus is a jug also fits with Morris’s well-known phrase; “Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful.”
Nevertheless, it was in the year of King Charles Coronation, that Emma created what was said to be the pinnacle of Acanthus inspired creativity with Acanthus and Vine, not, this time, inspired by Morris’s Acanthus Wallpaper but his Acanthus and Vine tapestry c.1879.
Emma’s design is sophisticated and fits perfectly on the gentle curves of her chosen Moorcroft vase shape. Mystical birds peep their heads out of nests made from chalky-blue acanthus leaves, as if appearing like ethereal angels to give a message from above. Energised like the crests and curls of a wave, the blues of the acanthus leaves melt into navy-blue blooms that appear to have been pulled out of the swell, as midnight-purple grapes cascade throughout the design and ivory peonies flushed with soft pinks uplift the heart. With complex artistry, layering colours in various hues, and the vigorous curves, all these wonderful Moorcroft Acanthus designs display their scrolling foliage, to create a truly three-dimensional effect and allow nature to grow in abundance in our homes.
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