See more objects with the tag flowers, sidewall, birds, trellis, outdoors, garden, Arts and Crafts, collaboration, gardener.

Object Timeline

-0001

1915

  • Work on this object began.

1935

  • Work on this object ended.

1941

  • We acquired this object.

1991

2016

2019

2025

  • You found it!

Sidewall, Trellis

This is a sidewall. It was designed by William Morris and manufactured by Jeffrey & Company. It is dated ca. 1925 and we acquired it in 1941. Its medium is block-printed paper. It is a part of the Wallcoverings department.

Morris held a fondness for birds, to the dismay of his gardener. Attempts at growing strawberries and blackberries were hindered by Morris’s declaration that the birds must be protected over the fruit. This pattern depicts Morris’s own view of the garden at Red House, where he watched birds dart through the rose trellises. Philip Webb, Morris’s collaborator on the design for the garden at Red House, drew the birds in this piece.

This object was donated by Robert W. Friedel. It is credited Gift of Robert W. Friedel.

Our curators have highlighted 6 objects that are related to this one. Here are three of them, selected at random:

  • Sidewall, Daisy
  • block-printed on paper.
  • Gift of Dr. Francis J. Geck.
  • 1980-73-3
  • Sidewall - Sample, Iris
  • block-printed paper.
  • Museum purchase from Smithsonian Regents Collections Acquisition Fund.
  • 1980-46-1-11

Its dimensions are

H x W x D (b): 67.5 × 57.3 cm (26 9/16 × 22 9/16 in.) Mat: 91.4 × 71.1 cm (36 × 28 in.)

It is inscribed

Printed in selvedge: Morris & Co.

Cite this object as

Sidewall, Trellis; Designed by William Morris (British, 1834–1896); Manufactured by Jeffrey & Company (United Kingdom); England; block-printed paper; H x W x D (b): 67.5 × 57.3 cm (26 9/16 × 22 9/16 in.) Mat: 91.4 × 71.1 cm (36 × 28 in.); Gift of Robert W. Friedel; 1941-74-19-a,b

This object was previously on display as a part of the exhibitions Botanical Expressions and The Cooper-Hewitt Collections: A Design Resource.

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If you would like to cite this object in a Wikipedia article please use the following template:

<ref name=CH>{{cite web |url=https://www-4.collection.cooperhewitt.org/objects/18564459/ |title=Sidewall, Trellis |author=Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum |accessdate=10 March 2025 |publisher=Smithsonian Institution}}</ref>