Designer, embroiderer, feminist, socialist.

25 March 1862 – 16 October 1938

Education

Schooled Notting Hill High School.

Her father, William Morris, gave her an artistic education, her mother Janey taught her embroidery.

1880-1883 Studied textile arts at South Kensington School of Design.

Some Key Achievements and Interests

1885 Promoted to Head of the embroidery section Morris & Co, running the section until William Morris’ death in 1896.

1888 Worked as private teacher while also taking on design commissions.

1888 Exhibited an embroidered book cover at the first Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society subsequently exhibiting regularly. 

1897 – 1910 Taught at the Central School of Arts and Crafts.

Lectured on embroidery and costume and pattern design.

1905 Exhibited with bookbinder Katharine Webb.

1907 Co-founded the Women’s Guild of Arts as women were excluded from the Art-Workers’ Guild: Remained President until 1935.

Served on the Committee of the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings (SPAB) which had been set up by William Morris in 1877.

1906 Started editing The Collected Works of William Morris (24 vols 1910-15).

1909–10 Lectured on her father’s legacy in the United States and Canada.

1913 Exhibited at the Universal Exhibition in Ghent.

1914 Exhibited at the Exposition d’Arts Décoratifs in Paris.

Issues

Her work was overshadowed until recently by that of her father and sometimes erroneously attributed to him. She also devoted a lot of time to preserving his memory.

Had a stormy affair with George Bernard Shaw.

Connection to Bloomsbury

1865-1872 Lived Queen Square.

Female Networks

The Morris family network and Morris & Co employees and customers, many craftswomen, Katherine Adams, Mary Lobb.

Works

Designs for altar cloths, fire screens, bedcovers, wallpaper and fabrics, book covers etc eg: 1883 Honeysuckle

Writing including:

1893 Decorative Needlework.

1898 Lady Griselda’s Dream, a dramatic monologue.

1903 White Lies, a one-act play.

Further reading;

Hulse, Lynn (ed); May Morris: Art & Life New Perspectives; Friends of the William Morris Gallery; 2017

Lister, Jenny, Marsh, Jan, Mason, Anna; Bain, Rowan, Farby (eds); May Morris Arts & Crafts Designer; Thames & Hudson in association with the Victoria & Albert Museum; 2017.

Marsh, Jan: Feminist, socialist, embroiderer: the untold story of May Morris; 2017; Feminist, socialist, embroiderer: the untold story of May Morris | Blog | Royal Academy of Arts

Morris, Mary [May] Morris, Mary [May] (1862–1938), designer and craftswoman | Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (oxforddnb.com)

Morris, May May Morris – Wikipedia

Pens and Needles: Reviving Book-Embroidery in Victorian England – The Public Domain Review