William Morris (1834 – 1896)
At our meeting on Wednesday 8th June 2022 at the Granary in Quay Lane, our speaker was Joanne Banham from the Victoria & Albert Museum in London (although Joanne lives not far from Sudbury). Her topic was “William Morris & Victorian Wallpaper”.
She outlined William Morris’ life and work, and his experiments with pattern. She included the contributions of other designers of the period. For a while, arsenic was used to give brighter colours, until it was realised that it was causing deaths, especially among children.
She focussed mainly on the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and concluded by refencing contemporary clothing fashions.
The talk was liberally illustrated with slides showing examples of wallpaper, carpets, curtains and other applications of the designs, including Beatrix Potter’s bedroom at Hill Top in the Lake District.
Notices
Our treasurer, Ann Spiller, told us that tea and coffee would cost 40p per cup from the July meeting.
She reminded us that there are still spare seats for the coach trip to Kings Lynn on 24 June, costing £18.
To aid planning for future outings, she asked for a show of hands of members of the National Trust and enquired who would be ready to pay in the region of £40 for transport and admission combined.
There are no coach trips in July and August. She hopes to arrange an outing to a big house in September.
The next meeting is on Wednesday 13th July: Mark Mitchells on Characters of East Anglia.
On Wednesday 10th August we have our annual picnic at Shrubs Farm, Lamarsh. The cost of £3 should be paid in advance. Members are asked to arrive between 11.30am and 12 noon.
The meeting was asked for views about a pre-Christmas gathering in December, and the majority were in favour.