Tuesday, January 20, 2015

V&A in London - Japan and William Morris

To continue with some snapshots from the V&A museum, a few precious examples of the influence of Japanese art and design, including this kimono silk brought back from the Paris Exhibition of 1867: 




How about this 1881 book of Japanese crests - talk about sashiko inspiration ;).




"Butterfly Brocade" 1874-1876:





"Simplicity, purity of form, and strong feeling for nature" - leads us to William Morris:



So dimly lit in the galleries, surely to protect the artifacts.








And elsewhere in the gallery I did a double-take at this early highly stylized Liberty design - a 1904 panel for a cushion cover. At first glance those topiary-like trees could be Japanese crests, wouldn't you say?

And that's it... today it was back to school and work, the realities of a New England winter, and my usual daydreaming about quilting when I'm not actually quilting!

2 comments:

  1. Did you read Barbara Brackman's blog posts on the William Morris, and modern designs that aren't? Really interesting all through last year. I love William Morris and did a throw quilt I loved with the repro fabrics in the first line that came out in the 90s. These photos were really interesting to me, and someday I hope to visit that museum.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes! I love Barbara Brackman's blogs - I always learn so much! I'm doing her "stars in a time warp" quilt along this year. #starsinatimewarp on Instagram!

      Delete

Thank you for visiting! I love reading your comments. As time allows I email replies, if your email is included in your user profile.