Join Curator Helen Elletson to explore some of the fascinating objects in The William Morris Society’s collection.

This short talk is on William Morris’s ‘new and lighter design’ for the Oxford Union Ceiling.

Morris made his debut as a painter during the ‘jovial campaign’ of 1857 to help decorate the walls of the Oxford Union debating hall. However, three stunning watercolours in the Society’s collection for the re-decoration of the ceiling shed light on this lesser-known aspect of the now infamous scheme. We will hear of the artists and their paintings illustrating scenes from Arthurian legend and look at contemporary descriptions of the original ceiling before focusing on the Society’s designs for the ceiling re-decoration; beautiful repeat patterns which have been praised as ‘a tribute to the genius of Morris’.