Furnishing fabric Italian brocaded velvet This is an expensive, high-quality Italian furnishing of the 17th century. When acquired by the Museum from an Italian source, this velvet was thought to have been woven in the 16th century, far closer to the Victorian ideal of late medieval design. Twentieth-century research on the silk industry in Genoa, however, suggests that the velvet was made in that city and at a later date. At the time of acquisition William Morris (1834-1896) was acting as a referee to the Museum on the acquisition of textiles. This pattern is very similar to a number of his designs made at the time. One pattern in particular, called 'Wandle', is clearly influenced by this textile. British Galleries: FURNISHING FABRIC and the velvet that inspired it
William Morris's design for a printed cotton was almost certainly inspired by this Italian brocaded velvet. The Museum purchased the velvet in 1883 at a time when Morris was acting as an advisor on textiles and he would certainly have seen it during one of his frequent visits. He has taken the strong diagonal pattern as the basis for his more elaborate pattern of formalised flowers. [27/03/2003]