Brother Rabbit Chintz

Designed by William Morris, 1882.

The Brother Rabbit pattern was inspired, according to May Morris, by the ‘Uncle Remus’ stories which her father was reading to the family at their Hammersmith home, Kelmscott House. It was one of the first textiles to be printed at Merton Abbey, where Morris & Co. moved its workshop premises at the end of 1881.

Our Name

The term croft comes from the Scottish word for craft. Craft and trade people were an essential part of agricultural estates and were known as crofters. They lived and practiced their skills for the smooth operation and agricultural and commercial success of the community. The aesthetic principles of John Ruskin (1819-1900,) and the Arts and Crafts Movement in England, led by William Morris (1834-1896) in the latter half of the 19th century, were an effort to reestablish that relationship between art and community, which is also exemplified by the Roycroft Movement, led by Elbert Hubbard (1856-1915) in East Aurora, New York, in the 1880s, in the United States.

William Morris, 1864.

William Morris was a poet, artist, and social reformer who urged a return to the medieval traditions of design, outstanding workmanship, and community. His work in both poetry and the applied arts was characterized by an emphasis on decorative elements that he thought were characteristic of the Middle Ages. Through many of his writings, he attempted to correct the dehumanizing effects of the Industrial Revolution by suggesting a form of society in which people could return to the joys of master craftsmanship and simplicity of expression. He perfected the use of woodblocks for printing wallpaper and textiles. The idea of the house as a total work of art, with all of the interior objects designed by the architect, emerged from his studio and remained standard practice throughout the Arts and Crafts movement.