William De Morgan's Exquisite Tiles

William De Morgan was the leading ceramicist of the Arts and Crafts Movement. Over his lifetime, De Morgan produced thousands of ceramics designs, though he’s most widely known for his tiles. His bold, expressive designs and stunning colour palettes are a feast for the eyes, and while many of you may recognise his art, you might not have heard of the man behind them. So, we thought he deserved his own article, as well as a little explanation of how his designs inspired our Pride range. 

Born in 1839 to intellectual, liberal parents, William De Morgan always had a great talent for art. He was awarded a place on an eight-year art course at the Royal Academy, where he met several other artists who he would remain friends with, including Henry Holiday. When De Morgan was four years into his studies, Henry Holiday introduced him to William Morris – a meeting that would have an enormous impact, not just on De Morgan but also on the Arts and Crafts movement.

After his introduction to William Morris, William De Morgan decided to drop out of his art course and become a designerfor Morris’s company Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Co. At first, De Morgan worked on stained glass designs for churches and ornamental windows. As De Morgan experimented with different methods for producing the various colours in stained glass, his interest in this process grew. He grew fascinated with the different effects he could create, and he soon translated these to glazing techniques, and began trialling these on tiles. He would eventually become the world expert in the lustre glazing technique, where he combined silver oxide and copper glazes to create an iridescent, moonlight effect.

De Morgan’s early experimentations with ceramics were a little hampered when his improvised kiln accidentally set alight the roof of the flat that he was renting in Fitzroy Square. Undeterred, he continued designing tiles, and in 1872 he set up his own ceramic firm in Chelsea. It was here that he would create the majority of his designs for the Arts and Crafts movement, many of which would be sold by William Morris’s company. Although De Morgan believed in the power of hand-crafted creations, he did paint his designs on industrially made blank tiles. This was because the commercial tiles provided a flat surface for him to paint, and were all uniform shapes and sizes, meaning they could easily slot together. He did eventually develop a technique of making his own tiles, but never fully switched away from the factory ones.

William De Morgan employed a team of artists to transfer his designs to the tiles. These artists included brothers Fred and Charles Passenger, who would work for him for many years, and even continue to paint his designs after De Morgan’s death. The method De Morgan used to transfer his designs involved painting glazes over thin tissue paper, which would burn away in the kiln.

William De Morgan was heavily influenced by Middle Eastern art, having seen collections in what’s now the V&A museum. In 1877-1881 De Morgan was commissioned to work onthe interior of the ‘Arab Hall’ in Frederick Leighton’s House in Holland Park. This involved repairing damaged tiles that had been brought over from Damascus and Iran, and then creating replicas where necessary (analysis of the glazes reveals that De Morgan was responsible for making between 20 and 30 of the tiles). He also helped Leighton decide how the tiles should be arranged. No doubt, this experience of working with and replicating such stunning ceramics was hugely beneficial to De Morgan for inspiring his own designs.

De Morgan was also commissioned to make tiles for the Russian Tsar’s private yacht, as well as for P&O ship between the years 1882 – 1900.

In 1911De Morgan’s ceramic business was forced to closed since it was no longer financially viable. Changing trends at the turn of the century meant that De Morgan’s style was no longer to many people’s tastes. De Morgan published a semi-autobiographical novel in 1907, and found success in writing books, which he would continue to do until his death in 1917.

Although De Morgan changed creative medium at the end of his life, his tiles would have a lasting impact. In the 1920s, the artist and sculptor Ida Perrin, who admired De Morgan’s work, decided to open a pottery workshop to continue the production of ceramics with De Morgan’s designs. She employed the Passenger brothers, who had worked with De Morgan for years. The products were individually made, stamped with the Bushey Heath logo so that they weren’t to be confused with the pottery from De Morgan’s earlier workshop.

De Morgan’s designs continue to inspire people even today - his work inspired Eppie so much that it led to the creation of an entire Fabled Thread range: the Pride. Eppie worked together with her mum Joanna and her granny Meredith to design this range of cushion covers. Joanna produced a series of lion drawings inspired by Assyrian animal carvings and the colour palettes of William De Morgan’s tiles. Eppie then translated these into stitch patterns, and finally Meredith stitched up the designs – a true cross-generational collaboration!