\n Opening at the iconic Port Sunlight venue today (Saturday April 25) and on view until November 1, May Morris: Crafting a Legacy celebrates Morris\u2019 role as a creative force in the arts and crafts movement as well as her contributions as a designer, maker, tutor, lecturer, editor, and writer.\n<\/p>\n
\n Part of the ‘May Morris: Crafting a Legacy’ exhibit at Lady Lever Gallery in Port Sunlight, on from April 25 to November 1, 2026 (Image: Craig Manning \/ Newsquest)\n<\/p>\n
\n The exhibition will feature around 50 items from museums and private collections across the UK, including embroideries, wallpaper designs, sketches, costumes, jewellery, and books.\n<\/p>\n
\n Highlights include loans from the William Morris Gallery in London, the Victoria and Albert Museum and The William Morris Society, alongside selections from National Museums Liverpool\u2019s own collection.\n<\/p>\n
\n Fiona Slattery Clark, curator of decorative art at National Museums Liverpool, told the Globe during a preview on Thursday: “We were approached a couple of years ago by the William Morris Society. and asked if we would like to host an exhibition about May Morris. This really planted a seed out of which grew this exhibition.\n<\/p>\n
\n “There are many embroideries, but there’s also examples of costume, of jewellery, of books, because she was involved in preserving her father’s literary legacy. So the exhibition is reflecting her wide-ranging talents.”\n<\/p>\n
\n Part of the ‘May Morris: Crafting a Legacy’ exhibit at Lady Lever Gallery in Port Sunlight, on from April 25 to November 1, 2026 (Image: Craig Manning \/ Newsquest)\n<\/p>\n
\n Born in 1862, May Morris was the youngest daughter of artist and designer William Morris, founder of the influential interior design firm Morris & Co.\n<\/p>\n
\n Raised in a creative household, she was surrounded by leading figures of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and developed her artistic skills from a young age.\n<\/p>\n
\n She studied embroidery at the National Art Training School in South Kensington after learning needlework from her mother and aunt.\n<\/p>\n
\n By the age of 23, she was managing the embroidery workroom at Morris & Co, expanding the business while creating a supportive workplace for women.\n<\/p>\n
\n Morris co-founded the Women\u2019s Guild of Arts and supervised the production of textiles in the Morris & Co style, including wall hangings, fire screens, and chair covers.\n<\/p>\n
\n ‘May Morris: Crafting a Legacy’ exhibit at Lady Lever Gallery in Port Sunlight, on from April 25 to November 1, 2026 (Image: Craig Manning \/ Newsquest)\n<\/p>\n
\n She revived traditional stitching methods, drawing inspiration from medieval and later English needlework.\n<\/p>\n
\n The exhibition will include 17th-century embroideries from the Lady Lever collection to highlight these influences.\n<\/p>\n
\n Also on display will be a gold brooch designed by Morris, on loan from The William Morris Society, which reflects her medieval design inspirations.\n<\/p>\n
\n The brooch features garnets, emeralds, and water opal, and exemplifies her commitment to craftsmanship.\n<\/p>\n
\n A sketchbook of drawings and watercolours illustrates her lifelong love of nature, shaped by childhood holidays at Kelmscott Manor in Oxfordshire.\n<\/p>\n
\n Part of the ‘May Morris: Crafting a Legacy’ exhibit at Lady Lever Gallery in Port Sunlight, on from April 25 to November 1, 2026 (Image: Craig Manning \/ Newsquest)\n<\/p>\n
\n Her best-selling wallpaper design, Honeysuckle, long misattributed to her father, will also feature, alongside Arcadia and Horn Poppy.\n<\/p>\n
\n Morris\u2019s later life was also shaped by her socialist ideals.\n<\/p>\n
\n She established one of the earliest branches of the Women\u2019s Institute in Kelmscott and promoted community activities such as folk dancing, music, and theatre.\n<\/p>\n
\n She campaigned on local issues and supported families in need by running a soup kitchen and distributing coal.\n<\/p>\n
\n Fiona Slattery Clark, curator\u00a0 continued: “For many years she has been rather overshadowed by the giant of her father, the great William Morris. But she was one of the most pioneering women artists of the arts and crafts movement.\n<\/p>\n
\n “She was also an advocate for women artists and set up the Women’s Guild of Arts in 1907. What we’re hoping to achieve with the exhibition is to give that holistic sense of her work, and it’s a career that spanned 55 years.\n<\/p>\n
\n Photographic print of May Morris (1871), after Dante Gabriel Rossetti (Image: Emery Walker \u00a9 The William Morris Society)\n<\/p>\n
\n “What is unique about this one is the fact that we are showcasing many of William Hesketh Lever’s embroideries alongside May’s embroideries.\n<\/p>\n
\n “This is making the connection between her work, late 19th century, early 20th century, but how she was looking to historic examples of embroidery. And she was committed to reviving traditional stitching techniques. And that juxtaposition demonstrates the influence of these historic textiles on her, not just as a designer, but as a maker as well.”\n<\/p>\n
\n The exhibition is the result of a partnership between National Museums Liverpool and The William Morris Society.\n<\/p>\n
\n Curator Fiona Slattery Clark described the exhibition as “just simply beautiful”, adding: “May Morris was particularly inspired by English medieval embroidery known as Opus Anglicanum.\n<\/p>\n
\n “So there’s a lot of beautiful gold thread in her needlework and it’s the revival of these traditional stitching techniques. This is made very accessible because we have a film demonstrating some of these traditional stitches which are still being used today.\n<\/p>\n
\n “So what you will see is beautiful work, whether it’s embroidery, whether it’s her designs, her wallpapers, whether it’s the costume, whether it’s the jewellery, everything is presented to an incredibly high standard. ”\n<\/p>\n
\n Entry is free, though donations are encouraged to support the gallery\u2019s work and ensure continued free admission.\n<\/p>\n
\n Further details about the exhibition can be found at liverpoolmuseums.org.uk\/maymorris.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Opening at the iconic Port Sunlight venue today (Saturday April 25) and on view until November 1, May…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":396957,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[442,498,499,500,501,156,111,139,69],"class_list":["post-396956","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-artsanddesign","tag-artsdesign","tag-design","tag-entertainment","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/396956","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=396956"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/396956\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/396957"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=396956"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=396956"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=396956"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}