May Morris
Master of embroidery.
May Morris, daughter of William Morris, ran the embroidery department of her father's firm and was a designer, lecturer and writer.
May Morris was born in 1862 at Red House in Bexleyheath, the younger daughter of William and Jane Morris. She grew up among artists and craftsmen and learned embroidery as a child from her mother and her aunt. She went on to study at the art school in South Kensington in London.
In 1885, aged only 23, she was put in charge of the embroidery department of her father's firm, Morris & Co. She designed patterns herself, managed the embroidery work and sold both finished pieces and kits that customers could embroider at home. She also designed wallpapers, and the wallpaper Honeysuckle of 1883 is usually attributed to her, although it was long wrongly thought to be her father's.
Her embroideries are based on twining plants, flowers and birds, and she was highly knowledgeable about historical stitch techniques. In 1893 she published the handbook Decorative Needlework. She lectured on embroidery and jewellery, including on a tour of the United States in 1909–10, and made jewellery of her own. In 1907 she helped found the Women's Guild of Arts, since women were not allowed to join the all-male Art Workers' Guild.
In private life she had a close friendship with George Bernard Shaw. In 1890 she married the socialist Henry Halliday Sparling, but the marriage was dissolved after a few years. She shared her father's political commitment and was active in the socialist movement. After his death she edited his collected works in 24 volumes, published in 1910–15, and wrote introductions that are important sources for his life.
She spent her last years at Kelmscott Manor and died in 1938. For a long time she was overshadowed by her famous father, but a major exhibition at the William Morris Gallery in 2017 presented her as a designer in her own right. Today she is seen as one of the most important embroiderers of her time and as an early advocate for women's place in the applied arts.