William Morris (1834-1896) was the leading figure of the Arts and Crafts movement in the second half of the nineteenth century. Inspired by John Ruskin's social criticism and writings on medieval art, Morris and his fellow artists disavowed the low-quality goods produced by the factories of the Industrial Revolution and the production methods that alienated workers from the creative process. They instead set out to return to the traditional methods of craftsmanship in which the designer was the craftsman. An example of this design, executed in a variant colorway, is held in the collection of the Huntington Library Museum (object no. 2000.5.512). For further information, see Linda Parry, William Morris Textiles, New York, 1994, p. 157, pl. 58.