"Strawberry Thief" Tapestry

With Strawberry Thief we are really proud to bring back to life one of William Morris' most popular designs. The subject came to his mind when he found some birds stealing fruit in the garden of his countryside home in Oxfordshire, England. However, it took him six years to be able to print it, because he used a revolutionary technique: for the first time, red and yellow were added to the indigo blue and white ground. In May 1883 Morris wrote to his daughter, "I was a great deal at Merton last week ... anxiously superintending the first printing of the Strawberry thief, which I think we shall manage this time."  The entire process would have taken days to complete, therefore this was one of Morris & Co.'s most expensive cottons. Nonetheless, customers were not discouraged by the high price, and Strawberry Thief proved to be one of Morris' most commercially successful patterns. This textile was intended to be used for curtains or draped around walls (a form of interior decoration ad