Pretty, cheap things

Our miserable wet weather continues with no end in sight, even though the first day of spring is coming up on Monday. When the going gets tough, the tough...go shopping! It's amazing what you can find these days if you like poking around for bargains. I found this garden set at Marshall's in the piles of pots and tacky yard ornaments they stock this time of year. No, I don't really need another one but it was too pretty to pass up. And almost too pretty to use outside, but it will give me pleasure each time I look at it.

This William Morris pattern is called the "Strawberry Thief," and it's probably his most famous textile design. These are the kind of reproductions you would see in a museum gift shop catalog-- not a discount clothing chain.

The artist William Morris (1834-1896) was a Victorian Renaissance man who helped establish the Arts and Crafts movement. They embraced the philosophy that quality homes and furnishings should be available to all, regardless of means. Now we take places like Ikea for granted, but beautiful design used to be only for the rich. The Arts and Crafts movement caught on in America, and the result was thousands of bungalows built in the early 1900's. Most were not grand or fancy but just simple, solid houses with a few nice details.

Morris was also a Socialist, so maybe he wouldn't mind that his designs are being reproduced in China on tin pails and showing up in places like Marshall's for "the masses." The Marshall's tag had a Victoria and Albert Museum logo saying the product features a 1883 fabric from their collection. So they probably got a small cut of the profit. More power to them.

I searched the V&A collection on-line and here it is:

Furnishing fabric - Strawberry Thief - Victoria & Albert Museum - Search the Collections