KELMSCOTT HOUSE 



But for us at home Morris has done nothing less than totally 

 alter the aspect of our domestic environment. He has put a new 

 face on those externals that all unconsciously help to mould 

 character, and to direct the trend of man's evolution, externals that, 

 in the mid- Victorian era until the advent of Morris were inex- 

 pressibly heavy, ugly, and depressing. 



Some ridicule was brought upon the movement soon known as 

 " sestheticism," by the extravagances of some of its votaries ; people 

 laughed with Gilbert and Sullivan, at the absurdities of the " very 

 intense young man 



" The greenery-yallery Grosvenor Gallery 

 Foot-in-the-Grave young man," 



at the apotheosis of the lily and the peacock-feather ; and at those 

 feminine devotees of the new art cult, who, arraying themselves 

 in loose draperies of sage-green, dirty yellow, or cloudy-blue, fondly 

 imagined that they looked as though they had just stepped out 

 of a picture by Rossetti or Burne-Jones. 



Never were people more mistaken, Burne- Jones's finest works 

 glow with sumptuous colour, so too do Rossetti's ; while to Morris 

 a muddy-green was of all tints most abhorrent. He did not alto- 

 gether object to sage-green, but the rusty red and peacock blues 

 only prevailed in his fabrics whilst he was without a dye-house of 

 his own, and was tentatively feeling his way to the production of 

 the indigoes, madder-reds, and yellows obtained from a scentless 

 species of mignonette called Weld. His unerring eye for colour 

 enabled him ultimately to harmonize all these even in juxtaposition. 



Curiously enough, as Mr. Mackail mentions, these dingy colour- 

 ings were associated with his name long after he gave them up. 

 A customer of rank calling one day at Oxford Street turned over 

 the beautiful Hammersmith carpets (then produced in bright, 

 clear colour) dubiously. They were not what he had intended 

 to purchase. " Are these all ? " he asked. Being answered in the 

 affirmative, he said, " But I thought your colours were subdued ? ' 

 This was more than Morris, whose hot temper had been rapidly 

 rising, could stand. He exploded on the spot. 



" If you want dirt," he exclaimed, " you can find it in the street." 

 The offended great man departed, and never troubled Morris and 

 Co. again. 



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