Pomegranate

Pomegranate: pomegranates, lemons and a blue sky Pomegranate, simply 'Fruit' in the Morris & Co. catalogue, is one of the first three wallpapers William Morris designed, together with Trellis and Daisy, in the 1860s. It is also one of the richest: branches of fruit trees growing right through one another, with burst-open pomegranates, oranges, lemons, peaches, small flowers and densely packed leaves. By 1899 his first biographer already called it 'the favourite and beautiful pattern known as the Pomegranate'. An early drawing had olives in it too, but they didn't repeat well, so peaches took their place. The paper was block-printed in distemper colours, colour by colour, with a separate block for every shade. We chose the blue colourway: a light blue foot like the ground of the wallpaper, with the fruit and leaves in green, ochre and red on top. Knitted in, not printed: the colours are part of the sock itself, so they don't fade. William Morris · 'Fruit' (Pomegranate), 1860s · wallpaper, block-printed in distemper colours.