Moorcroft Queen of the Moorlands

Known as the Queen of the Moorlands, the town of Leek in Staffordshire is brimming with charm, character and Arts and Crafts heritage. Sir Thomas Wardle (1831-1909) and William Morris (1834-96) collaborated in Leek on Indian silks, dyeing with natural colours and block printing. By 1876 Wardle was printing a range of fourteen designs for Morris & Co and Wardle’s silks were sold in Liberty, and were, the only black silk that Queen Victoria would wear following the death of her beloved Prince Albert.

Morris and Wardle’s textiles were exhibited at major exhibitions and were still the best of their type decades later. Wardle said of Morris that he had an understanding of form and colour which was unparalleled.

Inspired by these great artists, Kerry skilfully weaves the feathery blues of Morris & Co.’s Tulip design to create a sky over Leek market place, complete with the billowing canopies of the market stalls themselves and the gothic façade of Leek All Saints' Church, a Grade I listed building (built 1885–1887) with stained glass by Morris & Co.  In church Wardle’s own hymns were sang and his wife, Lady Wardle, who established the Embroidery School for Women in 1879, hung silk embroideries on the wall.  The Leek School of Art and Crafts, which Morris would have seen every morning from his guest house window during his two years in Leek, holding connections to both Wardle and Morris. Morris’s own wife is remembered too, in her favourite orange Honeysuckle Morris & Co. design, which grounds this prestige vase in exotic Eastern turmeric and tangerine-amber colours.

Designed by Kerry Goodwin

Limited Edition 5

Size | 40cm

(Image shows all three sides of the same vase)