Corner of russett carpet, small black flowers in outside border, stylized floral design within, showing green vines and foliage, with blue and yellow flowers; graphite sketch continues border.
This particular design for a border may be by Dearle, who was responsible for all new Morris & Co. carpet designs after 1890. The border shows the influence of historic Persian textiles in the formal ogee-shaped blossoms. These were motifs that Dearle frequently employed in his carpet designs of the late 1880s. Morris & Co. were able to offer a range of widths for carpet borders from nine to eighteen inches, even producing borders for staircase carpets.