The Huntington’s William Morris Archive Inspires New Morris & Co. Collection
“The Unfinished Works” brings rare 19th-century designs from The Huntington’s archive to life for the first time
Posted on Tue., Sept. 2, 2025
The Unfinished Works | Sanderson Design Group.
Key Takeaways
The Unfinished Works debuts Sept. 2, 2025, with 26 19th-century designs by William Morris (1834–1896) and John Henry Dearle (1859–1932) from The Huntington’s archive, now completed and produced for the first time as wallpaper, printed and woven fabrics, borders, embroideries, and jacquards, using original notes, methods, and color references.
The Huntington holds one of the top three William Morris archives in the world, with hundreds of original, unfinished designs by Morris and his protégé, Dearle; rare volumes from Kelmscott Press, the private press Morris founded in 1891; and related materials.
This marks The Huntington’s first major public-facing design partnership, a transatlantic collaboration between The Huntington in California and Sanderson Design Group’s Morris & Co. in England.
Unfinished designs by 19th-century artist and writer William Morris (1834–1896) and his protégé, John Henry Dearle (1859–1932)—preserved in The Huntington’s archive—debut as The Unfinished Works on Sept. 2, 2025. Completed and produced for the first time by Morris & Co., the original company founded by William Morris and part of Sanderson Design Group, the collection transforms these historical designs into wallpaper, printed and woven fabrics, borders, embroideries, and jacquards.
Many of these designs began as small-scale sketches and working drawings, acquired by The Huntington in 1999 and left incomplete until now. Morris & Co.’s London-based team drew directly from Morris’ and Dearle’s notes, methods, and color references to hand-finish each design, using production techniques faithful to the originals.
The collaboration, which began in 2022, marks The Huntington’s first major public-facing design partnership. It connects the institution’s California-based archive with the expertise of a historic British design house, uniting two stewards of Morris’ legacy across continents.
“This collaboration exemplifies The Huntington’s efforts to spark public engagement with our collections,” said Karen R. Lawrence, president of The Huntington. “By pulling inspiration from our historic archives, designers are not only honoring William Morris but also bringing his legacy to a new generation. At the same time, this renewed interest in Morris and his exemplary work draws attention to the kind of in-depth and multidisciplinary humanities and arts research that is at the core of The Huntington’s mission.”
All designs are created in the Morris & Co. studio in Chiswick, London, and printed fabrics and wallpapers are made at the brand’s historic U.K. factories in Loughborough and Lancaster.
“It has been a privilege to bring these unfinished sketches to life,” said Lisa Montague, CEO of Sanderson Design Group. “Working closely with The Huntington’s experts, our team approached each design with the same meticulous care and craftsmanship that William Morris himself championed. We are proud to share these historic works in a way that honors their origins while allowing them to flourish in contemporary interiors.”
Retail and Public Access
At the Huntington Store, visitors can see The Unfinished Workscatalogs of the full fabric range and a curated wallpaper selection. A dedicated display will include a QR code linking directly to the Morris & Co. online store.
William Morris at The Huntington
Morris was a revolutionary interior designer and book printer, a famous and prolific poet, a weaver, embroiderer, dyer, calligrapher, literary translator, businessman, and architectural preservationist. He established the internationally successful firm Morris & Company, for which he mastered the design and production of stained glass, wallpaper, printed and woven textiles, carpet, and tapestry.
Morris fashioned new forms and styles by delving deeply into the art and culture of the past, building a modern art on medieval foundations. His artistic practices further led him to political activism and an idealistic vision of the future. The bulk of The Huntington’s collection of Morris materials, which had been meticulously preserved by architects and collectors Sanford and Helen Berger before they were acquired by The Huntington in 1999, includes original Morris & Co. archives containing such primary materials as watercolor and pencil sketches, more than 100 figure drawings, wallpaper and textile designs, stained glass cartoons, and a complete stained glass window. The archive also contains more than 2,200 printed works—among them rare volumes from Kelmscott Press, Morris’ private press founded in 1891, and nearly all of his political pamphlets. Together, these materials reveal the full range of his artistic and intellectual pursuits.
“The Huntington’s Morris collection is one of the most significant of its kind anywhere in the world,” said Melinda McCurdy, curator of British art at The Huntington. “The archives are rich in working materials, making The Huntington one of the premier places to study one of Britain’s most influential 19th-century designers and cultural figures.”
Morris’ art, ideals, and lifework paved the way for generations of artists who followed him in his pursuit of what he called “the beauty of life.” He wrote in 1880: “Beauty, which is what is meant by art, using the word in its widest sense, is, I contend, no mere accident to human life, which people can take or leave as they choose, but a positive necessity of life.”
The Huntington presented a major exhibition titled “The Beauty of Life: William Morris and the Art of Design” from Nov. 8, 2003, to April 4, 2004, in the MaryLou and George Boone Gallery. The exhibition later traveled to the Yale Center for British Art.
Morris was deeply influenced by poet and artist William Blake (1757–1827), whose integration of text and image inspired Morris’ Kelmscott Press books. The Huntington holds one of the most significant Blake collections in existence, including the only known complete copy of All Religions Are One (Copy A), original watercolors, illuminated manuscripts, and illustrations for John Milton’s poems.
By as early as 1904, Henry E. Huntington had personally acquired a complete collection of all 53 Kelmscott Press books. The Huntington Library continued to develop its Morris collections of both printed and archival materials steadily throughout the 20th century, with a particular focus on Morris the writer, preservationist, socialist, and book and type designer. By the late 1970s, the Library also held some 50 Morris literary manuscripts and as many autograph letters, as well as more than a dozen letters by his daughter, May Morris. Kelmscott fine printing ephemera was also added to the collection throughout the 20th century, laying a strong foundation of Morris materials prior to the acquisition of the Berger collection in 1999.
From Morris to Greene & Greene: Arts and Crafts at The Huntington
The Huntington’s Arts and Crafts holdings span both sides of the Atlantic, from the 19th-century designs of William Morris and his circle to the early 20th-century architecture and decorative arts of Pasadena’s Greene & Greene. The collections include furniture, ceramics, and textiles as well as notable works by Edward Burne-Jones and Walter Crane. An extensive collection of records for the Greene & Greene firm is on deposit at The Huntington and is available to researchers.
Through preservation, research support, and public access, The Huntington continues to serve as a leading center for the study of British and American Arts and Crafts design.
Experience William Morris Designs In Person
Through Dec. 1, visitors can see Morris’ work on view in “Stories from the Library: The Tales Through Time,” an ongoing exhibition in the Huntington Art Gallery that draws from the Huntington Library’s rare book and manuscript collections. The installation includes The Kelmscott Chaucer, a landmark collaboration between Morris and illustrator Edward Burne-Jones, alongside other treasures that explore the intersection of literature, art, and design. Morris’ long partnership with Burne-Jones is also reflected elsewhere in the space—the artist’s 10-panel, stained glass window, “Humility, Mercy, Generosity, Charity, Justice, Liberty, Truth, Love, Faith, and Courage,” has been on view in the gallery since 2008.
The Huntington, a world-renowned cultural and educational institution, provides transformative experiences for a community of the curious. Founded in 1919 by Henry E. and Arabella Huntington, it supports research and promotes public engagement through its expansive library, art, and botanical collections. By cultivating dynamic scholarship, creating innovative programs for students and lifelong learners, and sharing its extraordinary resources, The Huntington invites all on a journey of discovery, insight, and connection. Only 12 miles from downtown Los Angeles, The Huntington is located at 1151 Oxford Road, San Marino, California. Learn more at huntington.org.
About Morris & Co.
As a political theorist, publisher, environmental campaigner, poet, and outstanding designer, William Morris (1834–1896) was one of the single most influential figures of the 19th century, founding Morris & Co. (originally Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Co.) in 1861. Under his direction, the company grew into a flourishing and fashionable Arts & Crafts decorating business renowned for wallpapers and textiles, becoming part of Sanderson & Sons in 1940. Today, the Sanderson Design Group builds on that proud heritage with the inventive reimagining of Morris & Co. classics, ever upholding the impeccable standard of craftsmanship that has defined all Morris & Co. products since inception. Guided by the creative intuition of William Morris, designs are inspired by treasures in the Morris & Co. archive, which houses historical logbooks, samples of each wallpaper, printed and woven textiles, and original wooden printing blocks. With the ability to faithfully transform a space into an Arts & Crafts haven through evocation of the glorious drama and wonderment in nature, the authentic archival documents and designs of Morris & Co. continue to inspire interest and insatiable demand to this day.
