Woodnotes

Date1886

MediumWoodcut

Dimensions1118mm x 544mm

ClassificationsArtworks/Commemorations/Photographs

Terms

Object numberPT1112

DescriptionColour print from wood blocks 111.6 x 54.1cm, 1886.
Walter Crane's inspiration for this design comes from a passage of the play by William Shakespeare, "As you like it"
"Under the Greenwood tree
Who loves to lie with me
And turn his merry note
Unto the sweet bird's throat"
This wallpaper design shows Crane's use of figures and forms to create what he termed, 'playful allegories'. Among the curling, waving foliage you hardly notice the young boys either side of a pheasant one of whom is holding panpipes. This type of design shows that Crane was not confined to purely geometric patterns that were becoming fashionable at this time and he was interested in the decretive nature of wall coverings.

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