The decorative arts

William Morris is perhaps best known today for the beautiful textile designs he created under the banner of Morris & Co, which continue to decorate homes around the globe. As one of the leading lights of British socialism, however, he is less well known, and this series of ‘Morris’s Manifestos’ seeks to highlight his extraordinary contribution to the literary canon on subjects socialist and artistic. The second in the ‘Morris’s Manifestos’ series, ‘The Decorative Arts’ is a passionate argument against the homogenisation of production, and a cry for art to make itself seen in design – ‘art will make our streets as beautiful as the woods, as elevating as the mountainsides.’