THE PATTERN MAKERS

IN WEST LONDON, A HISTORIC WALLPAPER FACTORY STIRS TO LIFE, INVITING DESIGN DEVOTEES TO WALK IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF ARTS AND CRAFTS TITANS.

WRITTEN BY STEELE THOMAS MARCOUX

IT’S RAINING ON THE RIVER THAMES. From inside Emery Walker’s meticulously preserved dining room, walls clad in original William Morris hand-blocked wallpaper—his iconic Willow pattern, with green leaves on a unique blue ground with bubble-like circles that, today especially, call to mind water droplets—it’s almost impossible to distinguish inside from out. Except I’m dry, of course, and the lush green wisteria vines and rosebushes that ramble right up to the blue-gray river rushing past are not. Walker, a 19th-century printer, engraver, and photographer, was a key figure in England’s Arts and Crafts movement, owing much to his friendship with neighbor and fellow printer Morris. Walker’s house, now a museum, is just a short walk from Kelmscott House, where Morris lived from 1878 until his death in 1896 and the next stop…

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Veranda (Digital) - 1 Issue, March/April 2025

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